John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire: How a Visionary and the Glaciers of Alaska Changed America Paperback – May 1, 2015

With the title, “The Iced That Started a Fire,” one gets a hint at how different this story is from a typical biography. Woven into the well-established facts about John Muir’s life are delightful details about the man, his family, friends allies, and foes. More importantly, it weaves a story about how his voice and writings played a major role in awakening America’s perception of wilderness. Kim Heacox had a catbird seat with his long association at Glacier Bay and the National Park Service as well as a deep knowledge and research of his subject. For me, this book was significant in understanding how the conservation movement developed in America with the hope that future generations will never let that ice fire burn out.

Author Kim Heacox has penned a good introduction to John Muir, one of the central figures in the beginning of the American conservation movement. Book jackets have called this a biography of Muir. I don't think this qualifies as such. Although Muir's life is central to the book and you learn a lot about John Muir, this is more a book about John Muir's relationship to the wilds and glaciers of Alaska, his passion about conserving wild places (in California, Alaska, and elsewhere), his role in starting the conservation movement, and his influence on other important figures in this movement, both then and after his death (especially Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft).I am an Alaskan and as such, have heard a lot about John Muir over the years. I confess that although I have intended to, I've not read John Muir to this point. This book will spur me to correct that deficiency and I suspect it will spur lots of others to do likewise. For that, I owe Kim Heacox a debt of gratitude. John Muir was an amazing and visionary man, and this book attempts to point that out.

Conservatives often justify their opposition to new ideas and new policies as a heroic effort to protect what works and not rush headlong into untested waters that may lead to disaster. On the other hand, conservatives often have few inhibitions about rushing headlong into new areas and new enterprises, if there is the probability of making a profit even if those new areas and those new enterprises involve an assault on nature. Making a profit is the finest and purest expression of capitalism, and thus is to be valued in itself as a good - perhaps a great good on the same level as truth, loyalty, and compassion. It naturally follow that those who, in the name of protecting nature, oppose this headlong rush are portrayed as enemies of capitalism and the fight against them does not need invariably to include truth, loyalty or compassion. "But isn't economic growth good for all? Doesn't lumbering generate jobs for people who might otherwise have none? Won't building a dam provide reliable fresh water and electricity for industry?" This, in a nutshell, is the conflict and contradiction that Heacox examines in his wonderful new book, "John Muir and the Ice that Started a Fire." Heacox uses the life of John Muir as a pillar on which he builds a broad and sweeping narrative of the conservation movement of the United States.The author has great strength and maturity in his art. His earlier book, "The Only Kayak," deserves great praise for the beautiful way in which it explains the need for humans to love and respect nature just as they should love and respect other humans. However, "The Only Kayak," suffers a bit from the author's tendency to mock those who may not love and respect nature to the extent he believes is necessary. In this new book, he examines the issues and the people involved with a much higher level of understanding of (compassion for?) the complexities of life and that people can sometimes be on the right side of one issue and on the wrong side of another, but yet be valuable humans worthy of friendship and collaboration. But he never waivers from his bottom line message: Nature is fragile and is under constant attack. Nature is essential. We are passengers on this earth and must treat nature with respect and preserve it to the greatest extent possible. Today, nature is suffering assaults never before seen in human history. Climate change can change almost everything. Conservatives believe that arguments for addressing climate change are just cloaked attacks on capitalism. The challenge is to find the right balance between capitalism's demand for unending economic growth and the reality that this demand is unsustainable.The book is thoroughly documented. Heacox has studied the literature exhaustively and, in particular, has sought to put the events and actions of Muir in the context of other events taking place in the United States and the world. One of his most piercing points is that Muir, as some other greats of that era (or any era), were both makers of destiny and the beneficiaries of having been born at the right time. He mentions Ford and others. For me, Heacox embellished my appreciation of John Muir. After reading Muir's "Travels in Alaska," I came to appreciate Muir as one of those singular human beings who come along once in a generation. A man of unbounded energy and commitment who had a vision of what he wanted to do in life and followed that vision with extraordinarily hard work for years on end.One hopes that this book will become a new rallying torch for a new conservation movement. In this day of the internet, Facebook, YouTube, and Google, it is next to impossible to predict what will spark a new movement mobilizing millions of people. Could something as mundane as a hard back book still lead, in this day, to major societal change? Could this book be the spark that will kindle a new fire to blaze a trail to protecting nature? I hope so.

This is a well written book about John Muir, his adventures, and his time in Alaska. I really enjoyed reading this book and love this author and his writing style. This book shows the importance of Muir's work and his importance to the conservation movement. A great read.

I want to read more of Muir’s words; that’s the end result of this book.The chapters resound with sentiments and information that inform and explain our present condition. Even a reference to the forests of Finland as “monocultures... farm as forests,” shed light on recent (ignorant) comparisons made between California’s forests and those of Finland. The natural feeling one has when one views the historical context of Muir, and all that has happened since, is despair.The author reminds us that we have to accept and then transcend the situation. That great challenges must be seen as opportunities, and that nature cannot defend itself. Thus, despair is not an option.

I have always admired John Muir as an explorer and environmental activist but this is the first book I have finally started reading about his life and accomplishments. This book is a chronicle of Muir’s travels to explore the Alaskan glaciers with stories of the various people he engaged with in his pursuits for knowledge of the geological processes of glaciers which shaped landscapes, the indigenous tribes of people who were his guides, the academics and scientists who worked with him and how Muir thought of the wildness as being the natural environment for humans to thrive in! I am in awe of Muir as a visionary of how precious wild lands are and I feel the same way. I have only finished Part 1 and I was crying because european immigrants feared the wilderness and their “capitalistic materialism” has caused such tragic destruction of wild lands and innocent creatures. It is imperative that we scrap the current corporate economic system. I believe we as humans have the chance to remake our society and build a new economy based on clean energies! The alternative is unthinkable for future generations.