John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire: How a Visionary and the Glaciers of Alaska Changed America
*Starred Review* Alaska writer Heacox (The Only Kayak, 2005) delves deeply here into the impact his state’s glacial beauty had upon wilderness advocate John Muir. With a deft touch, the narrative wanders with ease from natural history, to biography, to travelogue and an exploration of how Muir’s adventures in Alaska infused his later literary and conservation accomplishments. Muir is hardly an unknown figure, but Heacox finds much in his Alaska experiences worthy of further examination. The state’s conflicted past with its native inhabitants comes alive as the author recounts Muir’s interactions with Tlingit guides, determined men of God, desperate gold miners, and the denizens of the much-lauded 1899 Harriman Expedition. Heacox presents Muir at his most restless, curious best, heavily engaged in the environmental politics of California while never leaving far behind his northern glacial adventures. There are a dozen different aspects of this study that will strike deep chords with readers, most notably the climate implications revealed by glacial movements that Muir recorded. Long a highly regarded member of Alaska’s literary establishment, Heacox is at the top of his game here. The science is fascinating, the prose is poetic, and the story weaves a long-lasting geographic spell. --Colleen Mondor