Garth Glazier  recently finished his final project and received his M.A. in December 2011.

 What is the title of your final project?

 “Where Have All the Giants Gone?  A Study of the Aesthetic and Social Causes and Consequences of the Extinction of Three American Shade Trees.”

 What is it about?

In this thesis project, I undertook a personal journey of discovery in the form of three creative non-fiction essays dealing with the disappearance of three culturally and economically significant native trees from our landscape. Specifically, I presented the stories of the American Chestnut, Elm, and Ash as part of a continuing narrative of extinction that has had an important meaning in my personal life, as well as a larger impact on our landscape and our culture. The writing style was in the form of three personal essays tracing the story of these extinctions in chronological form, starting with the American Chestnut, and proceeding forward with the American Elm, and ending with the American Ash. I saw the approach to this project as falling within a continuing tradition of American environmental writing as exemplified by the works of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, John Burroughs, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, and others.

 What was the most challenging aspect of the project?

The construction of these essays involved a balancing of personal revelations told in narrative form with more research-oriented material. The switching between these personal narratives (mine and that of other nature writers) and the factual data that supported my thesis was the tricky part. What I was most concerned about was achieving an important connection between my own personal story and the larger subject of the thesis in a way that felt natural and flowed well as a work of non-fiction literature. I believed that the meaning of my thesis could be achieved more effectively in this form than through the more conventional presentation of a thesis followed by supporting research.

Once I had read Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There,” I understood how this fusion could be done. Leopold, who was among the first generation of ecologists in the 1950s, used the creative non-fiction form to impact the reader by creating a sense of personal connection with the landscape. By presenting my research in a narrative form, I hoped that the reader would become more aware of the deep sense of loss that individuals like myself and others have felt in the changes that are happening right outside our back doors. I also hoped that the reader would begin to see through the eyes of the storyteller, while considering the weight of factual information presented to establish the scope of destruction that has occurred. 

 What did you learn about the subject that is of particular interest?

I learned about memory—how fragile it is—and how that fragility seems to shape our very imperfect view of the natural world. In fact, I realized about halfway through this project that memory was the real focus of each essay. Because of this I included references to Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, the Ann Frank Tree, and the famous Washington Elm as three interlinking references to the flexible nature of memory in forming new mythologies and in our modern resistance to the mounting evidence that our actions are reshaping the biomass of this planet.

 What did you learn about yourself?

 I learned that I have stories to tell and that act of telling it gives me great pleasure. I gave up a major in journalism for a major in art during college due to the steady mental decline of my father who was a talented crime reporter for the Detroit News. I feared that writing had played a role in his illness—especially since his idol was Ernest Hemmingway who also spiraled out of control late in life. I have now returned to writing.

 What advice do you have for your fellow MALS students as they think about and prepare for their final projects?

After you have considered every practical option and every sensible idea for your thesis project throw them all out and take that one crazy thought you had back in your second or third class and run with it. My thesis idea grew directly out of a thirty-page essay I wrote in the two weeks after completing the Writers in the Garden course with Linda McCloskey. I was inspired and just started writing what became a memoir style essay about growing up next to the small patch of woods behind my house in St. Clair Shores. This essay called “Into the Green Wall,” became the core of my thesis project five years later and once I understood that this was my correct path (pun intended), my thesis project seemed to write itself.

 What was your favorite MALS course and why?

The Writers in the Garden course with Linda McCloskey was my first and favorite course in the MALS program. It was the first course available when I signed up in spring of 2005 and I though it was just a nice survey of writers on the subject of gardening. When I received a copy of the syllabus in advance and realized the class was would focus on actually writing a series of essays in nonfiction form as a form of storytelling, I went nuts and read all the books before the first day of class and could not wait to start writing.

 How has the MALS course of study changed you?

I have become a writer again and now believe that writing was probably my first and best talent, while art was my chosen skill by which I could make a living as an illustrator. I hope to publish my thesis through Wayne State University Press.

 Feel free to ask/answer any other questions you feel are relevant or interesting.

Many people have asked me what exactly can you do with this degree. Personally, I am using my masters to qualify for teaching positions at 4-year colleges and universities, which require at least a masters. While the MALS degree is not considered a stepping-stone to a terminal degree, it can be useful in raising your profile in the academic world. I have just taken a part-time position at Baker College and the extra degree was helpful. Many community colleges like Macomb are now requiring a masters for instructor positions and this gives me a distinct advantage in their program. I have also become a better instructor  by observing the styles of the different professors in the program.