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The Life of Michael Moore

(Jan. 9, 1941 – Feb. 20, 2009)

Michael Moore is known as the “godfather of modern American herbalism”. His teachings and work have influenced 1000s of people around the world and his books continue to inspire. Michael was one of the first herbalists in North America to rediscover and bring all of the work of the Early Physiomedicalist and Eclectic doctors back into light by hand scanning documents from the Lloyd library found on this very website.

Michael was humble, and shy but committed to learning and teaching about the bioregional approach to herbal medicine, which you can find at many of his students herb schools today. To study in person with Michael meant leaving behind your life and moving to the middle of the desert, where he took on about 30 people a year. Plant walks meant driving around the desert for hours with one of his paper maps trying to find your classmates at a certain time and leant to all sorts of adventures. Michael is truly one of the great leaders in modern herbal medicine and we hope to keep his style of generosity, openness and giving available for years to come on this site. As Michael said: “These manuals and materials are all copyrighted by Michael Moore. Use them, share them, just don’t sell them or change them in any way (unless you get my permission).”

“Michael was adept at demystifying the herbs and making it real, and proficient in helping students get a “hands on” education.”

– Kathy Briggs

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Film by Jessie Emerson and Oso Productions.

Remembering Michael Moore

Michael Shaw Moore
January 9, 1941- February 20, 2009

Please scroll through some of our favorite memories of Michael below.

Moore Medicinal Garden

The Moore Medicinal Garden is located within the Mission Garden, at the base of Sentinel Peak in Tucson, AZ. The area surrounding Sentinel Peak is one of the longest known areas of continuous cultivation in the United States, including the oldest known canal-irrigated agriculture in the United States (starting at least 3,500 years ago), and stewarded by the Tohono O’odham people. The Moore Garden contains dozens of medicinal plants native to the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert and routinely hosts educational herb walks for the public. Creating and nurturing public medicinal gardens brings the medicines into the life of the community, sparks people’s imagination and interest, and honors our ancestors and our teachers.

The SWSBM continues to offer distance learning programs that represent Michael Moore’s herbal wisdom and the unique knowledge he accumulated during three decades of teaching and a lifetime of studying medicinal plants. These programs, which include an extensive library of Michael in the classroom setting, are available in an easy to access, online video format.

Please click here for free access to Michael Moore’s online SWSBM courses. These lectures represent Michael’s herbal wisdom and the unique knowledge that he accumulated during three decades of teaching and a lifetime of studying medicinal plants.