Barbara G. Walker (1993 Humanist Heroine) is the author of twenty-four books and numerous articles on topics ranging from comparative religion, history, mythology, and symbolism to mineral lore and knitting. Her Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets has been continuously in print since 1983 and her latest, Belief and Unbelief, was published last year by Humanist Press.
TheHumanist.com
I love Barbara Walker’s scholarship with something approaching devotion. She is a noted scholar of cultural anthropology, religion, Mythology and pre-Indo-European Neolithic matriarchies – and of all things, knitting. I find her inspiring.
You would be amazed if you saw my copy of The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. About five years ago, the spine broke, and now the book is in four pieces, with some loose pages to lovingly keep track of. They are old and brittle. Many pages are folded down from the top and others folded up from the bottom. Highlights are many, and come in both pink and yellow. Underlines appear in black, red, blue and green ink (sometime all of these on a single page), a color code of what was important to me on different passes through the book – different eras of my life. It’s well loved.
At least once a week I think I should get a new one, but I never do. I often track down the books cited in the extensive footnotes that follow each topic. Her scholarship is impeccable. I don’t always cite her as I should, but it everything goes back to her. In grad school, my professor put it in his bibliography in the optional books category, but he singled it out by name in class, saying: If you only get one book from this section, get Walker. I did. I was blown away. Still am. I remember thinking: Someone should write a novel about this stuff.