John R. Quinn is an artist-naturalist with more than forty years' experience. Born and raised in the Village of Ridgefield Park, located at the northern edge of New Jersey's Meadowlands, he has published ten books on nature and science.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  Introduction  Home Ground  Starting PointHome Ground RevisitedYesterday - LenapehokingThe Golden DoorPatriots, Loyalists, and NeutralsOf Mosquitoes and MenRailroadsA "Monstrous Visual Symbol"A Gathering of GracklesSuburban HawkeyesThe MeadowsmenToday - The View from the TurnpikeThe Oradell Dam and a Changing RiverFlightTomorrow - Grand Plan for the MeadowlandsThe HEART of the MeadowlandsTaking Care of BusinessThe Seventeen-Acre Dot in the SwamplandsFlowers from GarbageTeach Your Children WellMessage on an Observation-Blind WallPostscriptEpilogue      EXPLORING THE MEADOWLANDS  By Boat    Fishing      On Foot    Parks and Other Facilities  Education    BIBLIOGRAPHY  INDEX

John Quinn has written an insightful book about the Meadowlands. He effectively blends his experiences and perspectives about the changing Meadowlands and those of other residents (past and present) with facts on the history, wildlife, and the uncertain future of this urban wildland to produce an interesting and timely work. I highly recommend this book to people living in the Newark-New York metropolitan area and to others interested in wetlands and environmental conservation. - Ralph Tiner (Wetland Ecologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) John Quinn's recollections and dramatic drawings create a portrait in text and line of a surprising urban wetland. A valuable addition to volumes of New Jersey. - Anne Galli (Director, Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission's Environment Center)