John Muir: Magnificent Tramp by Rod Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It is apropos that I finished the audio-book experience on this work on Earth Day and that I had the opportunity to incorporate it into my Toastmasters Speech today on Water Conservation.
John Muir is a named that I have heard ever since I became aware that the more beautiful places on earth (and there are many) must be protected from those among us who believe progress trumps nature. Even then, in adolescence, I knew that there once was a man who fought with zeal for the majestic and the small and his legacy adorned the marquees of local high-schools, some local peaks and the cool Sierra Club stickers that adorned my old Jeep.
What I learned from this book is that Mr. Muir was an international wanderer and whose travels were beyond what I could have ever imagined. This was a man who pursued his love for the unseen path ahead and in his quest to wander gained fame and influence that is still revered and emulated by many.
Our global community is at a crossroads and though many will not read many of Muir’s original writings, a biography like this provides insights into a time and a man when mankind became aware that our combined actions affect so much more than we could have imagined.
Muir’s story is simple, harrowing, uncompromising and tinged with bitter-sweetness. After all, humankind fights the very earth that houses it and it takes reverence for our home-earth to fight our kind and maintain it.
