Happy Birthday to mshawpyle!!

In honor of Markham's birthday, a whole pile of writers have agreed to write and submit a review of their one and only one favorite author. This is certain to be an interesting collection of reviews. Please be sure to read all of these wonderful writers. I am very curious as to the variety of authors represented here tonight. You can merely click on the link provided above for a complete list of the writers participating.

andy, arazim, buffoonery, caconti, caravan70, conradd, cornelia, CurtisEdmonds, emlin, endora60, ErgoPropterHoc, erik_kosberg, expono, forkids, Grouch, halfsweethappy, 2000usa, jasonkirk, jrk, JMB623, kcfoxy, kchowell, Lambira, kurt_messick, mgreber, mshawpyle, stonehousellc, stract,sweetpaulie, and TomGray.

Choosing only one favorite author is not too unlike trying to decide which of your children you would save if you could rescue only one during a fire. How could I be expected to choose only one?? The decision was agonizing, but the answer came to me during an episode of insomnia at 3 am. I mentally reviewed my final list in the dark. The contenders included James Herriot, whose dedication to the good health of animals allowed him the vision to understand and enjoy the heartbreaking and hilarious quirks of both animal and human behavior; Colette, writer of exquisite essays on life in France, including detailed descriptions of heady wines from the medoc, glorious descriptions of food, and the sensual pleasures of life ; A.A. Milne, brilliant creator of the always humble and oh so simple Winnie the Pooh, "bear of little brain" and last, but none the least, Edward Abbey, the deeply poetic, humorous, satiric, brash, and irreverent literary outlaw.

Unable to decide, I finally left it to my subconscious, trusting that the answer would come to me in a moment of clarity, and that clarity became one word: Important. The message conveyed by my author would have to be an Important one, not frivolous, not merely for entertainment sake, but one with a powerful and Important message. If I could inspire one person to read the writings of my favorite author, wouldn't I want the experience to be more profound than entertaining? Entertainment has its value, that's certain. But the word Important kept slipping into my conscience. Perhaps good ole Ed was pushing my buttons from his grave, and perhaps that's exactly why I so adore his writing. Not only is it highly entertaining, informative, descriptive and educational, but it's Important. Now, how much more validation does one person need?

Edward Abbey crept into my life a little bit at a time. From Rachel Carson, Joseph Krutch,to Wendall Berry and finally in a small second hand bookstore in Tucson, Arizona, I was mesmerized by two words on a worn and well used paperback book, "Desert Solitaire." The desert had become my secret jewel after some resistance to this rough, dry terrain, and I recalled a friend who had recommended Abbey's writing to me, linking my love of the lands of the southwest to this writer. So, for half a buck, I picked up this already tattered book and added it to my collection. At the time I was traveling the western states in a camper with my daughter and a friend. Our living arrangement had worked out nicely in spite of our small space, and reading had become our regular evening pastime. We usually found a quiet place to park for the night, cook our dinner, then settle down for some quiet time reading or sketching. Second hand bookstores became priority second only to locating a propane supply to refill our fuel tanks used for cooking and heating.

Desert Solitaire captivated me instantly and refused to release me even after I had finished the final page. This book is a series of essays and stories written while Abbey served as a seasonal park ranger in the late 1950's-early 60's at the Arches National Monument near Moab, Utah. The stories are rich with the life of the land and its interrelationships with every living being from plant to animal. With the finesse of a poet, the knowledge of a naturalist, and the knowing of a man who clearly loves the land, his words weave a spell that will convert even the most stubborn of those who have no appreciation for deserts and wide open barren land.

The wind will not stop. Gusts of sand swirl before me, stinging my face. But there is still too much to see and marvel at, the world very much alive in the bright light and wind exultant with the fever of spring, the delight of morning. Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock. The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life-forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.

Interspersed between these lovely descriptive passages proclaiming the natural beauty and wonders of nature are the always ominous predictions of its eventual transition and destruction as industry, development, greed and encroaching populations convert the landscape with asphalt, concrete and power lines. This has, of course, already come true in the 32 years since this book was written.

Abbey authored twenty-one books in all, but is probably best known as the author of the outrageous "Monkey Wrench Gang" in which a motley group of militant conservationists attempt to blow up Glen Canyon Dam, the biggest thorn in Abbey's side. The book is hilarious, irreverent, sadly poignant, but it has been highly influential in inspiring a new generation of environmental activism. Monkey wrenching became known as a form of sabotage for the sake of protecting the wilderness as a result of this novel.

This work was inspired by the destruction of the pristine Glen Canyon, once filled with lush vegetation and ancient ruins, and through the bottom of which once ran the Colorado River. The sole purpose of this dam was to provide power for the growing population in the desert regions of Arizona. Abbey wrote reams of essays damning the waste of our natural resources for the purpose of fueling populations that require extensive air conditioning, burning of fossil fuels, creating paved wastelands and vast lawns and golf courses and swimming pools, in an area where it goes totally against the natural law of the land.

His persona was famous for drinking hard, smoking cheap cigars, farting with pleasure, and getting into plenty of trouble with the opposite sex. He is quoted as saying "women who love women may have a good point." I like an open minded man. His last wishes to be buried where the buzzards could pick his bones clean was carried out by a very secretive group of dedicated friends. Wrapped in a sleeping bag and transported in the bed of a pick up truck, he was spirited away to a secret location in the southern Arizona desert that he loved so much. Marked only with a large stone inscribed with "no comment", his grave is known only to a small group of friends and family. This last wish fits him so well, for a man who truly loved and understood so well all aspects the cycles of nature.

Other titles by Edward Abbey include, in the non fiction category: Appalachian Wilderness, Slickrock, Cactus Country, The Journey Home, The Hidden Canyon, Abbey's Road, Desert Images, Down the River, In Praise of Mountain Lions, Beyond the Wall, One Life at a Time Please, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness, and Confessions of a Barbarian. His fiction titles include: Jonathan Troy, The Brave Cowboy,(made into the movie "Lonely are the Brave", starring Kirk Douglas) Fire on the Mountain, Black Sun, Good News, The Fool's Progress, and the follow up to The Monkey Wrench Gang, Hayduke Lives!

"Benedicto: May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets' towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you--beyond that next turning of the canyon walls."

Edward Paul Abbey
1927-1989

If you are interested in learning more about this author, check out this very comprehensive website:
http://www.utsidan.se/abbey



Recommended: Yes