The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring

Richard Preston’s 2007 non-fiction book, The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring, is a riveting account of California’s coastal redwoods—which were thought of as unclimbable at the time—and the daring young men and women who defied the mythos surrounding these ancient trees by scaling them. Though Preston is known for the riveting contents of his trilogy on deadly viruses, which began with The Hot Zone, his shift to the unknown world of coastal redwoods, indeed, brings a fascinating subject to light. Preston follows his main character, nineteen-year-old Steve Sillett, as well as Steve’s second wife, Marie Antoine, and his older brother, T. Scott Sillett, as the group of nature lovers explores the canopy world of the redwoods while simultaneously exploring themes of love, passion, nature, and endurance with a larger group of friends.

Northern California coastal redwood trees, known as Sequoia sempervirens, are considered the tallest species of tree on earth. They are also some of the oldest and largest living organisms. Though more than 96 percent of these ancient forests have been destroyed by logging, what remains holds a spectacularly quiet world of wonder. The oldest of these trees are thought to be more than 2,000 – 3,000 years old, putting them in the same bracket as the Parthenon. Moreover, redwoods don’t die if they burn; they survived the asteroid extinction some 65 million years ago that decimated dinosaurs and other planetary organisms. Preston takes these fascinating facts and fleshes out the history of these trees further. In a sense, he makes them living, breathing characters in his narrative as well.

Added to this touch of anthropomorphism are the real-life characters that come to inhabit the trees through their attempts at seeking life in the canopy. A few of the group’s most notable characters are nineteen-year-old Steve Sillett, a biology major; Michael Taylor, a forestry school drop-out who sells knives out of his tricked-out Volkswagen Marie Antoine, Steve’s second wife and a colleague, Steve’s older brother, T. Scott, and Marwood Harris. This group of college students, surfers, and all-around nature lovers ascends the redwoods, with Preston (who learned how to climb for research on this book) detailing the passions and reasoning behind their dangerous endeavors.



As Preston notes early on, many view the coast redwoods as one of the last untapped places in nature. Though many thought the canopies to be devoid of life, enthusiasts like the ones that Preston describes set the record straight by showing a rich, diverse ecosystem atop the trees. The difficult thing is scaling the trees at the base, with some trees having trunks that reach thirty feet wide and that can rise more than thirty-five stories above the ground (350 – 380 feet tall). Indeed, many of these trees have formed natural cathedrals at their tops, including “fire caves,” which are sections that formed and reformed due to fires, make cave-like structures where wildlife and plant life thrive. Due to the steep trunks and the lack of knowledge surrounding the redwoods, one false step can lead to death, thus underscoring the mission these young and seemingly careless individuals take in documenting life at the tops of these redwoods.

Preston describes the canopy of these trees as a “vertical Eden,” a paradise where, miraculously, life flourishes. Lichens, mosses, bonsai trees, huckleberry bushes, ferns, and even spruce trees, are abundant in the canopy, as are organisms such as spotted salamanders. The soil found in the canopy can be up to a yard deep. One of the more beautiful aspects that the amateur sleuths find is cathedral-like spaces of intertwined branches, including one area dubbed the “Sistine Chapel” of redwoods. Humorously, Preston also includes a sex scene that takes place in suspended hammocks, nearly 300 feet up in the air, between Steve and Marie.

The narrative, though non-fiction, reads as an adventure story told firsthand. Preston’s firsthand knowledge of climbing no doubt adds to the immediacy and believability of his story, and his characters, both the coastal redwoods and the often quirky, entirely human botanists and naturists that he travels the canopies with, play no small part.



Richard Preston has been a writer for the New Yorker since 1985. His other novels include The Demon in the Freezer, The Cobra Event, and The Hot Zone, which form his bestselling trilogy. He has been honored with an award from the American Institutes of Physics. Interestingly, Preston is also the only nondoctor to receive the Champion of Prevention Award from the Center for Disease Control.