Tribute to Annie Dillard: Reading “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek”
With Mary Litch
October 29, 2026
Annie Dillard’s 1974 creative nonfiction book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek has been compared to Thoreau’s Walden in both genre and style, exploring theological questions indirectly in the context of describing nature. In this four-part zoom series, we will read and discuss Pilgrim at Tinker Creek with a special emphasis on the relationship between the natural world and the Divine.
Leader
Mary Litch
Mary is a former philosophy professor who has planned and executed many out-of-the-classroom learning experiences for her students. She has facilitated a retreat on spiritual practices for Quakers. She is trained in wilderness first aid, and volunteered for several years as a docent leading outdoor travel events with Irvine Ranch Conservancy (in Orange, CA). She has spent the first six years of her retirement traveling on foot and horseback deep in the backcountry in federally-designated wilderness areas.
Learn more about Mary Litch
Mary is a former philosophy professor who has planned and executed many out-of-the-classroom learning experiences for her students. She has facilitated a retreat on spiritual practices for Quakers. She is trained in wilderness first aid, and volunteered for several years as a docent leading outdoor travel events with Irvine Ranch Conservancy (in Orange, CA). She has spent the first six years of her retirement traveling on foot and horseback deep in the backcountry in federally-designated wilderness areas.
Learn more about Mary Litch