We remember Edward Abbey who died in March 1989.... at the age of 62 he could have lived and written for much longer. His legacy is his 19 books: fiction, polemics, nature studies,satire and miscellaneous essays. His first book, the long out of print Jonathon Troy, appeared in 1954. The last, The Fools Progress, appeared in 1988. Though never a best-selling author, his influence was - and is - far-reaching.

Edward Abbey was a militant ecologist and an unyielding critic of monopoly capitalism, the American military-industrial complex and the communist "paradise" and the socialist "experiment". He was a fighter for the individual against the mass society.

Abbey was a great individualist, a great character. There is much contradiction and much we would disagree with in his work (see our review of the Monkey Wrench Gang) but we know that we would have been able to talk to him. He stayed true despite of all life's ups and downs, and earned our respect. His personal example is both inspirational and educational.