Songs from Fern’s Pond
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Product Details
Publisher: GFB
Release Date: April 22, 2025
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook
ISBN: HC: 978-1-964721-39-2; PB: 978-1-959411-15-4; EB: 978-1-964721-40-8
Trim: 5.5 x 8.5
Page Count: 166
Composing a Life with Courage, Gratitude, and Joy
Sheryl Pothier Harmer
Reminiscent of Mary Oliver’s A Thousand Mornings and Amanda Thomson’s Belonging, this evocative blend of poetry, prose, and personal letters unfurls a story of an untamed, beautiful place—and one woman’s choice to spend the last chapter of her life making it her home.
At age sixty-two, Fern started a new life.
Recently widowed, she found a piece of neglected acreage above the Snake River on which to build a home, forge a community—and find renewed purpose. On the land around Fern’s Pond, she nurtured a vineyard, an abundant garden, and a small farm of sheep, a cow, and chickens. She befriended wild ducks and harvested trout in her waters, and she used the materials that grew around the pond and springs to weave baskets—unique works of art that captured the elegance of the natural world.
Songs from Fern’s Pond is a collage of poetry, letters, and prose that captures the universal resilience of the human spirit through the humor and courage of a woman who fearlessly pursued the life she dreamed of. A duet of text between mother and daughter, it’s a transcendent vision of the rough, wild, and beautiful landscape of the heart—and a reminder that every chapter is worth living to its fullest.
About the Author
Sheryl Pothier Harmer grew up in southern Idaho, the proud great-granddaughter of pioneers in the Sun Valley / Ketchum area. She holds a doctorate in education with a focus on social and emotional learning (SEL). Her career in education ranged from the classroom to the principal’s office, culminating in the award of National Distinguished Principal from Washington State in 1998. She went on to serve as director of program development for a non-profit, creating internationally recognized SEL curriculums for schools; worked as an educational consultant; and was a cofounder of the edtech Aperture Education. Sheryl now lives and writes in Seattle, surrounded by her family and nature.
Reviews
“A stirring poetic tribute. . . . Quick bursts of natural descriptions result in powerful moments . . . evok[ing] the careful attentiveness of famed ecologists, with nature made to mingle with human dramas throughout. Blending elements of memorialization with nature writing, Songs from Fern’s Pond is a poetry collection that explores loss, family, and the power of human will.” —Foreword Clarion Reviews
“A beautifully impressionistic weaving of anecdotes, poetry, and personal letters and an ode to the seasons of a year, of a life, and of a lineage. Harmer has created, in her mother, Fern, a richly unforgettable protagonist and matriarch. As the weaving continues, much like with her own baskets, the warp and weft of Fern’s life becomes ever more discernible. And readers will find, in the end, that it is the interspersal of the rough and the smooth, the ordinary and the bold, that makes the finished product one of such unique and memorable beauty. If what they say is true—that life is a work of art and we must all endeavor to remain its artist—we could do worse than follow in the path of Fern, who met the rough and the smooth with good cheer and never ceased living her life with generosity and intention.” —Alexandra A. Chan, author of In the Garden Behind the Moon
“How privileged we are to see a life through another’s eyes . . . a life we would have never known, never crossed paths with if not for Sheryl Pothier Harmer’s Songs from Fern’s Pond. In this collection, Harmer intersperses poems depicting the life of Fern—a hard-working woman full of love and grit—with actual letters the author and family received from Fern throughout her life. Some are very slice-of-life, and some will make you chuckle, but they all tell a story. Harmer illustrates beautifully through these poems and letters how the seasons of our life change, how the world as we know it is here for a time then gone, how it takes every single moment to truly live a life. Songs from Fern’s Pond so eloquently takes us out of our own lives and puts us into hers. It’s sure to leave a legacy on the hearts of readers for years to come, which, I feel confident, is how Fern would have intended.” —Amber Showalter, poet and author of Death Will Be Our Curfew
“Songs from Fern’s Pond contains the essence of not just surviving, but thriving. Herein lie the keys to adaptation, positivity, and joy that readers can easily learn from. A memoir, an artist’s journey, a celebration of nature, a learning opportunity that supports ongoing life education, or an uplifting story of adaptation and joy . . . highly recommended.” —Midwest Book Review