Community members fill the second story of Four Seasons Books, for Mary Anne Hitt's book signing on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — At the beginning of a rainy evening on Saturday, community members filed into the second story of Four Seasons Books, filling the room to hear Shepherdstown resident Mary Anne Hitt speak about the first book she has been published in. That book, “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis,” is the first book of its kind to highlight the environmental concerns of women experts in a variety of fields, from climate change activists, like Hitt, to farmers, scientists and lawyers.

“I think, historically, just in general, if you look at publishing, men’s voices have tended to dominate the publishing world, as well as the world of science,” Hitt said. “We tend to think of climate, first and foremost, as a science issue. But it’s also a political issue, it’s also a health issue, it’s also an issue of public safety. I think [the book] reflects changes that are happening in our world and our society, and I think there’s still more of that change needed.”

According to Hitt, Saturday’s book signing event was the first one held in honor of the book, released last September, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. At that time, only a hardback edition of the book was in print. But that changed this July, when a paperback edition of the book was launched.

“We’re celebrating the launch of the paperback edition, which is new!” Hitt said. “The book’s editors, Ayana Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson, worked really carefully with me to make sure we were telling beautiful stories and connecting with our readers’ hearts, not [just their] heads.

“The book includes essays, poetry and beautiful artwork. All of these women’s voices are inspiring and heartening and amusing,” Hitt said, mentioning the book attracted celebrities to read portions of its audiobook version, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jane Fonda and Sophia Bush. “It’s a joy to read. It’s not like a textbook. It could even be a beach read — it might sound hard to believe, but it’s that well put together.”

Mary Anne Hitt speaks about "All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis" at its book signing event in Four Seasons Books on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

As the former director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign and current senior director of Climate Imperative, an energy innovation project aiming to cut emissions at the speed and scale needed to avoid their worst impact on climate change, the editors knew Hitt would be the perfect fit for writing one of the book’s essays.

“I contributed an essay called ‘Beyond Coal,'” Hitt said. “We made a lot of progress [with the Beyond Coal Campaign] over the last decade, and so I wrote about the lessons I learned, leading that campaign. If we keep burning coal, then the world that our kids grow up in is going to be very scary, because climate change will spiral out of control.”

Holding the event at Four Seasons Books was a natural fit, considering the topic of the book and the level of appreciation it has already garnered from the community.

“I feel very tied into the Shepherdstown community. I’ve gotten a lot of appreciation for being part of the book from the people here,” Hitt said.

“All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” can be purchased at Four Seasons Books and on Amazon.