The Fabulous Ordinary

264 pp., 6 x 9, 36 color plates, bibl

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-8592-2
Published: April 2025

Paperback Available April 2025, but pre-order your copy today!

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Paperback $35.00

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Georgann Eubanks offers readers a tour of the seasonal joys of ecosystems in the Southeast. The ordinary destinations and events she explores are scattered across seven states and include such wonders as a half-million purple martins roosting on an island in a South Carolina lake, the bloom of thirty acres of dimpled trout lilies in a remote Georgia forest, gnat larvae that glow like stars on the rock walls of an obscure Alabama canyon, and the overnight accumulation of elaborately patterned moths on the side of a North Carolina mountain cabin.

These phenomena and others reveal how plants, mammals, amphibians, and insects are managing to persevere despite pressures from human invasion, habitat destruction, and climate change. Their stories also shine a light on the efforts of dedicated scientists, volunteers, and aspiring young naturalists who are working to reverse losses and preserve the fabulous ordinary that's still alive in the fields, forests, rivers, and coastal estuaries of this essential and biodiverse region.

About the Author

Georgann Eubanks is a writer, teacher, and consultant to nonprofit groups across the country. She is director of the Table Rock Writers Workshop, was a founder of the North Carolina Writers' Network, and is past chair of the North Carolina Humanities Council. She lives in Carrboro, NC.
For more information about Georgann Eubanks, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"The Fabulous Ordinary encourages parents and children to appreciate, observe, and do what they can to preserve the natural world. Eubanks provides numerous examples, weaving her own experiences being guided and interviewing experts. The sites described are accessible to anyone who has interest, curiosity, passion, and adaptability. An absolute delight."—Gail Fishman, author of Journeys through Paradise: Pioneering Naturalists in the Southeast