Author: Mike Lapinski
Publisher: NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK, May 2006
Binding: Softcover
ISBN: 0-7627-3653-4
Synopsis
A tribute to the core of men who were largely responsible for saving the grizzly bear from extinction by questioning public opinion & policies of their day. B&W photos; 6x9 inches, 192 pgs.
More Information
Grizzlies and Grizzled Old Men is a tribute to the core of men who were largely responsible for saving the grizzly bear from extinction by questioning public opinion and policies of their day, a time before professional biologists and wildlife managers developed strategies for proper human coexistence with the grizzly.
The brutal bear trapper of a century ago, Grizzly Adams, said before he died that he preferred the company of bears to men. The great bear hunter, William Wright, wrote of his grudging admiration for the grizzly that eventually compelled him to stop killing them. Other men followed, questioning the popular opinion that the only good bear was a dead bear. This book gives honor to those men and explains how and why the grizzly disappeared from the western landscape.
The book begins with a brief history about how the grizzly was pushed to the verge of extinction and then each of the following chapters focuses on one of the men who promoted the plight of the grizzly bear through printed word, actions, or deeds. Lastly, the book discusses the generation of men and women who labor today to conserve the grizzly and offers the reader approaches to take up the cause.
EXCERPT FROM THE INTRODUCTION:
Yet in the midst of this unprecedented carnage, winds of change began to blow. A core of daring men stepped forward and questioned the accepted public opinion, that the only good bear was a dead bear. Through the printed word, and through their actions and deeds, these men spread a new gospel--that the universally vilified, feared and loathed grizzly bear was instead a noble beast more worthy of our admiration than a bullet through its heart.
These men, plus a number of others-some famous, some not-stood in the gap and courageously halted the fusillade of bullets, traps, poison and poor policy in their circles of influence to staunch the flow of innocent blood and bring the grizzly back from the brink of extinction.
They're old now, these men who once were young and virile, and strident of step and keen of wit. Their eyes have grown dim, shoulders stooped and gait slowed. And some--Adams, Wright, Roosevelt, Frank Craighead and Howard Copenhaver--have passed from among us. But for a season, their hearts and spirits burned with an unquenchable fire to preserve this great lumbering beast. Thanks to them, the flame of conservation and preservation of the grizzly glows brightly today.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mike Lapinski is an award-winning author whose eleven books include Globe Pequot's Death in the Grizzly Maze and Wilderness Predators of the Rockies. His recent nature book, Elk Mystique, won the Walsworth book-of-the-month award. Mike is also a contributing editor of Bowhunter Magazine, and other outdoor magazines. He lives with his wife Aggie most of the year in Superior, Montana, close to grizzlies and grizzly country. While the bears are hibernating, Mike and Aggie live in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where Mike writes about jaguars, ocelots, and other wilderness animals of the Southwest.