Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore

* 300 pages 

* 200+ beautiful color photographs. 

* 57 Chapters including, orchids, swamp pink, carnivorous plants, cranberries, lichens, mushrooms, oaks, pines, turtles, frogs, hawks, owls, horseshoe crabs, shell fish, the bays, rivers and streams, blue holes, sand, tides, wetlands, salt hay, and more. 

* Foreword by Howard Boyd.  

To order a copy signed by Michael A. Hogan send a check or money order for $56.00 to:

Michael Hogan                                           
1511 12th Ave.                                           
Dorothy  NJ 08317                                     
                                                                     

Book cost              $50.00
NJ Sales Tax              3.00 
Shipping                    3.00
________________________
Total                      $56.00

For information call 609-476-2086 or mailto:hoganpho@cavtel.net

By LAWRENCE R. HAJNA
Courier-Post Columnist
Come, take an armchair tour of South Jersey's natural wonders.

Gaze in awe at a vast mud flat along Delaware Bay, its rippled sand glowing like miniature dunes in a Sahara sunset.

Paddle down a Pine Barrens river, bright green grasses swaying gently in its cedar current.

And for something surreal, get down on your hands and knees and inspect sundew plants, carnivorous denizens of Pinelands bogs that are bristled with sticky hairs that trap insects.

All this adventure can be had simply by flipping through the pages of Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore.

The new coffee-table book, written by the late Robert A. Peterson and photographed largely by South Jersey conservationist Michael A. Hogan, is a compendium of all that's subtle, sublime and sweeping about South Jersey's landscape.

You may think of South Jersey as lacking luster, perhaps even downright boring. But Peterson's prose and Hogan's lens may inspire you to see our modest corner of the globe in a new light, even if the outdoors isn't your thing.

Hogan, 44, a longtime Bellmawr resident who now lives in Weymouth, Atlantic County, hopes the book sparks interest in the region's environment, especially for kids.

He is passionate about South Jersey's environment, especially the Pinelands. "I hope this book touches people who live in or near the area, makes them more aware of this treasure," he said.

This is Hogan's first book. He is a professional photographer who works with environmental groups and sells prints.

For years, Hogan had been told printing a full-color, limited-production book would be too expensive. Finally, Medford-based Plexus Publishing, which works with South Jersey authors, latched onto the idea.

The company hooked Hogan up with Peterson, a columnist for weekly newspapers in Atlantic County who lived in Egg Harbor City. Joining them was Steve Greer, a nature photographer from Moorestown, who contributed about two dozen of the book's more than 200 photos.

Peterson, author of two previous books for Plexus, adapted some of his columns and wrote new ones to work seamlessly with the photography.

"I'm not sure what impressed me most: the breadth and depth of his knowledge, his contagious enthusiasm, or his storytelling ability," said Plexus editor John B. Bryans.

The 57 chapters are informative vignettes, covering nearly every imaginable facet of the natural world in South Jersey: blueberries and blue holes, cranberries and crabs, monarch butterflies and mushrooms, honeybees and hawks, beavers and bog iron, sand and snow.

They touch on mankind's relationships with the land and water, as well as the interactions between plants and animals.

Only a few pages are dedicated to the mainstream Jersey Shore of saltwater taffy and boardwalks. Rather, the word shore in the book's title is more appropriately applied to the Delaware Bay region, a place of desolate beaches, expansive wetlands, and abundant wildlife.

Like the Pinelands, the bay shore is special to Hogan; he fears it could one day be lost to development.

The book is broken up into segments by nature-based biblical passages. A deeply religious man and father of seven, Peterson was also headmaster of the Pilgrim Academy, a Christian K-12 school in Galloway. He lived in Egg Harbor City.

Peterson died of a heart attack on Aug. 1, 2003. He was only 47. However, he did see a rough draft of the book on CD just a week before he died, said his wife, Susanna.

She can now almost hear her husband's voice as she reads the chapters of his final book.

"The book is more beautiful than we ever expected; it's breathtaking, and it's a gift to have this as his legacy," she said.

"He enjoyed showing people that this is a beautiful place." 

• Reach Lawrence Hajna at (856) 486-2466 or lhajna@courierpostonline.com

February 28, 2005, Medford, New Jersey—Plexus Publishing, Inc. has announced the publication of

Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore, written by the late Robert A. Peterson with selected

in 2003 at the age of 47, researched and wrote much of the material for his regular column in The Egg

Harbor News, significantly revising and expanding it for inclusion in the book. He joined forces with

shame Bob did not live to see Natural Wonders published, but I take some solace in a conversation we

capturing the beauty and uniqueness of southern New Jersey, Natural Wonders makes it clear why so

Author Robert A. Peterson (1956-2003) was an educator, journalist, historian, and avid sportsman. A

Year." The author of more than 2,000 newspaper articles, his other books include Patriots, Pirates, and

Principal photographer Michael A. Hogan ranks among southern New Jersey’s premier outdoor

including Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore (2005/ 312 pp/hardcover with

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