Swimming with Turtles

“I love this book! It’s a wonder and a revelation.“—Sy Montgomery, bestselling author, Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell

”Swimming With Turtles inspires. It left me buzzing with the desire to get outside and immerse myself in the world. This book is a brave dive into the unknown—an open, honest story of living and rediscovering life. It’s filled with insights and nuggets of wisdom so valuable that I found myself writing them down as I read.“—Kai Potter, author of Noticing: The Quiet Season on Outer Cape Cod

“A rare kind of exploration story—one that illuminates not only a hidden world of ponds and turtles but the inner landscapes we all travel as we age, grieve, and rediscover joy. Susan Baur shows us that wonder is not a fleeting emotion; it is a compass, and it points us back to life.”—Richard Wiese, President, The Explorers Club

“Refreshing, constantly surprising, and with a maverick curiosity that is full of humor while challenging lazy narratives and stereotypes, Susan’s journey to becoming a citizen of the natural world shows us that joy is what inspires action. Swimming with Turtles is for anyone who needs to get back in touch with the possible.“—Patrick Naylor, editor, The Outdoor Swimming Society

“This exquisitely written book—lyrical, astute, and frankly, moving—is an important and compelling contribution to the conversation on protecting fragile ecosystems, supporting biodiversity, and maintaining the integrity of the landscape. But more than that, Baur shows us how thoughtful, open, curious, and consistent engagement with nature can profoundly change us. It’s less a question of crisis management and more a way of moving positively, even joyfully, through the world.“—Cynthia Blakeley, author of The Innermost House: A Memoir

“Susan Baur has re-written the art of observation, a skill that is waning in our immediate AI driven world. To swim with the turtles is to open a world of patience, nuance and wonder!“—Ian Ives, Director Massachusetts Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, Barnstable

“This is not only a splendid tale of personal transformation, but a truly transforming book. Put on your mask for an unforgettable dive into a beautiful underwater world.“—Alan Flashman, MD, Psychiatrist, author of Family Therapies For the 21st Century

“I salute Susan Baur, who offers us a great gift: an account of wonder which reveals the work that a life changed by wonder requires, but also the transformation it can accomplish. Everything that matters about this vital subject is here.“—Patrick Curry, author of Enchantment: Wonder In Modern Life and Art and Enchantment: How Wonder Works

“A meditation celebrating the discovery of wonder that helps us dive into the difficulties, mystery, and miracle of being alive. A book worth making a companion.“—James McGuire, MD, Psychiatrist

“Susan Baur’s stories of meeting and befriending turtles in Cape Cod kettle ponds are fascinating. The lessons of learning her own cold water swimming limits, how to interact with snapping turtles, and how to draw a turtle without preconceived notions are profoundly instructive for each of us.”—Steve Waller, author of A Moving Meditation: Life on a Cape Cod Kettle Pond

“In Cape Cod’s modest ponds, Susan Baur, a lifelong explorer, learns that as age constricts, wonder expands. She takes readers along as she learns about local turtles, through whom she masters the difficult arts of observation, patience, and acceptance of what she can’t change: people’s ingrained attitudes, aging, and dying. She writes with the lyricism of a poet and the mind of a scientist.“—Martha Molnar, author of Playing God in the Meadow: How I Learned to Admire My Weeds

“Reading this book feels like running into an old friend. Through gorgeous, immersive prose, Baur perfectly captures the delight and wonder that comes from fully plunging oneself into nature and then allowing yourself to be still and observant. She makes a strong argument for why we’d all be better off spending more time in the natural world. This is an inspiring tale, especially because so often it can feel overwhelming or impossible to change—as you age, as you get set in your ways, as the climate gets more altered by human activity. Baur makes it clear that it’s never too late to try. I hope I am swimming like Baur when I am 80!“—E.B. Bartels, author of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter

Susan Baur is a retired psychologist and author of several books of clinical tales, including The Dinosaur Man: Tales of Madness and Enchantment from the Back Ward and Confiding: A Psychotherapist and Her Patients Search for Stories to Live By.

She has also published four children’s books in The Turtle Sisters series, and her writings on turtles have appeared in Griffith Review and Passager Journal. Susan is the Founder of Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG) and resides, and swims, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

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