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Edward Abbey, gone 35 years now.

brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,125
in All Encompassing Trip
Perhaps not everyone here knows of or is a fan of writer Edward Abbey, but with his monkey-wrench tattoo, I'm guessing Eddie Vedder is, so I thought this would be appropriate to post here on these forums.
Abbey was a fine writer, and also a complex, often enigmatic, sometimes contradictory, and always fascinating human being.  If you know his work, you may greatly admire much of it, and you will very likely disagree with some of what he said.  That is is a true of all of the people who knew him (I have heard that first hand).  His greatest attributes included his eagerness to be a social critic, and his efforts as a defender of wilderness. 
I was reminded of the anniversary of Abbey's death on this day in 1989 by a post from bookseller extraordinaire Ken Sanders in an FB post of his today that states:
From the Archives
"I was in Hong Kong printing the Edward Abbey Western Wilderness Calendar and was the only person on the entire island to mourn his passing. The telegram I received informing me of his death was dated March 15, the Ides of March.
In May of 1989, Terry Tempest Williams, Jim Stiles and myself organized a public wake of Cactus Ed - Just north of Arches National Park. Over 1,000 people came, walked over a mile in the hot, stinking desert...including Barry Lopez, Wendell Berry, Ann Zwinger, Ken Sleight, Doug Peacock, Dave Foreman, and so many more. Ed Abbey would be 98 years old this year." - Ken

R.I.P. Edward Abbey, January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989



"A pessimist is simply an optimist in full possession of the facts."
-Edward Abbey















Comments

  • LoujoeLoujoe Posts: 9,591
    edited March 14
    Yep. Loved his book about the desert. I went crazy writing quotes from it when I read it about 10 years ago. Plus it helped that a really interesting [adorable] person gave me a copy to read...What does monkeywrench have to do with him?
    Post edited by Loujoe on
  • GlowGirlGlowGirl New York, NY Posts: 10,968
    Loujoe said:
    Yep. Loved his book about the desert. I went crazy writing quotes from it when I read it about 10 years ago. Plus it helped that a really interesting [adorable] person gave me a copy to read...What does monkeywrench have to do with him?
    One of his most famous books was the Monkeywrench Gang about environmental activists. It’s a great book. 
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,125
    Loujoe said:
    Yep. Loved his book about the desert. I went crazy writing quotes from it when I read it about 10 years ago. Plus it helped that a really interesting [adorable] person gave me a copy to read...What does monkeywrench have to do with him?
    See (the book is quite a romp!):
    GlowGirl said:
    Loujoe said:
    Yep. Loved his book about the desert. I went crazy writing quotes from it when I read it about 10 years ago. Plus it helped that a really interesting [adorable] person gave me a copy to read...What does monkeywrench have to do with him?
    One of his most famous books was the Monkeywrench Gang about environmental activists. It’s a great book. 

    For sure!  His last book, Hayduke Lives, though not as good as Monkywrench Gang, is a fun ride too.  Sadly, Abbey didn't live long enough to complete his final revision, but it works well as is.
    It's not likely to ever happen, but if I happened to eve meet Eddy Vedder, I would ask him about that tattoo!
    Earth First tattoo - Eddie Vedder

    "A pessimist is simply an optimist in full possession of the facts."
    -Edward Abbey















  • LoujoeLoujoe Posts: 9,591
    Alright. Thx. Will check out those books. Sweet.
  • LoujoeLoujoe Posts: 9,591
    You can meet him. Just have to wait all night after a show. Who needs to sleep. By the time I met him, I forgot what I was going to say and rambled it off in maybeeee 50 second conversation... :/ 
    Did score a couple sweet guitar picks.

    Thx again for the reminder about EA
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,125
    Loujoe said:
    You can meet him. Just have to wait all night after a show. Who needs to sleep. By the time I met him, I forgot what I was going to say and rambled it off in maybeeee 50 second conversation... :/ 
    Did score a couple sweet guitar picks.

    Thx again for the reminder about EA

    Great little story about meeting EV!
    If you like Abbey's work and enjoy reading biographies, James Bishop Jr's Epitaph for a Desert Anarchist is excellent.  Not only a fine biography, but superb writing as well:
    Epitaph for a Desert Anarchist

    "A pessimist is simply an optimist in full possession of the facts."
    -Edward Abbey















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