"David Gessner had always known of John Hay. A nature writing legend, Hay was a hero to the younger writer. But it wasn't until Gessner returned to his childhood home on Cape Cod that he befriended the older man. At first, Gessner thought he might write the biography of the man many consider to be our greatest living nature writer. But that idea quickly changed as the two talked and walked through the fifty acres surrounding Hay's house on Dry Hill. Hay became more friend than subject, and Gessner's book became a dramatic record of what the young man learned from his elder." "The Prophet of Dry Hill is the story of their year spent together. But more than a book about friendship, it's a testament to the importance of living a life connected to the wild. John Hay has lived deeply on one piece of land for sixty years. As a consequence, he has much to tell Gessner - and us - about the importance of cultivating deep connections to the land we live on. His words speak to our forgotten need for space and for reaching beyond ourselves to the world outside. Seeing is the great discipline that nature teaches, Hay proclaims - the ability to see both the miraculous in nature and the consequences of our actions. We can't truly know ourselves, says Hay, without knowing the wild. Nature, not psychology, is the path to our deeper selves." "In our increasingly split-second world, a life like John Hay's - rooted, wild, and connected to nature - provides a radical counterpoint to our screen-filled indoor existence. Gessner was remarkably affected by this man on the hill. Readers too will be challenged and changed."--BOOK JACKET