Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd F. Olson

by David J. Backes

Book Overview

The critically acclaimed biography of this venerable naturalist and writer. The first biography of this venerable naturalist and writer. Sigurd Olson (1899-1982) was acknowledged during his lifetime as a leader of the American environmental movement, an emblematic figure for an entire generation of activists. A Wilderness Within is the first biography of this writer, teacher, and activist who was a harbinger of the opening of America's ecological...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816628424
• ISBN13: 9780816628421
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

They don't Make them that way anymore

After reading five books by Sigurd F. Olson I felt it only right to read his biography. A Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd F. Olson was an insightful look at an incredible person.From the very early days of Sigurds Life he is drawn toward nature. As Olson's life progresses this propensity turns into his lifes calling. Olson accomplishes more than ten people could in one lifetime. Wilderness defender, author, family man, canoeist- If you are entranced by Sigurd Olson's books you owe it to yourself to read his biography.The biography describes things about Sigurd F. Olson that one would never guess from reading his books, and elaborates on others.I'm particularly enjoy reading how hard it was for Olson to get published. He encountered numerous rejections before his first book The Singing Wilderness way published in the 1950's.Perhaps what I like most about this biography is that Olson seems so much like myself. With each page I learned more about myself and my potential. There is a lot we can learn from the life of Sigurd F. Olson. It is best summed up this way: If you have a cause that is worth persuing keep at it, and don't stop until you've achieved your goals.Thanks Becks for writing such a wonderful book about a wonderful person.

An excellent and broad review of the life of Sig Olson.

Anyone who has enjoyed the incredible beauty of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area owes a debt to Sigurd Olson, subject of David Backe's "A Wilderness Within". This well-written book helps us understand Sig and how his intense passion to become a significant writer intertwined with his deep spiritual need for wilderness. The book may go a bit overboard in emphasizing some of his shortcomings: his temper, his need to be important, his occasional mistakes, but it also makes clear how much those close to him loved him. It is painful to consider how much the northern Minnesota wilderness would have been developed and decimated but for his efforts. TH Bracken MD Onamia MN