W. Jim Cortese to Speak to Knoxville Garden Club at Knoxville Botanical Garden

W. Jim Cortese is honored to be invited as a speaker for the Knoxville Garden Club’s upcoming 2027 program at the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum.

A longtime Knoxville arborist and forestry consultant, Cortese has spent much of his career helping people understand, preserve, and value the trees and landscapes that shape East Tennessee. The Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum is an especially meaningful setting for this conversation. Cortese is a co-founder and founding board member of the Garden, making the location a fitting place for a program about trees, memory, neighborhoods, and sense of place.

The program will focus on how trees shape neighborhoods, memories, and sense of place, and why certain trees stay with people long after other details fade. The topic reflects one of the central themes of Cortese’s book, John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales: trees are not only part of the natural world, but part of human memory, local history, family stories, and the identity of a place.

The talk will invite attendees to think about the trees they remember most: the trees they climbed, sat beneath, planted, protected, lost, or simply passed for years until they became part of the landscape of their lives.

Programs like this reflect Cortese’s continued work sharing tree stories, arboriculture knowledge, and reflections on the human connection to trees with garden clubs, civic groups, nature organizations, libraries, and community audiences.

Copies of John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales are expected to be available for sale at the meeting. The book is a unique anthology devoted entirely to stories about trees, bringing together history, folklore, reflection, and personal connection to explore the many ways trees shape human life.

Readers can also explore Cortese’s recent media features in Real Simple, ArborTIMES, and The Pioneer Woman, or read an excerpt from John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales to experience the storytelling, history, and human connection at the heart of the book.

To stay connected with W. Jim Cortese or inquire about speaking opportunities, visit JimCortese.com or contact him at Ji*********@*****ok.com.