Edward Abbey was the original environmental monkey-wrencher. His popularity is resurgent— maybe just in time.
Photo illustration by Priscilla Garcia
A
lthough it’s been nearly three decades since Edward Abbey drained his last can of beer and flung it onto a Forest Service byway, the author’s suasive prose and thorny legacy still thrive within certain enclaves, including those of the disaffected youth, thank goodness, who seem to arrive with each generation like the hardy grasses that poke through buckled concrete. By the time they find Abbey, they’ve dispatched their Thoreau and von Mises, and they’re thirsty for stouter brew. (We’ll forgive them their late-model SUVs and Sprinter vans.) To them, Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang are as necessary worldview additives as Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums, and some, charmed by Abbey’s not-so-subtle call to agitate, have Googled up the public domain copy of “Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching,” compiled by “Various Authors,” like “T.O. Hellenbach” (but actually written by Abbey’s bestknown disciple, Dave Foreman, the founder of Earth First!). Whether these latter-day eco-warriors have employed the necessary hammers, wrenches and granulated sugar to wreak destruction on various species of Caterpillar, they’re not saying. Perhaps more inspired by Bill McKibben’s call for a sensible middle path, they’ve traded hardware for social media and video cameras, which are probably stickier stuff than Karo Syrup five decades removed from the more physical strain of civil disobedience that once swept the country. All the same, you can almost hear Abbey wailing from the depths of his unmarked grave, “What we need here is a little precision earthquake.” Fortunately, many still have their ears to the ground. After 26 years of repose under the hardpan of the Dark Head Wilderness, a temblor of sorts has disinterred Abbey’s spirit, and he’s being feted more this year than any other in recent memory. Apparently, Abbey is needed.
OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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“ABBEY’S BACK” continued on page 14
ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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JUNE 25, 2015
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RN&R
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