Seamus McGraw is a full-time writer who has seen his work published in Playboy, Reader’s Digest, Penthouse, Radar, Spin, and The Forward. He has received the Freedom of Information Award from the Associated Press Managing Editors, as well as honors from the Casey Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists. McGraw is currently working on a documentary trailer about his family’s experiences with the Marcellus shale. He grew up pitching hay and spreading manure on the same fields the gas companies are now prospecting. He still lives in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and four children.
Praise for The End of Country“[An] impressively detailed, highly
engaging look at issues of energy policy, economics, and sociology
that arose when a bucolic town was suddenly faced with the
‘traveling circus’ of energy exploration. McGraw presents a rich
history of the economics and geopolitics of energy as well as a
fascinating cast of characters . . . A completely engaging look at
how energy policy affected a quiet, rural town.”—Booklist (starred
review)
“Deeply personal, sometimes moving, sometimes funny, The End of
Country lays out the promises and the perils faced not just by the
people of one small Pennsylvania town but by our whole
nation.”—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“The End of Country is an elegantly written and unsettling account
of what can happen when big energy companies come calling in rural
America. This cautionary tale should be required reading for all
those tempted by the calling cards of easy money and precarious
peace of mind. The result too often is bitter feuds, broken dreams,
a shattered landscape.”—Tom Brokaw
“This is an environmental tale on the surface, yet something more
powerful lurks beneath the soil of this wonderful book. Seamus
McGraw is really writing about the enduring complexities and
contradictions of the United States. He goes beyond the easy
stereotypes of greedy promoters preying on farmers and gives us the
unvarnished truth about a twenty-first-century energy rush in a
place we never expected it. This is tale told with heart, gusto,
close observation, and sly humor—truly a remarkable memoir.”—Tom
Zoellner, author of The Heartless Stone and Uranium"This story is
remarkably lively and full of heart. McGraw’s calm and coherent
prose sails over hundreds of years of hopes and dreams in the
Pennsylvania countryside, charting a uniquely American story in
cinematic fashion, conjuring up images of country folk making a
stand and looking out for their lineage."--Progressive Reader
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