Remembering Steven Foster
We grieve the loss of Steven Foster, who died in his home in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on January 15, 2022. One of the most influential herbalists of our time, he was a beloved and brilliant contributor to the Ozark bioregional movement, and much more besides. Author, speaker, and photographer, he left a body of work that includes 19 books and hundreds of articles as well as thousands of high-quality photographs of medicinal plants that are remarkable for their beauty as well as comprehensiveness.
Steven was not an Ozark native but arrived in the late 1970’s, when bioregionalism was taking rooting in these hills. He was in his early 20’s and already deeply engaged in herbalism after an epiphany with trillium in his native Maine woods. That encounter had immediately led to a four-year apprenticeship at the Sabbathday Lake Maine Shaker Community Herb Department, America's oldest herb business.
On his arrival in the Ozarks, he quickly took his place as a shaping force of the Ozarks bioregional movement. He was a part of the community that also founded the Ozark Area Community Congress. From this base, he began his earliest research that started his rapid rise to fame as an herbalist. This early work includes research on Echinacea, which was key to bringing this herb into the limelight; and he also conducted research on the unusual similarities of medicinal plants growing in China and the Ozarks.
As a frequent speaker at OACC through the years, he shared his knowledge generously. Last year in 2021, at OACC 42, his presentation focused on Ozark plants of value in the herbal trade. Additionally, he was among those interviewed on film for the Ozark back-to-the-land documentary that is currently in production. The original video tape of that interview will be archived at Missouri State University, in Springfield, MO, where it will be available to researchers.
He will be missed deeply, by friends, family, and colleagues near and far.
A selection of books authored and co-authored by Steven Foster:
Echinacea Exalted, 1984
Herbal Bounty! The Gentle Art of Herb Culture, 1984
East-West Botanicals: Comparisons of Medicinal Plants Disjunct Between Eastern Asia and Eastern North America; Ozark Beneficial Plant Project, 1986
Echinacea--Nature's Immune Enhancer, 1991
Herbal Emissaries: Bringing Chinese Herbs to the West: A Guide to Gardening, Herbal Wisdom, and Well-Being, 1992
Herbal Renaissance, Growing, Using & Understanding Herbs in the Modern World, 1993
A Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 2002
Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, 2014
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Steven Foster. For forty-seven years, Steven Foster, has been fascinated "herbs." Steven began his career in 1974 at the Sabbathday Lake, Maine, Shaker Community's Herb Department, which dates to 1799, then arrived in the Ozarks in late 1979, where he has been stuck since. He is author and photographer of ninteen books, including senior author of three Peterson field guides, most recently the 2014 3rd ed. of the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs (with James A. Duke; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) , plus National Geographic’s A Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine (2006, with Rebecca Johnson), a New York Public Library “Best of Reference." See: www.stevenfoster.com.
Wren and Ini steward 18 acres in the Bryant Creek watershed. They spent years traveling and working on organic farms and visiting ecovillages to gain skills, perspectives and a clear vision. Their land project, Mountain Jewel, is home to experiments in perennial agriculture, natural building, agroforestry and integrated bioregional living. They both completed the Permaculture Design Course over a decade ago and have been implementing aspects of Permaculture within the unique biome of the Ozarks.
They seek to showcase and teach a variety of techniques and approaches to an ecologically aligned lifestyle. Establishing and maintaining forest gardens, they are working towards a stable, regenerative food system with low inputs and ever increasing abundance. By establishing a small nursery focused on pawpaws, elders, persimmons and other native fruit and nuts trees and shrubs, they hope to spread useful genetics so that abundant perennial agricultural systems are more accessible. They have been developing educational programs to empower others on this path and offer workshops seasonally at Mountain Jewel. Their is website is ozarkmountainjewel.com
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Program subject to change.
For more information contact our Coordination Team: Oaccleaf@gmail.com