Rhythm of the Wild

February 15, 2015
Former National Park Service ranger Heacox (John Muir and the Ice that Started a Fire: How a Visionary and the Glaciers of Alaska Changed America, 2014, etc.) lyrically recounts his passionate and enduring relationship with Alaska's Denali National Park, a chunk of Alaskan land the size of Massachusetts with only one road.Established in 1917, Mount McKinley National Park is also known by its Athabaskan name of Denali, and Heacox first experienced it in 1981 while working as an interpretive ranger for the Park Service. The author builds his narrative, which spans 35 years, on his deep and personal exploration of the sacredness of wild places, especially Denali, and why these landscapes are so necessary to all humans and animals in today's crowded, noisy world. Heacox deftly traverses a multitude of topics, including his happy childhood spent roaming the Northwest, the influence of music, especially the Beatles, during his teenage years, and the natural and human histories of the park. As the narrative unfolds, the author acknowledges his predecessors, environmental writers such as John Muir, Edward Abbey and Bill McKibben, while also touching on current environmental issues and climate change. Though Heacox voices strong opinions on land use and bemoans America's consumer culture, his tone is never shrill or self-righteous. Rather, by recounting the stories of the explorers, scientists, government officials, historians, tourists, climbers and park employees whose lives have been touched by Denali, Heacox skillfully reveals the many benefits of this grand open space, as well as its fragility. The park's wildlife-moose, eagles, red fox, sandhill cranes, grizzly bears, porcupines and wolves-share the stage with human actors in Heacox's chronicle. Top-notch environmental writing to shelve alongside George Perkins Marsh, Aldo Leopold, Robert Marshall and Barry Lopez.

Starred review from May 15, 2015
In his previous impressive book, John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire (2014), Heacox investigated the ways Alaska's landscape affected the life and writing of the great naturalist. Now, in a memoir focused on his long relationship with Denali National Park, he returns to the personal writing style that brought him wide acclaim in The Only Kayak (2005). Heacox first traveled to Denali nearly 35 years ago as a newly hired park ranger and then returned over the ensuing decades. He writes eloquently of his experiences getting to know the park's landscape and wildlife. There is some humor as he shares experiences with tourists and visiting politicians, and also some frustration over Alaska's endless love-hate relationship with its wildlife, especially wolves. And he shares stories from his youth, including delightful music and literary references. But Heacox excels at conveying his deep love for the land, and his ability to make the case for its significance to American life elevates him to the highest level of nature writing. Denali matters, he declares. I love the intimate distance, the raw existence, the unexpected avens, the furtive lynx, the stoic moose, the resilient birch, the poetry of water over stones. This is an author at the top of his game; a true national treasure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)