Forthcoming book Spring 2025

I’m thrilled to announce the publication of my forthcoming book to be released May 20, 2025 by Holy Cow! Press. Jim Perlman is the founding editor and publisher of this longstanding, independent press housed in Duluth, Minnesota. I'm delighted to be part of this prestigious history!

This nature journey through the trees presents tree ID and botany facts as well as exploring the vital and universal connection we each have with nature. After my dad died, I revived his Tree Trek legacy, an educational tree ID tour he initiated in my hometown's city park and where I continue to lead Tree Treks today, taking up where he left off. Reading this book is in a way like joining one of my Tree Treks with several additional levels woven in as I tell the story of my grief and loss while healing through nature.

 "It is a rare pleasure to go for a walk among the trees with someone who clearly knows and loves them as much as I do. There is a wealth of scientific and botanical knowledge here (Linnaeus would be proud!) but much more than that, we find also a true depth of feeling and understanding. 'Each tree,' writes Stephanie Mirocha, 'is a world unto itself.' And so it is. But there is a dimension--a near mystical connection, perhaps--where the world of the tree touches and reflects the inner world of the human being. Someone who is hurting, perhaps. In need of guidance. Of comfort or inspiration. It is of that world--that connection--that Stephanie writes so beautifully. She says that in getting to know the trees, she has also found herself. I suspect that may be the case for any reader who treks among the trees with her."

--Douglas Wood, author of Old Turtle, Deep Woods, Wild Waters, and A Wild Path 

"Tree Trek is an intensely personal story of one woman’s exploration of trees and family grief. Tapping into a lifetime of experience with nature, Ms. Mirocha successfully blends scientific knowledge with personal discovery. Through her narrative the healing power of trees is revealed. We learn that trees are good listeners, but they don’t say much. Using an engaging writing style, Ms. Mirocha speaks for the trees and for all of us who have dealt with grief."

—Welby Smith, author of Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota

"For all of us who long to be reminded of the power of nature to heal, Stephanie Mirocha’s poignant memoir is a welcome blessing. More than simply a soothing walk in a park, more than an affectionate, enlightening meditation on the nature and character of Earth’s most enduring plants, more than a master naturalist’s journey through grief, Tree Trek is a touching, tender testament to the everlasting love between a father and daughter. I heartily recommend this beautiful book to all of us who seek to be moved by an inspiring story of familial love and to all of us who seek restoration in nature."

—Andrea Gilats, author of After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief  and Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity