Edward Paul Abbey was born on January 29, 1927, and passed away on March 14, 1989. He was an American writer who often defended environmental issues, criticized public land policies, and anarchist political views. The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel that was written by him and was quite famous. The novel has been voted as one of the best inspiration from environmental groups.
Edward Abbey was born on January 29, 1927, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States of America. His mother named Mildred Postlewait and his father name is Paul Revere Abbey. His mother, Mildred is a school teacher and church organ player. The father, Paul, was a socialist, anarchist and atheist whose views greatly influenced Abbey later.
Edward Abbey was graduated from high school in Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1945. Just about eight months before his 18th birthday, Abbey decided to explore the southwestern region of America. It just a short period before he was confronted with the United States military service to join the military. He went to travel on foot, by bus, on the freight train. During the trip, he fell in love with the desert country in the Four Corners region.
When he returned to his place of origin in the United States, Abbey took advantage of G.I. Bill to attend the University of New Mexico, where he received his undergraduate degree, B.A. in philosophy and English in 1951, and a master’s degree in philosophy in 1956.
During his college years, Abbey financed his own life by working side-by-side, including being a newspaper and bartender reporter in Taos, New Mexico. Shortly before earning a bachelor’s degree, Abbey married his first wife, Jean Schmechal.
Edward Abbey Works in the National Park
Abbey spends time as a park guard in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, United States. He worked as a seasonal forest guard for the US National Park Service at the Arches National Monument (now renamed national park), near the town of Moab, Utah in 1956 and 1957.
Abbey holds the position from April to September each year, during which time it welcomes visitors, and collects camp fees. He lives in a trailer that is provided for him by the Parks Office, and in the place he built himself. He collected a large number of notes and sketches which then formed the basis of his first non-fiction work, Desert Solitaire during his stay there.
Edward Abbey and an idol in writing
Abbey got influence by environmentalists and writers: Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, Gary Snyder, and AB Guthrie, Jr, and Peter Kropotkin.
Although often compared to writers like Thoreau or Aldo Leopold, Abbey does not want to be known as a natural writer. He says that he does not understand “why so many people want to read about the outside world-home when it’s more exciting just to stroll into his heart.”
Much of Abbey’s writings criticized park service and American society for its dependence on motorized vehicles and technology. He wants to preserve the wilderness as a refuge for humans and he believes that modernization makes us as human beings forget what is really important in this life. What Edward Abbey did in to protect the earth is good to follow.
