Questions and answers with Philip Lee Williams about his book In the Morning: Reflections from First Light.

How can you possibly stand morning? Most people despise getting up.
Honestly, I think it’s genetic. There is increasing evidence that some people have a so-called “sentinel gene” that makes them awaken instantly and early and be ready for their day. I’m like a dog—I wake up, shake once, and am ready to go. Morning has always been my favorite time of day—especially dawn.

What made you decide to write a book about morning?
The truth is that I wanted to read one and simply couldn’t find anything that interested me. There haven’t been very many books written about morning, so I decided to write one. The process took several years, writing and honing, selecting chapters to keep and others to discard. I enormously enjoyed writing this book.

Have you found many people who are morning lovers like you?
I think most people finding rising in the morning difficult and painful. But morning-lovers are an ardent group and a little like left-handers—common enough but still a bit unusual. I know one thing. If you go into any group and ask if people are morning lovers, it will touch off a loud and endless discussion, and one filled with hilarious stories.

Why did you include so much about the science of morning and circadian rhythms?
I have been a professional science writer at the University of Georgia for the past 21 years and am a member of the National Association of Science Writers. Though my professional training is only the coursework from an AB in college, I have been a science nerd most of my life, fascinated every day by that world.

Do you consider yourself a naturalist?
Not really. I consider myself someone who has spent most of his life in the natural world, studying it with great interest and endless affection. I can sit and watch ants for hours and sometimes do. My wife and I have contributed to environmental causes for years, though, and we are enthusiastically “green” and always will be.

What is special about this book?
I hope it helps focus the reader’s attention on the rich possibilities of morning—in the natural world, in the arts, and in our lives.

But isn’t that sort of self-evident? After all, every day has a morning.
Not really. People are busy, and meditating on aspects of anything requires the luxury of leisure. I have been fortunate to have that time and to live on a dirt road in the country where the real world doesn’t often intrude.

Do you consider yourself a nature writer, then?
I do. Most of my books have a strong involvement with the natural world. As a rural person, it could hardly be otherwise for me. My book Crossing Wildcat Ridge (University of Georgia Press, 1999) was my first full-length non-fiction nature writing book.

Will you write more about the natural world?
I certainly hope so. That is one of the great passions of my life. I am not much of a polemicist or firebrand, but in my own quiet way I am trying to support spokesmen for environmental sanity. I believe we are heading in a tragically wrong direction now in this country, and we must elect leaders who understand science and don’t try to make it up for political purposes.

What did you do this morning?
The same thing I always do. I got up at 4:15, let my beagle Murphy out, made some coffee, and then went to my desk to write. Besides family, that’s the great joy of my life.