Jim Pfitzer
Chattanooga storyteller, conservationist, and author Jim Pfitzer has felt the pull of the natural world since childhood. Whether fishing, bird watching, canoeing, deer hunting or gathering wild edibles, he is at home in the woods and knows how to read the landscape. He has also performed as a storyteller in numerous venues, including the Dade County Library.
Pfitzer has delighted audiences with his story of Aldo Leopold, this man who developed The Land Ethic, in his one man show, Aldo Leopold: A Standard of Change. He has performed the show at venues as diverse as the Bonaroo music festival, the Geography of Hope Conference at Point Reyes, California, and the Aldo Leopold Center at Baraboo, Wisconsin. Leopold is an iconic character in the conservation movement, best known for his book, A Sand County Almanac, yet virtually unknown to the larger society.
He read and reread Leopold’s book, A Sand County Almanac, before he developed the production. He then reviewed papers and letters only available at the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin and at the archives of the University of Wisconsin where Leopold taught.
In the show he recites parts of Leopold’s essay, “Marshland Elegy,” a farewell to the cranes, which Leopold believed would soon become extinct. In his lifetime, they were a vanishing species. Just as Leopold’s hard work as a conservationist paid off in restoration of the landscape, Pfitzer’s hard work paid off in a presentation which receives requests for repeat performances.
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Ray Zimmerman has organized events and served as Master of Ceremonies at numerous venues. His photography, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in regional and national publications.