20 women writing about the outdoors

13. Ann Haymond Zwinger

Where to start with Ann Haymond Zwinger? She was a formidable author, with more than 20 books to her name over a career that spanned three decades. That’s quite a serious accomplishment for anyone, but especially so for Zwinger, who raised three daughters and often traveled across the country with her Air Force pilot husband.

Thankfully, the family settled in Colorado Springs in the 1960s, adding a bit of stability to their lives. Zwinger and her husband eventually bought 40 acres of land in the area, where she became even more interested in the natural landscape of the American West. She named the land “Constant Friendship” for the ship that brought her ancestors across the Atlantic and to the Americas.

The landscape proved to be interesting for Zwinger, who had lived in Indiana during her early life. Colorado’s high elevation, dry climate, and dramatic geology made a stark contrast to her early days.

While roaming the property, she began to catalog and illustrate the plants she found there. This drive eventually blossomed into a career as a writer focused not only on plants but also on the animals, geography, archaeology, and history of the region. Zwinger also drew on two art degrees to create compelling, beautiful artworks to accompany her text.

Her writing was especially noted for its lyricism and precise attention to detail. That’s well on display in her 1975 book, Run, River, Run: A Naturalist’s Journey Down One of the Great Rivers of the West. She said she had “rivers in her veins” from growing up near Indiana’s White River and was fascinated by the Colorado, Green, and San Juan Rivers closer to her Colorado Springs home.