Henry Beston on why we need pure dark nights

    Pure dark nights, Henry Beston reminds us, are not in the category of a nicety: they are primal:

   Our fantastic civilization has fallen out of touch with many aspects of nature, and with none more completely than with night. . . .

    With lights and ever more lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of night back to the forests and the sea. . . .

    These lines are from “Night on the Great Beach,” in his book The Outermost House, by Henry Beston, and they are on the frontispiece of Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark, by Paul Bogard, University of Nevada Press, 2008.
    For a brief biography of Henry Beston, click here. For images of and about Henry Beston, click here. For a description and reviews of Let There Be Night, click here. For the website of The International Dark-Sky Association, click here.