John Muir

[nimblewill]

Anyone ever heard of this guy. I loved this quote from
sierraclub.org/john_muir_exh … ter_1.aspx

Among our best games were running, jumping, wrestling, and scrambling. I was so proud of my skill as a climber that when I first heard of hell from a servant girl who loved to tell its horrors and warn us that if we did anything wrong we would be cast into it, I always insisted that I could climb out of it. I imagined it was only a sooty pit with stone walls like those of the castle, and I felt sure there must be chinks and cracks in the masonry for fingers and toes. Anyhow the terrors of the horrible place seldom lasted long beyond the telling; for natural faith casts out fear.

[JasonPratt]

I only know a little about him: he was a naturalist (in the sense of “going out and studying the Earth and its inhabitants and doing his best to protect them”) who worked in California and is still greatly revered there for helping institute the many natural park areas in the Rockies.

Let’s see what the Wiki says… The whole article seems pretty well sourced.

[SLJ]

I’ve heard of him, yes. I think most people who grow up in California, especially if they do any camping and hiking in the Sierras, would be familiar with his name. But I’m afraid I don’t know very much about him. Sounds like an interesting man.

Sonia

[Matt_Wiley]

A couple years ago I watched Ken Burns’ National Parks documentary series, where John Muir was often quoted, and an entire episode was pretty much dedicated to him… He is mainly known for his love for Yosemite National Park in California, and spent a lot of time there… he seemed like a pretty cool dude.

Anyways, here’s an interesting discussion I ran across about him:

community.beliefnet.com/go/threa … tian_Pagan

[nimblewill]

Yep it was the Ken Burns stuff that I heard about him. Several of his books are free on kindle.