Nature's Kindred Spirits: Aldo Leopold, Joseph Wood Krutch, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, and Gary Snyder

202 Pages·1994·9.73 MB·English

by  James I. McClintock

NATURE'S KINDRED SPIRITS

Nature's
Kindred Spirits
ALDO LEOPOLD,
JOSEPH WOOD KRUTCH,
EDWARD ABBEY, ANNIE DILLARD,
AND GARY SNYDER
James I. McClintock
The University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press
114 North Murray Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England
Copyright © 1994
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McClintock, James, I., 1939-
Nature's kindred spirits: Aldo Leopold, Joseph Wood Krutch,
Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, and Gary Snyder / James I. McClintock.
200 p. cm.
Indudes bibliographical references (p. 163) and index.
ISBN 0-299-14170-5 (d.). ISBN 0-299-14174-8 (pb.)
1. American literature-20th century-History and criticism.
2. Natural history-United States-History-2Oth century.
3. Nature in literature. I. Title.
PS228.N39M37 1994
818'.54080936-dc20 93-38110
For Will, Matt, Sally, and Jim

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction xiii
1. Kindred Spirits 3
2. Aldo Leopold: Mythmaker 23
3. Joseph Wood Krutch: Metabiologist 46
4. Edward Abbey: An "Earthiest" 65
5. Annie Dillard: Ritualist 88
6. Gary Snyder: Posthumanist 109
7. Wider Views 129
Notes 151
Bibliography 163
Index 169
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful for the generous financial support I have received
from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Michi
gan State University; I could not have completed the project
without it. lowe a scholarly debt to colleagues and students in
Michigan State University's American Studies Program, En
glish Department, and Science-Technology Studies Program in
Lyman Briggs School. I especially thank Professors Reed Baird,
Bruce Curtis, Victor Howard, Philip Korth, and David Wright
for their intellectual companionship and critical attention to
various drafts of the manuscript. Additional important help
came from Howard Anderson, William Barillas, Tom Blues, Ri
chard Divelbiss, John Kinch, Rod Phillips, Bob Smith, Ka
tarzyna Tomkiewicz, and Bill Wilson. My wife, Sally (an edu
cator), my sons Matt and Will (an artist and a biologist), and my
father (a biologist) contributed more than they realize. It has
been a joy to find this work uniting us in ways I had not antic
ipated.
Versions of parts of Chapters 3, 5, and 6 appeared in Journal
of American Culture, Cithera, and The American Biology Teacher. A
version of Chapter 4 appeared in Critique 31 (Fall, 1989): 41-54.
Reprinted with permission of the Helen Dwight Reid Educa
tional Foundation. Published by Heldref Publications, 1319
18th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-1802. Copyright
1989.
The wood engravings are by Matthew W. McClintock.
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