Our Chelsea Green Authors : Diane Wilson

Diane Wilson

Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper, began fishing the bays off the Gulf Coast of Texas at the age of eight. By 24 she was a boat captain. In 1989, while running her brother's fish house at the docks and mending nets, she read a newspaper article that listed her home of Calhoun County as the number one toxic polluter in the country. She set up a meeting in the town hall to discuss what the chemical plants were doing to the bays and thus began her life as an environmental activist. Threatened by thugs and despised by her neighbors, Diane insisted the truth be told and that Formosa Plastics stop dumping toxins into the bay.

Her work on behalf of the people and aquatic life of Seadrift, Texas, has won her a number of awards including: National Fisherman Magazine Award, Mother Jones's Hell Raiser of the Month, Louis Gibbs' Environmental Lifetime Award, Louisiana Environmental Action (LEAN) Environmental Award, Giraffe Project, Jenifer Altman Award, and the Bioneers Award. She is co-founder of Code Pink and continues to lead the fight for social justice.

An Unreasonable Woman is Diane's first book.

    Diane's Upcoming Events

    • Diane Wilson at League of Women Voters event
      September 6, 2008, 7:00 pm

      Diane Wilson will be the keynote speaker at the Corpus Christi, TX League of Women Voters' annual celebration of women's rights on September 6th. Call (361) 880-6501 to learn more.

    • Diane Wilson at Green Mountain College
      One College Circle, Poultney, VT 05764
      September 15, 2008, 7:00 pm

      Diane Wilson will address the community at Green Mountain College on September 15th in conjunction with the college's freshman reading program, which has selected Diane's first book, An Unreasonable Woman, as their title for this fall. Call 1-800-776-6675 to learn more.

    • Diane Wilson at Odyssey Bookshop
      9 College St., South Hadley MA 01075
      September 16, 2008, 7:00 pm

      Diane Wilson will read from and discuss her new book, Holy Roller, at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA on Tuesday, September 16th at 7 pm. Call (413)-534-7307 to learn more.

    • Diane Wilson keynote at SIBA Trade Show
      Marriott Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, 64 South Water Street, Mobile, AL 36602
      September 26, 2008, 9:00 am

      Diane Wilson will deliver a keynote speech at the annual trade show of the Southern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA) taking place in Mobile, Alabama from September 26-28, 2008. Call 803.779.0118 to learn more.

    • Diane Wilson at Lemuria Books
      202 Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 North, Jackson MS 39206
      September 29, 2008, 7:00 pm

      Diane Wilson will read from and discuss her new book, Holy Roller, at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi on September 29th at 7:00 pm. Call 601.366.7619 to learn more.

    • Diane Wilson at Davis-Kidd Booksellers
      The Mall at Green Hills, 2121 Green Hills Village Drive, Suite 281, Nashville TN 37215
      October 2, 2008, 7:00 pm

      Diane Wilson will read from and discuss her new book, Holy Roller, at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville on October 2nd at 7:00 pm. Call 615-385-2645 to learn more.

    Diane's Books

    An Unreasonable Woman

    A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas

    A lyrical, gripping narrative about one woman's fight to save her community, An Unreasonable Woman is an Erin Brockovich thriller with the literary richness of a Barbara Kingsolver novel.

    Holy Roller

    Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus

    In this rollicking memoir, Diane Wilson—a Texas Gulf Coast shrimper and the author of the highly acclaimed An Unreasonable Woman—takes readers back to her childhood in rural Texas and into her family of Holy Rollers.

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