Edward Abbey

[articulate]

With the latest National Geographic Adventure magazine article on El Camino del Diablo (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/border-patrol/photo_gallery.html) (more accurately "the border issue"), I got curious about Edward Abbey.


http://www.orionsociety.org/images/om/06_4om/cover120.jpg (http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/om/index_om.html)And it turns out there is a fantastic article in the July/August issue of Orion magazine that contains several of his letters to various people. Senators, friends, editors, newspapers, and even one to Jon Krakauer that is utterly hilarious. My kind of desert lover.

In a letter from November 8, 1949:
Reminds me-Bud and I went antelope hunting last weekend with one other fellow. Bud's friend got one. Having neither license nor rifle I drove the jeep while others did the shooting. Quite exciting-driving off the road into the sagebrush over hills and down arroyos, rounding up the antelope like cattle. My but they're fast-we clocked one bunch at 40 miles and hour.

He admitted treading very unlightly in that letter, eh? Everybody's got a story, and everybody arrives from somewhere on the day they die with that story.

Go check it out.

Mark

[cruiseroutfit]

I read a couple of his books years ago... Monkey Wrench Gang & Desert Solataire (sp?). As I recall he wrote DS while living in a trailer at the VERY seldomly visted (at the time of course ;) Arches National Park just minutes from Moab. I've been meaning to get around to reading some of his other works... one day.

[articulate]

Frankly, I've never read his work. But now I'm interested after reading these letters in Orion.

[Mike S]

I've read most of what was published by Abbey. Desert Solitaire and Beyond the Wall are the best, IMO. He is articulate. He is sometimes arrogant. And he was and elitist in a strange sort of way.

Read it, at least. You'll form yourown opinions.

Mike

[Wanderlusty]

I was surprised to find, when I researched him on Wikipedia, he was born and raised in the same county, Indiana County, PA, that my parents were from. In fact, his early years were spent in Home, PA, which was literally about 5 miles from where my dad grew up, in Marion Center, PA.

I wonder if he had ever heard of/about him. I will have to ask him some time.

Small world...

[Jonathan Hanson]

Abbey was a great writer and a great spokesman for the wild. However, his personal ethics sadly failed to live up to the standards he set for the rest of the community. He fathered, I believe, seven children - that's hardly leaving a light footprint on the earth. And in has waning days he drove an enormous, early 70s Cadillac El Dorado around Tucson.

My question is, if everyone wrote beautiful prose about wilderness and had seven children and drove 10mpg Cadillacs, would the world be better off or worse?

I have friends who would croak if they read this, including two who were with the group that buried Ed in the desert. Many still revere him; personally I loathe hypocrisy and I could never view Abbey's personal behavior with the amusement everyone else seemed to.

[bh4rnnr]

I read a couple of his books years ago... Monkey Wrench Gang & Desert Solataire (sp?). As I recall he wrote DS while living in a trailer at the VERY seldomly visted (at the time of course ;) Arches National Park just minutes from Moab. I've been meaning to get around to reading some of his other works... one day.

I cant remember if Solitaire was written while in Arches or afterwords. Thinking afterwords.. One of my favorite books. Love his "master plan" for all the National Parks. Made a point to stop at Arches (http://www.lough-graphy.com/gallerys%20utah%20Arches%20National%20Park.htm) while at Cruise Moab this year. One of my favorite parts in the book is when he talks about Delicate. It was interesting reading about the park and how it was run in the olden days, before the changes, and seeing it now....

Also while at Cruise Moab this year, got talking with one of the guys from Proffitt's Cruisers. He was telling me how the guy that joined Abbey for the trip down the Flint and into the Maze is living in Aspen. Gues he ran into him one time..

[flywgn]

Abbey was a great writer and a great spokesman for the wild. However, his personal ethics sadly failed to live up to the standards he set for the rest of the community.... .

Jonathan, I agree. I had correspondence with EA in the late '70s. In a letter he even admitted this hypocrisy with a cavalier response. I'd throw a couple of his rejoinders in this reply except they are also in an MS that I have in progress.

We've floated rivers with Martin Litton and I found his comments about EA to be interesting as well. ML was a good friend of EA, but on a Green River (Desolation Cyn) trip in '84 he was more than candid in his comments about his good friend's behavior.

Ansel Adams was another who, while not speaking 'ill' of EA, had a couple of terse comments about EA's "not walking the walk."

I still admired EA's writing ability and used Desert Solitaire in some of my classes for years. I also admired the tenets of conservation that he preached, while not necessarily practicing them.

EA rationalized that El Dorado in an magazine article. I'll try to find it. It's among those :box: still in the garage.

Hayduke is still one of my favorite fictional characters.

Allen

[goodtimes]

He admitted treading very unlightly in that letter, eh?
Mark

Several years ago I read Desert Solitare by E. Abbey on the recommendation of one of the prof's at the college I was attending. While it was a good read, and had some good points to ponder (and also spurred my first trip to Moab)....I was rather concerned by the descriptions of his driving habits.

[Hltoppr]

I read Desert Solitaire at least once a year...my copy is old and tattered...

-H- :ylsmoke:

[articulate]

You guys are pretty damn slick. I quoted the old guy in my first about his blatant crosscountry driving over sagebrush and plantlife thinking that he must have (doesn't everybody?!?) changed his ways with maturity and conservationist thinking.

Perhaps not.

This took a wild turn down a road I didn't think existed....

[Jonathan Hanson]

I think that what Ed wished was that the West had stayed depopulate enough that it wouldn't matter if you drove over sagebrush chasing pronghorn or threw beer cans out the window or threw rocks at rabbits.

But then he had SEVEN CHILDREN. His own personal Paul Ehrlich Population Bomb.

[calamaridog]

I think that what Ed wished was that the West has stayed depopulate enough that it wouldn't matter if you drove over sagebrush chasing pronghorn or threw beer cans out the window or threw rocks at rabbits.

Ah yes, the good old days:D

[Wanderlusty]

I was surprised to find, when I researched him on Wikipedia, he was born and raised in the same county, Indiana County, PA, that my parents were from. In fact, his early years were spent in Home, PA, which was literally about 5 miles from where my dad grew up, in Marion Center, PA.

I wonder if he had ever heard of/about him. I will have to ask him some time.

Small world...

I asked my dad about him. He said he knew who he was. Had never met him that he can remember. My dad is a few years younger than he is. However, he did mention that he went to the same High School as my dad did. My grandmother is a teacher, and knew him, may have even taught him. I will have to ask her about that sometime. Also, my dad pointed out that in Home, PA, there is a historical marker designating the house where he grew up.

Like I said...small world....

[desertgirl66]

For all of Edward Abbey's hypocrisy and "not walking the talk" , I still love his beautiful descriptive writing in Desert Solitaire. I love his description of how the smell of burning juniper is one of the finest fragrances on earth!!

A curious fellow indeed!

[+ d]

"Sometimes it rains and still fails to moisten the desert - the falling water evaporates halfway down between cloud and earth. Then you see curtains of blue rain dangling out of reach in the sky while the living things wither below for want of water. Torture by tantalizing, hope without fulfillment. And the clouds disperse and dissipate into nothingness"



Desert Solitaire gets me a fix when I am between travels. Sometimes it is difficult to separate the work from artist. But a book like Desert Solitaire I want to be pure...it makes his actions, however slight, disappointing.

[Jonathan Hanson]

Sometimes it is difficult to separate the work from artist.

Well put, David. Desert Solitaire was a groundbreaking book and a classic.

Many brilliant and important people thoughout history have led conflicted or even unsavory personal lives. That's no reason to completely dismiss the good they did.

[robert]

We're all hypocrites in our own way I suppose…….. I think he always thought of himself as a throwback and wished to live that way.

I own all of his books; I got them while I was in college and a bit more, uh, radical. I liked Fool’s Progress too.

[devinsixtyseven]

Phew! I read this thread a while back, and started looking around, reading about him and excerpts from his books.

If you can separate the works from the man, they're very good.

BUT...

...I won't stoop to malign a dead man in front of his friends. Personally, I might have gone a different way than he...

-Sean

[DesertRose]

I don't think Abbey asked to be made some sort of bizarre icon for environmentalists - and so it's unfair to say he didn't walk the walk, actually. He just did his thing and was greatly amused to be held up on a pedestal (actually enjoyed probably throwing things down from the pedestal onto the adoring masses, to see how they'd react . . .)

And personally, I never could get into his writings because I'd met him, knew something of him through his last wife, and thought: "Jeez, if I met this guy on the trail when I was hiking alone, I'd probably unsnap the keeper on my holster . . ."

But I'm very glad he inspired so many to think deeper about important issues!

:bigbossHL:

[kcowyo]

May I quote the 35th President of the United States? Look it up, whippersnappers.....

"Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors."

People tend to canonize the guy even though by all accounts, including his own, Abbey was not a politically correct environmentalist.

Whether anyone likes or dislikes his legend, Desert Solitaire is a good read and should be in every outdoor enthusiast's personal library.

:coffee:

[devinsixtyseven]

I don't think Abbey asked to be made some sort of bizarre icon for environmentalists - and so it's unfair to say he didn't walk the walk, actually. He just did his thing and was greatly amused to be held up on a pedestal (actually enjoyed probably throwing things down from the pedestal onto the adoring masses, to see how they'd react . . .)...Just can't keep my mouth shut...

Maybe it was the last bit that led him to make some of the blistering statements he did. If that is the case, his additions are some of the the most unhelpful, divisive, illogical, selfish things I've ever heard, taking stereotypes, fears, and conspiracy theories to their worst possible conclusions for a primed audience.

Put a barbarian in the beauty of the American Southwest and I think he'll turn in to a poet. I think many independent-minded people could have been Edward Abbey...maybe that's the only difference between him and a legion of sycophants, a sense of personal independence. I also don't think it's strange that anyone who can appreciate beauty would try to protect it, or that a talented artist would create based upon it. What I do think is strange is that someone who preached this gospel of reason to anyone who would listen would take their leave from it so often. He tried to protect it, but did his worst...whether intentionally or in a misguided attempt to do his best.

The world still has plenty of poets, and the beauty of the Southwest will long outlast people like Edward Abbey (I hope...they can and do destroy it with their thoughtless behaviour). I think if we do our best to show that it's worth protecting and preserving, people will come to appreciate it just like he did, and respect it better than his actions ever suggested.

Sometimes (ok, a lot), when I'm angry at someone, I'll want to be completely immature and taunt them with their own behaviour--cut them off and go even slower, yell louder, say even more illogical things, show them my perception of the error of their ways by providing an even worse example. It's a natural first instinct--win a fight. It's also the worst possible choice and benefits nobody, and the older I get and the more positive role models I have (like everyone here), the less I react that way (like what I wrote first). The poor choices others made with regard to the environment were in no way a license for him to do the same--much less to do worse, for his part--and were in my opinion just as childish as my desire to get in front of that jerk in traffic and go eeeeeven slooooower.

I have not read Desert Solitaire. What I have read is the shorts, the statements, the forwards, the opinions...from them I can only conclude that if Desert Solitaire is as good as some of you have said, it's a work that stands separate from its author.

At least it gets us talking about the important things...maybe he did have the right idea, since the end result of his over-the-top statements and poor examples may yet be understanding on everyone else's part.

-Sean

*edit* In retrospect...the guy'd probably enjoy even my own editorializing. After all he did poke himself at some of the things I mentioned...

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

I have read many of Abbey's books. I've lost the quote, so bear with me. He stated that he didn't write for all of the hippies and followers. He wrote for the educated. He never asked to be the center of attention. If you read enough of his books, you'll see that he was well aware of the hypocrisies of his own life, especially early on in life). He threw beer cans out the windows because the "roads were ugly, not the beer cans." Meaning, if there were no roads, there would be no beer cans.

In my opinion, he's up there with Hemingway, Chief Joseph and almost T. Roosevelt. Besides he brought the "KILL YOUR TELEVISION" slogan. There are a few of us here that can relate.

[cruiseroutfit]

Bump from the past :D

I recently dug out my old Abbey books, read Desert Sol. and the Monkeywrench Gang, half way though Hayduke Lives! now. Great reads, regarless... Its been neat to read about places I have visited, the culture I'm surrounded in and his general distaste for outsiders. I stopped by a rare bookstore here in SLC over lunch today, to my amazement he had a extensive collection of Abbey goods, posters, original artwork from the books, some lifesize cutouts of Doc, Bonnie, Hayduke and Seldom... pretty ironic given my recent readings. Oh well, though I would bump the thread. :rockon:

[dieselcruiserhead]

This is a great thread and reminds me why I like this board so much, a great discussion on Ed Abbey. I need to read Desert Solitaire again as I've honestly forgotten most of it. Kurt if I remember correctly I think we bought our copies together, in Moab of all places :)

[dieselcruiserhead]

Here is an updated link from the original posting...
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/173/

[cruiseroutfit]

This is a great thread and reminds me why I like this board so much, a great discussion on Ed Abbey. I need to read Desert Solitaire again as I've honestly forgotten most of it. Kurt if I remember correctly I think we bought our copies together, in Moab of all places :)

I can't remember if I bought DS in Moab or if that was Monkeywrench Gang (the hardcover commemeritive one?). I still have my original DS from my 10th Grade english class, thats the one I actually read, not surprising at all if I have a double of it though :D I picked up a couple more neat Utah region books today and a reaaally neat 70's era book on the Jeep trails of Colorado in prep for the WC Ouray run this year :cool: If you ever find yourself with some time in SLC, stop by Sam Wellers rare books, he has an extensive collection of all things Utah, particularly LDS books and early pioneer stuff. Also has lots of maps, photos, etc. I could have easily wasted a couple of hours and thousands of dollars there today.

[kerry]

Anyone read his Master's thesis on Anarchism?

[bh4rnnr]

Bump from the past :D

I recently dug out my old Abbey books, read Desert Sol. and the Monkeywrench Gang, half way though Hayduke Lives! now. Great reads, regarless... Its been neat to read about places I have visited, the culture I'm surrounded in and his general distaste for outsiders. I stopped by a rare bookstore here in SLC over lunch today, to my amazement he had a extensive collection of Abbey goods, posters, original artwork from the books, some lifesize cutouts of Doc, Bonnie, Hayduke and Seldom... pretty ironic given my recent readings. Oh well, though I would bump the thread. :rockon:

Been a while since i've read DS. My coppy is currently sitting in a apartment in Madrid. A dang good book, no matter what anybody says.

[Mike S]

Abbey wrote Desert Solitaire with all the scorn and righteousness of youth. I think he hated the idea that the government had undertaken to protect the land - first, because he was against government, and secondly, that the land NEEDED to be protected. And maybe he resented himself for feeding at the trough as well. He clearly manifested as elitist and arrogant.

Later in his life, he may have been the victim of his youthful excess - forced to either defend and reconcile his writings and his life, or take the Gonzo path of least resistance. I think the Gonzo path won out. Not the first man who could live up to his youth.

Still, I thank him for his art and always reread his books.

[Michael Slade]

I can't remember if I bought DS in Moab or if that was Monkeywrench Gang (the hardcover commemeritive one?). I still have my original DS from my 10th Grade english class, thats the one I actually read, not surprising at all if I have a double of it though :D I picked up a couple more neat Utah region books today and a reaaally neat 70's era book on the Jeep trails of Colorado in prep for the WC Ouray run this year :cool: If you ever find yourself with some time in SLC, stop by Sam Wellers rare books, he has an extensive collection of all things Utah, particularly LDS books and early pioneer stuff. Also has lots of maps, photos, etc. I could have easily wasted a couple of hours and thousands of dollars there today.

I've not spent any time in Sam's place, but I've spent many hours at Ken Sanders looking at old original maps of Utah for my project. One day I'd like to see my book being sold there next to Abbey's. I'm not a huge fan of EA, but I probably ought to at lease revisit DS to either quench or fuel my current attitude towards him.

I do like the fact that he's buried in the desert and no one knows where he is. Very romantic.

[cruiseroutfit]

I've not spent any time in Sam's place, but I've spent many hours at Ken Sanders looking at old original maps of Utah for my project. One day I'd like to see my book being sold there next to Abbey's. I'm not a huge fan of EA, but I probably ought to at lease revisit DS to either quench or fuel my current attitude towards him.

I do like the fact that he's buried in the desert and no one knows where he is. Very romantic.

Insert foot in mouth... I've got my stores mixed up!

I was at Ken Sanders today... thats where the EA stuff resides. Both are worthy stops... but Sanders has the edge on Utah historical stuff and the massive lead on the EA stuff.

[dieselcruiserhead]

Kurt you are becoming more and more liberal each day.. Ken Sanders is a favorite of local NPR listeners, I swear he is on there every other month :)

[sinuhexavier]

We have all of his books in our first editions collection.

I discovered his writing through Doug Peacock a fellow Montana native. Doug would come into our school, The Headwaters Academy, every so often to talk about bears and issues pertaining to wilderness.

On my first trip to Moab in 1991, I by chance ran into Doug in the Needles district. I told him I always thought of him as a Mountain man not a desert rat... He said to me "...be careful because this desert has a way of infecting you with a sickness of which you will never find a cure." This being my first time on the Plateau, I thought this was all hippie bull****.

He told me to read Desert Solitaire while I was still in the area and it would change my life.

And it did.

I have been back to the Colorado Plateau every year since, sometimes several times, I even lived near Escalante for 3 months one Fall and in Castle Valley one Spring.

[dmc]

Abbey is an author I truly enjoy and have read all his books a few times. When I was young and idealistic it really hit home. I prefer his non-fiction and actually think DS is one of his less interesting works. I brought David Petersen's Letters from Abbey with me and on my trip and gave up 2/3s of the way through because of the cockiness and abstinence of some of the letters. My own opinion is that Ed did suffer from the apathy he often mentioned in his writing when it came to 'walking the walk.' What I do think he did very well is speak FOR his audience instead of TO his audience as he often claimed a good writer should do. Maybe he didn't practice what he preached so entertainingly and arrogantly advocated but he did inspired many others to do so and that to me makes him a success.

I'd much rather read Stegner now days but there is always room for Abbey's gruff and tacit delivery.
dmc

[dmc]

We have all of his books in our first editions collection.

I discovered his writing through Doug Peacock a fellow Montana native. Doug would come into our school, The Headwaters Academy, every so often to talk about bears and issues pertaining to wilderness.

On my first trip to Moab in 1991, I by chance ran into Doug in the Needles district. I told him I always thought of him as a Mountain man not a desert rat... He said to me "...be careful because this desert has a way of infecting you with a sickness of which you will never find a cure." This being my first time on the Plateau, I thought this was all hippie bull****.

He told me to read Desert Solitaire while I was still in the area and it would change my life.

And it did.

I have been back to the Colorado Plateau every year since, sometimes several times, I even lived near Escalante for 3 months one Fall and in Castle Valley one Spring.


pretty cool to have hayduke himself recommend an Abbey book. if the rumors are true of course.
dmc

[Paul R]

I am half way through Desert Solitaire for my first time but I am loving it! :)
If nothing else he has a great way of describing how the Moab area felt during that time era...

[Mike S]

I have been back to the Colorado Plateau every year since, sometimes several times, I even lived near Escalante for 3 months one Fall and in Castle Valley one Spring.

Castle Valley - great little place. I have a friend who lives there and visit whenever I get to Utah.

[DesertRose]

We have all of his books in our first editions collection.

I discovered his writing through Doug Peacock a fellow Montana native. Doug would come into our school, The Headwaters Academy, every so often to talk about bears and issues pertaining to wilderness.

On my first trip to Moab in 1991, I by chance ran into Doug in the Needles district. I told him I always thought of him as a Mountain man not a desert rat... He said to me "...be careful because this desert has a way of infecting you with a sickness of which you will never find a cure." This being my first time on the Plateau, I thought this was all hippie bull****.

He told me to read Desert Solitaire while I was still in the area and it would change my life.

And it did.

I have been back to the Colorado Plateau every year since, sometimes several times, I even lived near Escalante for 3 months one Fall and in Castle Valley one Spring.

Very cool that you have firsts - we'd love to hear more about your titles when we meet up (nice to find more crazy bibliofiles out there, too - most of ours are in storage while we save up for building the house, but we still don't stop buying . . . )

I've enjoyed reading how Ed Abbey has inspired so many different people, of different ages and experiences.

He never intended to be an icon - it sat uneasily on him. He was a gruff old X$%^Xd who had a great talent for expressing a sense of place - that's what we're all connecting with.

I agree with DMC - Stegner was much more eloquent, deep, and mature, but sometimes that's what made Abbey fun - very raw.

[kellymoe]

My first exposure to Abbey was when working as a river guide in the Spring of 89. One of the guides I worked with came into the guide house and talked of going to a wake. The difference was that she looked kind of excited about going. This seemed odd until she told me about Abbey. About 10 years later I was at my grandparents house. My grandparents were old desert rats and spent a good part of their life exploring Baja and the Southwest. My grandma handed me a book called Desert Solitaire. She told me to read it on my next trip out to the desert. I kept the book in my 1969 Land Rover and planned to read it on my next trip. My next trip was out to the Saline Valley in the early Spring. While kicking back with a cold beer and a cheap cigar I started to read Desert Solitaire. During that trip and while reading the book I began to see the desert in a whole new way. There is somethng about that book that gets under your skin. It's the only book I continue to read on an annual basis. Although I dont agree with everything Abbey stood for I have to thank him for making my love for the desert more personal than I could have ever imagined. Thanks grandma.

[Hltoppr]

Now...the sight of a copy of Desert Solitaire in an old rover would leave me no option but to seek out the owner and chat....

-H-

[sinuhexavier]

His chapter in DS of going into the Maze in an old Rover is one of my favorite that I constantly go back to.

My first time down the flint trail I read the chapter the night before... Imagine my surprise when a Series Rover was sitting at the Hans Flat Ranger Station...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1183/1198050627_e536c5675f_b.jpg

[dieselcruiserhead]

Doug Peacock is in fact Hayduke according to a radio show I heard, RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio, that he was on...

[dmc]

Doug Peacock is in fact Hayduke according to a radio show I heard, RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio, that he was on...

oh abbey claimed that he was but no one can be that way in real life. just an exaggeration of the personality.
dmc

[sinuhexavier]

Doug speaks of his relationship with EA in depth in his book "Walking It Off"... Some great adventures to read, both internal and external...

[GaryMc]

Doug speaks of his relationship with EA in depth in his book "Walking It Off"... Some great adventures to read, both internal and external...

Great book.

Ed's books helped change the course of my life, for the better. I found him when I was in high school, much to my parents chagrin. I'm now a BLM Park Ranger in a family of lawyers and judges.

[cruiseroutfit]

Spent plenty of time reading Hayduke Lives amongst the San Rafael Swell this last weekend, made me feel right in the story :cool: