Dave Van Manen
Walking in Awe: Musings of a Nature-Loving Nonprofit Director

Available in paperback
The essays in Walking in Awe were written over two decades as the author strove to balance the demands of running a vibrant nonprofit with his thirst for being in Nature. Readers will delight in walking with Ranger Dave as he shares his insights and observations of Nature’s magic. This collection of essays also offers an intimate look at the joys as well as the challenges of an individual committed to the health and well-being of the nonprofit he founded, the natural world, and himself. The thread that ties these essays together is the author’s deep love of Nature and of place. Through heartfelt prose, Walking in Awe captures the author’s gift for applying Nature’s wisdom to his professional and his personal life.
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading your book of essays. Every time I read one, I thought what the hell am I doing inside reading when I should be out on a trail! I especially enjoyed the Canyonlands birthday-trip account…. What a gorgeous spot.” ~ Scott Smith
“Author, Naturalist, Environmental Educator Dave Van Manen does a splendid job of expressing how deeply profound it is to be in awe of Nature. Through his warm and personal writing, he masterfully and eloquently articulates a deep and meaningful relationship with Nature.” ~ Tami Montoya, Forest Preschool Teacher/Director
Dave Van Manen is a New York City native whose love of Nature helped lead him to Colorado in the mid-1970s. Following a career as a musician, Dave founded a nonprofit Nature education center in the small town of Beulah in Colorado’s Wet Mountains, where he has lived for nearly fifty years in a funky little cabin on a ponderosa pine hillside. Dave Van Manen is a writer, educator, musician, nonprofit consultant, father, grandfather, husband, and activist whose advocacy includes wild Nature, public lands, and Nature education.