June 2001    

Crimes Against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves and the Hidden History of American Conservation. Author: Karl Jacoby Publisher: University of California Press $39.95 Cloth (305p.) ISBN 0520220277 Recently the airwaves have been filled with commentary and reaction to the Bush administration's decision to partially support President Clinton's efforts to protect certain roadless areas of the National Forest System. The Bush team has, however, insisted that local considerations be included in the planning process. The notion of local opinion in matters of Federal Land policy, particularly as it intersects with the national goal of conservation is not new, but rarely the subject of study. Professor Jacoby's timely title fills a void and is informative, historical and valuable to all who would participate in the public policy issues and land use decisions that characterize conservation. While much attention has been dedicated to conservation advocates like John Muir or President Roosevelt's conservation guru-Gifford Pinchot, little is known how indigenous, rural populations reacted in the late nineteenth century to U.S. Grant's dedication of the first national park at Yellowstone or the passage of the Establishment Act that created the first Forest Reservations. The mindset and culture of those groups who resided at ground zero of American conservation is the worthy subject of Professor Jacoby's treatise and an important overview of how local residents will react to Federal authority. A recurring theme in the American experience is the ebb and flow of Federal authority over local areas. A good study of those contending interests is available through the book and the scholarship therein contained--Jim Ryan Bluegrass Odyssey: A Documentary In Pictures and Words, 1966-86. Author: Carl Fleischhauer Publisher: University of Illinois Press $34.95 Cloth (285p.) ISBN 0252026152 At the heart of this book are the 160 black and white photographs taken over a twenty year period by Carl Fleischhauer, beginning during the early days of the bluegrass music festival movement of the 1960s. Text is provided by Neil V. Rosenberg, well known for his histories of the bluegrass and folk music during the folk revival. Photographic subjects include the festival culture, as well as the behind the scenes world of bluegrass. Included are legends such as Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys, and many others. Fleischhauer's photographs paired with Rosenberg's text make this book an excellent window into this important aspect of American culture. The book is also the latest volume in the University of Illinois Press series: Music In American Life--Jonathan Colcord Granny D: Walking Across America in my Ninetieth Year. Author: Doris Haddock Publisher: Konemann Inc. $21.95 Paper (120p.) ISBN 0375505393 I have three young daughters and appreciate it much when a woman engages in activities that tend to shine a bright light to women. One of history's failures is that so much of the writing has been by men about men. I also am an unabashed patriot and even in middle age constantly wonder at the genius of the American political system and the power retained by the citizens of the Grand Republic. I am also, for good or ill, a New Englander and perhaps I reflect a New England conceit by believing the Revolution that established Independence was the notion of New Englanders and each succeeding generation of New Englanders is especially entrusted with refreshing the covenants of the Declaration of Independence. Doris Haddock is an elder American and New Englander who lives in New Hampshire and who stunned the country and delighted the media by walking across the United States in an effort to raise the conscience of a nation about her perception that money was unduly influencing politics and that campaign reform was essential to maintain the American political system. Each day at a slow pace she walked and each night she made notes in her journal, which now form the backbone of this remarkable autobiography. Her writings propound her central objection to the role of money in politics, but her writings, etched after her arduous daily trek, also can reach the hearts and minds of most American citizens. She denounces the mass acquisition of print and broadcast media by huge conglomerates and urges us to seek, "…wise adult writers, producers and broadcasters, whose value systems are brave, mature and complex enough to resist the reptilian, single-minded pursuit of profit." She challenges commercial marketing efforts that drain away the individuality of children and ridicules corporations who do so. She celebrates American families and local communities and denounces the frenzied, mass-market mentality that blends all into carefully developed cells on spreadsheets. She sincerely writes that, "Maybe you are one of the people who bristle at the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, but you must agree that the village, at the very least, must not work against a family's attempt to teach values, respect, responsibility, and love." Doris Haddock, or Granny D, is not a politician, nor is she a philosopher. She is a hero. And, as Bill Moyers notes in his Foreword: The soul of a citizen shines in these pages--James Ryan Published by YBP Library Services 999 Maple St., Contoocook, NH 03229 USA v: 800.258.3774   f: 603.746.5628 w: www.ybp.com   e: academia@ybp.com All rights reserved.