On the Loose by Renny Russell, Terry Russell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of On the Loose
Book Review: What goes around
Summary: 5 Stars
How ironic it is to see that this book is about to be published once again. I was first given a copy in 1969, my freshman year of college, and it was the first publication I'd ever held in my hands that spoke of wilderness as something that could enlarge and enlighten the inner life of a human being. What interested me most was the fact that the Russell boys were the only people I've yet encountered to go into Glen Canyon before it was flooded to document at least some of all that was about to be lost. Given the unsuitability of the geology of the area, and the Native American sites that present day laws would have protected, it's highly instructive to have this book to illustrate what was drowned before most Americans even knew it existed. I'd certainly never heard of Glen Canyon before I picked up "On the Loose." The merits of the Glen Canyon dam were shakey even in the sixties, but the momentum for building big dam projects could not be entirely overcome by the cautionary minority of long-term thinkers. In the end, Glen Canyon was sacrificed partly so that the Grand Canyon might escape the two dams proposed for it. In the decades since, the creation of a 180+ mile reservoir where once a mostly unexplored canyon complex once stood has proven of far less value than it's more famous cousins Hoover and Coulee, and fallen far short of it's promoters' promises. And now patient Nature, always the eventual winner, is taking her canyons back via drought, evaporation, leakage into the porous sandstones, and every dam's nemesis, siltation. Add in the fact that there is a growing movement to take the dam itself down and let the canyonlands heal as best they can, and you've got powerful incentive to revisit the Russells' little book, to see what once was and may once be again.
I hope the surviving Russell brothers have had good lives. Their beautiful book certainly struck a chord in me and a lot of people I know.
Book Review: freedom for ...
Summary: 5 Stars
this is the most incredible book i have ever read. it took me out of my decaffeinated white picket existence and said there were places left in the world where one could wander at will, no questions asked. read this, then leave it at home and go outside.