I hadn’t realized this until I saw the following article. I’m pretty sure I knew about it before I moved to Utah, but, out there, you really couldn’t escape this and his other writings (not to mention lots of follow-on “Monkey Wrench” writing).
A favorite book, but I think I lost mine in the last move. Still have “The Brave Cowboy” though.
As far as I know I have everything he ever wrote. One of my very favorite authors, warts and all.
I remember reading and loving Desert Solitaire, but I really don’t remember much of it now. I did always admire that lifestyle. I spend many a solitary days and nights backpacking through southern Utah because of that book.
Robert Redford’s preface to the 2004 edition of The Monkey Wrench Gang.
Abbey rode with Redford on his trip retracing the Outlaw Trail for National Geographic.
I spent one month with him riding between Log Cabin, Wyoming, and Canyonlands in southern Utah. I got to know him as well as one could, considering his reticence. Few words, but each carried weight. He was an odd mix of strong reserve, defiant stance and a childlike vulnerability, particularly when he smiled. He seemed larger in stature than he probably was because of his stone-like reserve and strong features. He seemed to carry the strength of someone who was that way from a hard life and hard labour rather than the artificial definition of the indoor fitness room. He had an awesome presence - as if he carried knowledge from some ancient source - and his stare suggested no suffering of fools.
Author of my favorite book ever, The Fool’s Progress. I loved Monkey Wrench also.
He wrote beautifully, Fool’s Progress is almost poetry when read aloud. But apparently a difficult man to be around. Glad I read all his stuff before I learned he was the way he was.
I just rereread Desert Solitare last month.
If anyone’s interested, one of the rare book appraisers on Antiques Roadshow is Ken Sanders (the guy with the huge grey beard), who was a friend of Abbey’s and IIRC was instrumental in arranging for R. Crumb to illustrate a hardcover edition of TMWG. Crumb also did a beautiful full color MWG calendar which I still enjoy looking at.
About ten years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Doug Peacock (Hayduke), who was in fact wearing a tee shirt with Crumb’s “portrait” of Hayduke scowling with a beer can in his hand.
Still live by the rule that we only litter paved roads! Except i have thrown organics, lots of organics, off the side of the road, far down the slope, out in the woods.
And i periodically reenact lots of my own Fool’s Progress.
One of my instructors in college was sexually harassed by Edward Abbey.
As much as I admired Abbey for many reasons, I unfortunately don’t find this hard to believe.
Yeah, I read his books and enjoyed them back in the day, but he was a shitty guy in that way.