Conversations from the Pointed Firs: Minister, musician and author Rob McCall

January 30, 2022

Rob McCall joins host Peter Neill to discuss the tradition of nature writing in Maine, the characteristics of the genre, and the various methodologies and principles that underlie this special means by which to evoke and understand the natural world that surrounds us.

The Maine Monitor is proud to partner with the World Ocean Observatory to bring the Conversations from the Pointed Firs podcast to our audience.

Editor’s Note: The Maine Monitor is partnering with Peter Neill of the World Ocean Observatory to bring you this hour-long interview podcast.

Conversations from the Pointed Firs is a monthly interview-style podcast where Peter talks with authors and artists who live in Maine, work in Maine, or otherwise derive their creativity from the essence of Maine.

The guest for this episode is Rob McCall, a minister and a musician, a naturalist and a nature writer, and creator of the Awanadjo Almanack heard on WERU-FM and circulated across Maine in various publications. His most recent book is “Some Glad Morning, Holding Hope in Apocalyptic Times.”

In this episode of Conversations from the Pointed Firs, McCall and Neill discuss the tradition of nature writing in Maine, the characteristics of the genre, and the various methodologies and principles that underlie this special means by which to evoke and understand the natural world that surrounds us.

McCall is an ordained minister who from 1986 until his retirement in 2014 was pastor of the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill. He is a fiddler, mandolin player, singer and guitarist and has worked as an elementary school teacher, handyman, tree and landscape contractor, church sexton, chimney sweep, and the foreman of a 250-acre apple orchard.

His “Small Misty Mountain” was published by Pushcart Press in 2006 and distributed by W.W. Norton. “Great Speckled Bird”, a collection of essays and sermons, was published by Pushcart Press in 2012.

Peter Neill

Peter Neill is founder and director of the World Ocean Observatory, a web-based place of exchange for information and educational services about the health of the ocean. Throughout his career, Peter has served as an advocate and independent consultant for strategic planning and innovation to organizations devoted to marine affairs, education, and public engagement. He is host of the long-running World Ocean Radio weekly audio feature, celebrating 12 years and 600 episodes in 2021; and Conversations from the Pointed Firs, a one-hour radio show on WERU-FM, wherein he interviews artists and authors who live in Maine, work in Maine, or otherwise derive their creativity from the essence of Maine.