Exciting News for The Garden’s Book Club

“The water coming out of your kitchen tap is four billion years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex,” says author Charles Fishman.

Wow, never really thought of it that way. It certainly does make you stop and think before you sip!

Our fledgling Botanical Book Club got some great news this week when we were contacted by Charles Fishman,  author of the book they are reading, The Big Thirst.  The book club meets today at 11 a.m. in the Lora Robins Library in the Education & Library Complex.  Needless to say, this is going to be a very special book club meeting.

The Garden’s Executive Director, Shane Tippett, will start the meeting by speaking for a few minutes about Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s water management plan and our plans to build a demonstration garden to educate the public about what they can do in their own backyard to help keep the Chesapeake Bay clean. Then Mr. Fishman will join the book club conversation for 15 minutes via conference call from Mexico City.

Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on ipods or movie tickets: $21 billion. A journey into the economics — and psychology — of an unlikely business boom. And what it says about our culture of indulgence.

Gretchen Friday, the book club’s leader and founder says, “We are all thrilled to have been offered the unique opportunity to speak to Mr. Fishman about his book. We are looking forward to hearing his thoughts and being able to ask him questions about The Big Thirst. ”

The Garden’s Botanical Book Club meets the second Friday, every other month at 11 a.m. in the Lora Robins Library of the Education & Library Complex.

If you’d like to learn more about Charles Fishman and his ideas about water, you can also listen to his interview on NPR’s Fresh Air. 
Photos courtesy of http://www.thebigthirst.com/