In Memoriam

Juliette deBairacli Levy

11 November 1911-2009

"Of all the remarkable women who have influenced me, the one I most identify with is Juliette deBairacli Levy. She was a wild woman who ran with the wolves. She loved animals, especially dogs, goats, and bees. When asked to write an herbal for people, she famously replied: "They can use the remedies in my animal books." (Herbal for the Dog) Juliette left veterinarian school and sought out the Gypsies of her native England. (As Gypsies Wander) She learned well; and applied what she learned with remarkable success. Her Natural Rearing Principles were proven with her prize-winning Afghan hounds, and by hundreds of vets.

Flaunting convention, Juliette had two children on her own. (Spanish Mountain Life) She roamed with them and her hounds from country to country, settling for a season or two in places as diverse as the Sea of Galilee (Summer in Galilee) and Manhattan (Gypsy in New York). In her latter years, she lived on a small Greek Island, in Israel, in Germany, in many places across the USA, and in Switzerland. (Traveler's Joy ) While I adore Common Herbs for Natural Health, Nature's Children, and Herbal for Farm and Stable, the book that lingers in my mind is Juliette's sole novel: Look! The Wild Swans. Perhaps you are already a fan of Juliette's writing; perhaps you are new to her. In either event, I know you will be delighted, as millions of others are, with her wild wise woman herbalism and her ability to tell a tale. But be careful. You may become a wild woman, too."

Susun Weed, Laughing Rock Farm, 2010

 

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