Glorious Times: Adventures of the Craighead Naturalists

Tom Benjey's Glorious Times tells the fascinating and important story of an American clan of Scots-Irish that settled in the early 1700s in Pennsylvania. From this clan came an astonishing number exceptional people, many of whom dedicated their lives to nature. This book even poses the question as to whether this family had a special "Naturalist DNA." It covers many generations, but appropriately focuses most attention on the famous siblings Frank Jr., John, and Jean (Craighead George).

About the Author :
A chance statement at a talk on the Carlisle Indian School led to Dr. Benjey researching the life of Lone Star Dietz and writing the biography of the most controversial person to grace the sidelines of a football field. Doing the research exposed him to enough information about the legendary Carlisle football program to whet his interest in learning more. That led to him writing Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs: Jim Thorpe & Pop Warner's Carlisle Indian School football immortals tackle socialites, bootleggers, students, moguls, prejudice, the government, ghouls, tooth decay and rum. In 2009 Dr. David Masland suggested he write a book about his lifelong friends, the Craigheads. His initial investigation convinced him that this was indeed an extraordinary family. A health crisis intervened, resulting in him writing Prostate Cancer and the Veteran. At last, Glorious Times: Adventures of the Craighead Naturalists is finished.

Review :
Glorious Times... "recounts the lives of the historical Craigheads in lively detail, bringing readers into close, personal proximity to the subjects' lives. Roughly chronologically, the book describes each significant Craighead chapter by chapter, always highlighting their nature-loving and environmental points. Since the family's story begins so early in American history, the book spends several chapters working through older relatives, who predated what modern activists would recognize as environmentalism, before getting to the generations that produced the more famous conservationists and natural scientists. However, the theme of the Craigheads as nature-lovers, hikers, campers, and outdoorspeople remains a powerful thread throughout the book. The author's research on the topic could not be more meticulous, incorporating typical genealogical sources, such as newspapers, as well as personal interviews with Jean Craighead George and family documents, such as diaries.Particularly valuable to book people may be the insight that Glorious Times provides into the mind and personality of Jean Craighead George, who is presented as at once more liberal and ambitious than other Craighead women and fully in step with her family's environmentalist tradition. Fans and critics of her work and of the roots of the twentieth century environmental stewardship movement will find this work a fascinating insight. Genealogists may also be interested in the book as an example of a family history well executed." -- ForeWord Book Review "Summer 2016"