wallace's writing came to prominence during the nature writing renaissance that arose with the burgeoning environmental movement in the 1970s. his first book, the dark range : a naturalist's night notebook, an exploration of nocturnal natural history and ethology set in the yolla bolly-middle eel wilderness of northern california, was written as an m.a. thesis at mills college from 1972 to 1974. his second book, idle weeds: the life of a sandstone ridge, about a year in a central ohio natural area park, was written while he worked as a public information specialist at the columbus ohio metropolitan park district from 1975 to 1978.