Of Butterflies, Hunger and Happiness: How One Woman Connects them All
(Mission, TX) – Author Sharman Apt Russell, keynote speaker for the 19th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival, has written on a variety of themes, from The Anatomy of a Rose: Exploring the Secret Life of Flowers, to Hunger: An Unnatural History. She’s also explored pantheism, American archeology, the myth of the Cowboy and citizen science, among other topics, in her storied career as a creative non-fiction writer.
What do all of these themes have in common?
“I am drawn to subjects that interest me and fuel me,” explains Russell, “Things that give me energy, and most of these revolve around my appreciation for the natural world. I find climate change, bioregionalism, environmental activism and conservation to be at the heart of what motivates me, and the advantage I have as a generalist, concerned with these issues, is that I am not a scientist; I can be interdisciplinary and approach these subjects wholly, through history, psychology, art and anthropology.”
Russell’s goal is always to expose and integrate the connectedness of human beings to the natural world, to plants, water and wildlife. Growing up in Phoenix, she says the city itself was disenfranchised from its own landscape, fostering little squares of Bermuda grass and chlorinated, backyard pools. This estrangement left her seeking more, and what she found was the amazing complexity and beauty of the environment, the power of flowers and the enchantment of butterflies.
“Researching and writing The Anatomy of a Rose, I learned so much about pollination ecology and how flowers really rule the world,” states Russell. Subsequent books on hunger, pantheism and butterflies followed naturally, as the broader topic of appetites emerged. Whether discovering the depths of fasting, the quest for salvation, or the biology of butterflies, the recurring theme seems to be Passion.
As the keynote speaker for the Texas Butterfly Festival, Russell will be sharing lessons from An Obsession with Butterflies: Our Long Love Affair with a Singular Insect, wherein she reveals the logic behind our fascination with this incredibly special creature. Fragile, yet powerful, vulnerable, but resilient, the butterfly represents resurrection and transformation, feminine beauty and masculine drive.
“How can we help but love butterflies?” asks Marianna Trevino Wright, executive director of the National Butterfly Center. “Their beauty enthralls us and their lives are a metaphor for ours. Lofty or lowly, they symbolize our struggles and triumphs, aspirations and failings. Not only does our relationship to butterflies reveal much about human values, vanity, and our journey on this planet; it also contains within it the key to our survival, and theirs.”
You're invited to meet Sharman Apt Russell at the Keynote Speaker’s Banquet, Monday, November 3, at Bentsen-Palm Village. Dinner will be provided by the RGV Chapter of the Texas Chefs’ Association, serving some of the Valley’s freshest and most flavorful culinary delights! Tickets are $50 per person, and must be purchased in advance by calling 956.583.5400.
Hosted by the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, the 19th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival is the nation’s premier butterflying event. It brings people from all around the world to the Rio Grande Valley, to enjoy the unique volume and variety of wild butterflies that may only be found, here. This 4-day festival features a FREE Community Day, Saturday, November 1, as well as three days of paid excursions, educational sessions and expert-guided trips to private gardens and renowned public places, including hot spots and hard-to-find places familiar to local butterfly enthusiasts.
To learn more about the 19th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival, and how you may join in the fun, check out the full schedule events, field trips and educational sessions at www.texasbutterflyfestival.com. Online registration is open, and trips are booking fast!
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The National Butterfly Center is committed to ‘Growing Connections’ between people, plants, and the winged wonders that pollinate and propagate all that grows around us. We do this through educational and environmental initiatives that cultivate meaningful understanding of the processes that create sustainable ecosystems. The Center is open to the public, for visitors and members, seven days/week.
To learn more about the National Butterfly Center, and how you can join us, visit www.nationalbutterflycenter.org, or call 956.583.5400. Your annual membership or charitable gift impacts the beauty of our community and helps preserve the biologically diverse, natural treasures of deep South Texas.
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