This Place on Earth 1996

By Alan Durning

“Alan Durning is both figuring out and living out the crucial choices we all face.” – Bill McKibben

Note: This Place on Earth is out of print, but you can download the pdf version for free.

Winner of the Governor’s Writing Award, This Place on Earth is the story of Alan Durning’s decision to leave his job as a globetrotting environmental policy analyst with Worldwatch and to make a difference a different way: by returning with his family to the Pacific Northwest. As he struggles to consciously carve out a new life in Seattle, he re-examines his boyhood home, reflecting on everything from the role that transportation plays in communities to the Northwest’s love/hate relationship with its natural riches.

Part personal history, part regional history, This Place on Earth is a must-read for anyone who’s interested in the politics of staying put, the Pacific Northwest, or the environmental and social consequences of mobility.

Alan Durning is executive director of Sightline.