About the Author
About the Author
"This book reads very well and connects the author's ancestry to the apple world. It is engaging, highlights Indigenous Peoples, and explores the history of the apple industry in Washington State and the Northwest. It also points to the importance of the communities mutually impacted by apples. All in all, I think every household should read this book; it is much needed for this region."
—Dr. Warren W. Buck III, Founding Chancellor and Professor Emeritus, University of Washington Bothell
Lisa Tracy is a historian, genealogist, natural health educator, artist, musician, and lifelong researcher, with a deep focus on Washington State history and cultural studies. Her roots in the Pacific Northwest reach back to 1845, when her family journeyed west along the Oregon Trail. Her great-grandmother was born along the way, and her ancestors became some of the earliest settlers of Oregon Territory, and later, Washington State.
She studied at Seattle Pacific University (1986) and completed a comprehensive herbalist certification program (1995), furthering her expertise in plant medicine. Lisa also attended the International School of Herbal Arts and Sciences (2011) and the School of Evolutionary Herbalism (2013), deepening her understanding of ethnobotany and the vital connections between plants and people.
Lisa gave lectures on natural health at Seattle Body, Mind, and Spirit Exposition 1995-1998, and was invited to be a guest on Stairway to Health, a radio show hosted by Dr. Constance Tracy Tayler in 1995. She later authored Nature's Wisdom: A Comprehensive Guide to the Healing Art of Herbal Medicine (2000) and contributed articles on natural health to Orato First Person News (2009).
A mother of two adult children, Lisa spent years homesteading with her family on a small farm—tending apple orchards, raising goats, and cultivating gardens.
She supports causes close to her heart, including the Washington State Historical Society, Temperate Orchard Conservancy, the Lost Apple Project, the Society for Ethnobotany, and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.
Her ongoing work reflects a deep connection to Washington's history and the ethnobotany of its Indigenous Peoples.
Between the goats, the rest of the barnyard, and the quiet rhythm of sewing and knitting, she always found time to make music.
Though the farm is behind her, the rhythms remain—bread rising in the kitchen, jars lined in rows, quilts stitched by hand, pies warm from the oven.
In recent years, a camera joined her quiet rituals, capturing the poetry she's always lived.