The Wisdom of the Tools is a remarkable critique of the central issue of our time: who controls the energy that powers modern urban-industrial societies?

Conceived and written in the 1960s, when Bill Merrill was in his forties, this treatise draws on his living close to nature as a boy and observing and understanding natural processes in the Pacific Northwest as a young adult. He spells out an unprecedented transformation in the 20th century, from humans connected to the land and to each other to a population separated from nature and wrapped increasingly in machine-space.

Moreover, Merrill foretells accurately the arrival and tyranny of a corporate-military alliance that has enveloped America. The grip this alliance holds on people, and its complexity, inhibit rational thought about our collective plight. Unbridled, it threatens all life on the planet.

Click here for excerpts from "Wisdom of the Tools".

Many years ago, Ted and Bill Merrill both told bedtime stories that were lovingly referred to by their children as "exciting adventures from Dad's childhood." Eventually Ted and Bill began exchanging these stories, helping each other firm up and flesh out their memories of those "exciting adventures." This 10-year, on-and-off collaboration resulted in the publication of River Runts, which is now in its third printing.

This is an engaging and unique memoir, told with a wry wit by two brothers now in their eighties. Living in a small Idaho town, their schoolteacher father had summers free, and these stories tell of the authors' growing up years, camping and fishing on Idaho's Wood River and Salmon River for two to three months each summer.

The book paints a picture of a close and functional family, and touches on parenting, history, and society. It appears on the surface as isolated vignettes of treasured places and events, but on a deeper level it shows an orderly progression of lessons learned and skills gained, of culture and values being passed on—and the passing of an era on our planet.

Click here for excerpts from "River Runts".

From childhood, Ted Merrill has harbored and cultivated his deep fascination with life and living things. As early as eighth grade, he was reading about and discussing medicine with the only doctor in his home town of 400 people. That subject comprises the third of 65 broadly chronological stories in "I Only Dress the Wounds".

In 1948, Ted received his degree in medicine from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. His next 50 years were divided between rural general practice and hospital-based emergency medicine. In mid-career, he left medicine for two years to teach biology at Vermont's Goddard College.

Robin Dutcher, a freelance editor who assisted with the book, has this to say about "I Only Dress the Wounds":

"This book is written by a gifted storyteller, and at times it is lyrical and poetic. The doctoring the book describes seems indeed an art, a way of being in the world, of experiencing life. It shows a deep respect for human dignity, and pictures a way of living medicine that seems increasingly rare and that unfortunately is not encouraged by modern society."

Click here for excerpts from "I Only Dress the Wounds".