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Traveling Light and Intelligent
Essays that Go to Many Lands
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And the Rivers Run Red by Sonia P. Seherr-Thoss is a collection of essays that celebrate the experience of travel-all travel. It promotes a wide-eyed, enthusiastic response to new and different places; it also promotes learning and appreciation of cultural diversity. And the Rivers Run Red kindly and elegantly reminds us of our responsibilities as citizens on earth.
 Armchair travel lets us explore new lands without ever setting foot on an airplane. With And the Rivers Run Red in hand we readers learn a lot about the landscapes of Egypt, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Madagascar, the American Southwest, and New England. We also learn about the history of these places and, especially important, we learn a bit about how the people in those areas think: their religions, philosophies, and social customs. This kind of learning is important for building tolerance between people, one of the quiet points of this book. We find out about Persian women and how they think about the harem; the reserve and particular warmth of the people of Litchfield, Connecticut, a small New England town with customs that date back to the eighteenth century; Shah Akbar, a sixteenth-century Indian ruler, and how he strove-somewhat successfully-to meld Muslim and Hindu cultures; and how the young Pharaoh Akhnaton and his exquisitely beautiful queen, Nefertiti, voyaged down the Nile to begin a new religion-the first religion with one supreme god.
- Accompanied by an assortment of black-and-white photos, this collection of travel essays both entices and fulfills. Thoughtful and contemplative, And the Rivers Run Red prods us to wonder-along with the author-about these civilizations and how they get along-or don't-in the world.
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About the Author: Sonia P. Seherr-Thoss is a graduate of Columbia University, where she majored in economics and sociology. She has pursued a double career in social services and dairy agriculture, and is a worldwide photographer. She has been President of the Litchfield (Connecticut) Historical Society and of the Oliver Wolcott Library, and was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for community service. She has also received the Distinguished Friend of Education Award from the Connecticut Association of Schools. She is the author of Human To Be (Fithian Press) and Design and Color in Islamic Architecture (Smithsonian Institution Press). |
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