Letters

Loaded Canon

Now you've gone and done it! I consider it a successful month if I manage to read all of the articles in Outside. Then along comes the May issue, and naturally I want to read all the books discussed in "The Outside Canon." So now what am I supposed to do? I can see no alternative to quitting my job for a year or two and just reading.

Bill Landau
Hawarden, Iowa

I have long enjoyed your magazine--the quality of the articles is outstanding. I am especially impressed with "The Outside Canon." In a world that is becoming fearfully image-addicted and illiterate, and in which the most common testament to the imagination is "I didn't read the book, but I saw the movie," I applaud your decision to publish such a piece.

Lorraine Alkire
Los Angeles, California

You were kind to include a moment on the Earth in "The Outside Canon," but your summary didn't resemble any book I remember writing. You assert that the book says "pollution and global warming are nothing to worry about, and population growth is a darn good thing." In fact, it calls for strengthening antipollution laws, in part by setting a national zero standard for toxic discharge; endorses carbon taxes to forestall global warming; and spends an entire chapter arguing against overpopulation. The point made is that nature can survive the human population--but can we?

I strive to establish a middle ground by showing that environmental problems are genuine but can be redressed before any doomsday comes calling. Some now attempt to evade that reasoning by caricaturing it as saying there's nothing to worry about. That represents the sort of rigid, predictable thinking that Outside usually likes to puncture. Here you've perpetuated it.

Gregg Easterbrook
Brussels, Belgium

Heavenly Hoofbeats
Once again, I find myself wanting to crawl inside your magazine and disappear. Tim Cahill's "A Good Hair Week in Mongolia" (April) had me entranced until the galloping end. I felt as if I was riding right alongside him, experiencing the spirit of the Mongolian land and people. I loved every hoofbeat!

John Cressman
Jefferson City, Tennessee

Thank you for Cahill's masterfully written story. The image of an expansive Mongolia dotted with deft, athletic horsemen is amply conjured by the author's words and David Edwards's defining photographs.

Mike Adkisson
Spokane, Washington

Beorn Again
Brad Wetzler's "I Hear America Slogging" (May) made me homesick for the Appalachian Trail. I wish all of the hikers who talked junk about Beorn could have spent seven days and nights with him in Virginia, as I did. I have never met a man so completely at peace with his enormous place in the world.

Tad Curry
Evanston, Illinois

Though the "official" appalachian Trail organizers probably cringe at Wetzler's candid and somewhat irreverent glimpse of through-hiker life, I think he captured the spirit of the scene. As for the people mentioned in the article, most are adjusting well to life after the trail. Haven't seen Beorn yet this year. Who knows what he's up to!

Dan "Wingfoot" Bruce
Center for Appalachian Trail Studies
Hot Springs, North Carolina

Correction: The SweetWater Guardian Plus water filter shown on page 138 of the April issue is assembled incorrectly. Outside regrets the error.

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