Nature writer Janet Lembke visited the ECU campus on Tuesday, March 19. Lembke began her Tag lecture in Mendenhall by wishing the audience a happy spring, reminding us that the equinox was in a couple of days, and describing the beautiful drive to Greenville. Lembke explained that her job as a nature writer consists of "moseying around," asking questions about the natural world. Lembke told us there are "stories in the constellations, myths in the names of birds." 

Lembke's love of Aristotle, Pliny, Virgil, Ovid, Pindar, Aeschylus was obvious. Lembke confided that she became fascinated by the deities of classical Greece under the instruction of her high school Latin teacher, Ms. Anna Blake. Thinking in terms of Greek philosophy, Lembke constantly asks herself, "What is the human role in this world? What are the guidelines?" These questions are important, Lembke maintains, because, as Pindar pointed out, the way we perceive things affects how we behave. In order to try to unravel these profound questions, Lembke seeks answers through writing, quoting Flannery O'Connor, "I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say." 

Janet Lembke's fluency in the Greek language allowed her to read the first few lines of Homer's The Odyssey in Greek. After this, Lembke read the same lines from several English translations. Although these were all good translations, Lembke pointed out that what the Greek actually said was not "I sing of the man. . . ," but using the direct object "I sing the man" as if Homer were not singing of the man, but singing him into being. (Lembke explained that the ancient Greeks did not think in metaphors, but were very literal minded.) She supported this idea by reading part of a poem by Wallace Stevens, which speaks of "sailors dancing unshorn Apollo." By the act of their dancing and singing, Apollo becomes incarnate and the sailors bring the island into existence. Lembke then added writing to the list of singing, dancing, and playing. Lembke believes that writing--if it's good--will call all things into being. 

Returning to the subject of living responsibly, Lembke also gave practical advice of protecting the environment. For example, she spoke of the harmful effects of pesticides and advocated a life of "kairos," meaning moderation or balance. Reading from "A Place in the Brushpile" from her collection of essays Dangerous Birds, Lembke compared the natural, literal underbrush to classical underbrush in her mind and advised listeners to "expect the unexpected" and to look for "interruptions of the sacred at any moment." 

Janet Lembke also spoke on Wednesday, March 20, at 4 p.m. of her early experiences as a writer. Her nature essays have appeared in Audubon Magazine. She is a prolific author and translator. Her prose collections include: River Time, Looking for Eagles, Dangerous Birds, Despicable Species, Skinny Dipping, Soup's On, and Touching the Earth: Reflections on the Restorative Power of Gardening. Her translations include the work of Aeschylus and Euripides. She divides her time between the shores of the lower Neuse River in North Carolina and the rolling country near Staunton, Virginia.