Op-Comic: My neighbor, the copper beech

Illustration in comic-style of red leaves on a blue sky.

By Kevin C. Pyle

March 13, 2022 3:30 AM PT

Illustration of red leaves. "This past fall, the new owners of the house next door cut down a healthy old-growth tree."

Illustration of a tree. "We had come to think of this magnificent copper beech located feet from our property as our own"

Illustration of leaves. "Judging from the flurry of text messages from neighbors we were not alone in this feeling"

Illustration of a chopped tree. "The thing that most surprised me was how sad and angry it made my family and me feel"

Man reading at a tree. "In 'The Overstory' by Richard Powers he tells stories of individuals connected to particular trees"

Neighbors in an overgrown yard. "The book set me thinking more deeply about biodiversity and 'rewilding'"

Hands on a laptop. "I had been given a copy by my sister-in-law and we wrote to each other during her cancer treatment"

Hands of a patient. "It inspired a promise made to her just before she died - that we would plant a tree in her honor"

Illustration of a newly planted tree. "This spring we have space to plant a tree even more meaningful than the one we lost"

Kevin C. Pyle is an illustrator and the author of several graphic novels and nonfiction books, including “Migrant: Stories of Hope and Resilience.”

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