Diary of a Fire Lookout (2008)
theparisreview.orgI am surprised that nothing has been said (or much anyway) in light of the current wildfires situations, about how maybe 3 years ago spending on public parks was slashed. Surely it stands to reason that with less feet on the ground, there are going to be more fires taking off, that could have otherwise been stopped.
The linked article is a recent account by Philip Connors. I rather expected it to be a 2008-era article about one of the most famous fire lookouts in literature: Gary Snyder who worked as a fire lookout in the 1950s and found the job congruent with the interest in Zen and contemplation that distinguished him as a member of the Beats.
Perhaps more famous - Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels.
But of course Jack only went there because (as fictionalized in The Dharma Bums) Gary had told him it was a cool experience.
For any reader of Edward Abbey, this essay is delightfully pretentious and soft. I actually assumed it was semi-ironic until I looked up the author. If you found it interesting, and prefer a bit more grit, consider reading Edward Abbey’s essay Fire Lookout. And if you are at all fond of cheesy romance, Abbey’s [mediocre, on-topic] novel Black Sun. For the very brave, you might try spending a summer of your own up on the tower, it’s still a thing in the American West, not as many operating towers as there used to be (because technology), but a job that doesn’t require much special training. If you look hard you’ll find a tower with serviceable LTE - please post back if you try the digital monk thing on a fire tower!
The author wrote a book "Fire Season" about his period in a tower.
Is there a non-subscriber version available elsewhere?