Books
IN THE EARLY YEARS of my career I wrote for newspapers and magazines in Delaware, Oregon, and Atlanta. In 1985 I moved to Cape Hatteras to write a book about seaside ecology, and fell in love with the Outer Banks landscape. Hatteras Journal was published in 1987. It is both a description of the region’s natural history and an exploration of the effects of landscape on how we live and move through the world. The book is considered a regional classic.
Not since Ben MacNeil wrote The Hatterasman in the 1950s has that bare bone of sand between Bodie and Ocracoke islands been written about so affectionately, intelligently, and well. —Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
AS SOON AS I finished writing Hatteras Journal, I became involved with the effort to return rare red wolves to the swampy mainland just west of the Outer Banks. My second book, Meant to Be Wild: The Struggle to Save Endangered Species Through Captive Breeding (1991), tells the story of the passionate men and women who have fought to save red wolves, California condors, Florida panthers, and other animals that have been pushed to the brink of extinction. It was a main selection for the Nature Book Club and was chosen by Library Journal as one of the best science and nature books of the year.
“Everyone concerned with maintaining biodiversity should read this book.” —Library Journal
THE OUTER BANKS are among the windiest landscapes on Earth, and my time here has made me acutely aware of the moods and quirks of the breezes. My third book, Wind (1998 and updated for 2015 ), is a look at how the movement of air has sculpted not just the natural world, but our culture, history, health, and psychological wellbeing. It was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writing in 1999. Now available in both paperback and ebook format.
“A stunning view of the Earth.” —Los Angeles Times
“This is the kind of writing that transforms the reader’s experience of nature.” —Audubon
"The wind will never be the same for readers after finishing this book, its presence now heightened and explicated. DeBlieu has achieved the big two: Enlightenment and Entertainment." — Kirkus Reviews
YEAR OF THE COMETS: A Journey from Sadness to the Stars (2005) was my first full-throttled foray into memoir. It tells the story of a year in which my husband fell into despair and I kept myself sane by studying the night sky. I was shocked to discover that scientists know much more about the composition of deepest outer space than the complex functions of the human brain.
Excerpted in the Washington Post.
“In this memoir, science is not an external abstraction but something intimately bound to the author’s experience, which any reader in a comparable situation will find quite affecting.” – Booklist
"One of the best books I've come across on either topic--astronomy or depression." -- Sky and Telescope
IN ADDITION to my books, I have published many articles and essays in national newspapers and magazines and literary journals.
Subscribe to My Blog.