George R. Stewart bol americký toponymista a profesor angličtiny, ktorý sa preslávil svojimi románmi skúmajúcimi hlboké vzťahy medzi ľuďmi a prírodnými silami. Jeho diela často zachytávajú environmentálne katastrofy a silu živlov, ako v jeho oceňovanom postapokalyptickom románe, ktorý predznamenal rozpad civilizácie, a v ďalšom románe, kde sa hlavnou postavou stáva búrka. Stewartov záujem o pomenovania sa prejavuje nielen v jeho akademických prácach o toponymii, ale aj v jeho románoch, ktoré sa zaoberajú podstatou ľudskej existencie tvárou v tvár nepredvídateľnému svetu. Jeho výskum bol taký vplyvný, že ovplyvnil aj pomenovanie meteorologických javov.
Kalifornien leidet unter einer schweren Dürre, als ein Schiff eine ungewöhnliche Wetteranomalie meldet. Ein Meteorologe in San Francisco nennt sie Maria. Der Sturm wächst schnell und zieht von der Pazifikküste in die Sierra Nevada. Meteorologen, ein General und ein Liebespaar verfolgen besorgt Marias zerstörerischen Weg durch die USA.
A thrilling, innovative novel about the interplay between nature and humankind by the author of Names on the Land. With Storm, first published in 1941, George R. Stewart invented a new genre of fiction: the eco-novel. California has been plunged into drought throughout the summer and fall when a ship reports an unusual barometric reading from the far western Pacific. In San Francisco, a junior meteorologist in the Weather Bureau takes note of the anomaly and plots “an incipient little whorl” on the weather map, a developing storm, he suspects, that he privately dubs Maria. Stewart’s novel tracks Maria’s progress to and beyond the shores of the United States through the eyes of meteorologists, linemen, snowplow operators, a general, a couple of decamping lovebirds, and an unlucky owl, and the storm, surging and ebbing, will bring long-needed rain, flooded roads, deep snows, accidents, and death. Storm is an epic account of humanity’s relationship to and dependence on the natural world.
Returning from a field trip, Isherwood Williams discovers that a mysterious plague has destroyed civilization during his absence. Eventually returning to San Francisco, he finds a female survivor and together they and their children build a small community, living like their pioneer ancestors.