Edward Paul Abbey was born on January 29, 1927, and died on March 14, 1989. He was an American writer and essayist who supported environmental causes, criticized policies about public lands, and believed in a political system without government control. His most famous book is The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has inspired radical environmental groups. He also wrote a non-fiction book called Desert Solitaire.

Early life and education

Edward Abbey was born on January 29, 1927, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Mildred Postlewait and Paul Revere Abbey. Mildred was a teacher and a church organist, and she helped Abbey develop an interest in classical music and literature. Paul was an anarchist, atheist, and socialist, and his beliefs greatly influenced Abbey.

Abbey graduated from high school in Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1945. Eight months before his 18th birthday, he decided to avoid being drafted into the U.S. military by traveling to the American Southwest. He walked, took buses, hitchhiked, and rode freight trains. During this trip, he fell in love with the desert landscape of the Four Corners region. Abbey wrote: "Rocky cliffs and tall rock formations, dark volcanic cores, a vast and silent emptiness filled with heat, color, and meaning, and clouds that floated above. For the first time, I felt I was close to the West I had imagined, where the real and the mythical became one."

In the U.S. Army, Abbey applied for a clerk-typist job but was instead assigned to serve as a military police officer in Italy. He was promoted twice but was also demoted twice because he often challenged authority. He was honorably discharged as a private. His time in the military made him distrust large institutions and rules, which influenced his writing and strengthened his anarchist beliefs.

After returning to the United States, Abbey used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of New Mexico. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English in 1951 and a master’s degree in philosophy in 1956. While in college, he worked various jobs, including being a newspaper reporter and a bartender in Taos, New Mexico. He had few close male friends but formed strong relationships with several women. Shortly before earning his bachelor’s degree, he married Jean Schmechal, another student at the university. While an undergraduate, Abbey was the editor of a student newspaper, where he published an article titled "Some Implications of Anarchy." A quote on the cover, falsely attributed to Louisa May Alcott, read: "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." University officials took all copies of the issue and removed Abbey from his position as editor.

After receiving his honorable discharge papers, Abbey returned them with the note "Return to Sender." The FBI took note of this action. The FBI had been watching Abbey since 1947, when he posted a letter urging people to destroy their draft cards while in college. In 1952, Abbey wrote another letter against the draft during peacetime, and the FBI added a note to his file stating, "Edward Abbey is against war and military." The FBI kept records about Abbey throughout his life, tracking his movements and interviewing people who knew him. Later in life, Abbey learned the FBI had been watching him and said, "I’d be insulted if they weren’t watching me."

After graduating, Abbey and Jean Schmechal traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, where Abbey studied for a year at Edinburgh University as a Fulbright scholar. During this time, Abbey and Schmechal separated and ended their marriage. In 1951, Abbey began a relationship with Rita Deanin, an artist from the American Southwest. They married in 1952 after divorcing Schmechal. Deanin and Abbey had two children, Joshua N. Abbey and Aaron Paul Abbey.

Abbey’s master’s thesis explored anarchism and the morality of violence. He asked two questions: "To what extent is the current link between anarchism and violence justified?" and "If the link is valid, what arguments have anarchists given, either clearly or indirectly, to support the use of violence?" After earning his master’s degree, Abbey spent 1957 at Stanford University as a Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellow.

Work for National Park Service

In 1956 and 1957, Abbey worked as a seasonal ranger for the United States National Park Service at Arches National Monument (now a national park), near Moab, Utah. He held this position from April to September each year, during which he maintained trails, greeted visitors, and collected campground fees. Abbey lived in a house trailer provided by the Park Service and also in a ramada that he built himself. During his time at Arches, Abbey collected many notes and sketches, which later became the foundation of his first non-fiction book, Desert Solitaire. His second son, Aaron, was born in 1959 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In 1961, a movie version of Abbey’s second novel, The Brave Cowboy, was filmed on location in New Mexico. The screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo, and the film was produced and starred Kirk Douglas, who had purchased the novel’s screen rights. The movie was released in 1962 as Lonely Are the Brave. Douglas once said that when Abbey visited the film set, he looked and spoke so much like Douglas’s friend Gary Cooper that Douglas felt surprised. However, over 25 years later, when Abbey died, Douglas wrote that he had "never met" him. In 1981, Abbey’s third novel, Fire on the Mountain, was adapted into a TV movie with the same title.

On October 16, 1965, Abbey married Judy Pepper, who had worked as a seasonal park ranger in the Florida Everglades and later as a fire lookout in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Judy attended the University of Arizona to earn her master’s degree, during which time Abbey was away from her for long periods. During this time, Abbey had relationships with other women, which Judy eventually discovered, causing their marriage to struggle. On August 8, 1968, Judy gave birth to a daughter, Susannah "Susie" Mildred Abbey. Abbey purchased a home in Sabino Canyon, near Tucson. Judy died of leukemia on July 11, 1970, an event that deeply affected Abbey, leading to years of depression and loneliness. He dedicated his book Black Sun to Judy, though the book was not about their relationship. Instead, it was a story about a woman with whom Abbey had an affair in 1963. Abbey completed the first draft of Black Sun in 1968, two years before Judy’s death, and the book became a source of conflict in their marriage.

Desert Solitaire, Abbey’s fourth book and first non-fiction work, was published in 1968. In it, he describes his time in the canyon country of southeastern Utah from 1956 to 1957. Desert Solitaire is considered one of the greatest nature narratives in American literature and has been compared to Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. In the book, Abbey describes the landscapes of southern Utah and reflects on his experiences as a backcountry ranger, including adventures in nearby canyons and mountains. He also criticizes what he calls "industrial tourism" and the development of national parks, opposes the Glen Canyon Dam, and discusses other topics. In 1973, Abbey married his fourth wife, Renee Downing. However, their marriage ended after four years because Abbey was often away from home.

Later life

Abbey met his fifth and final wife, Clarke Cartwright, in 1978 and married her in 1982. They had two children together: Rebecca Claire Abbey and Benjamin C. Abbey.

In 1984, Abbey returned to the University of Arizona to teach classes in creative writing and hospitality management. During this time, he kept working on his book Fool's Progress.

In July 1987, Abbey attended the Earth First! Rendezvous at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. While there, he had a loud argument about his views on immigration with a group called Alien Nation, which had anarchist communist ideas. Abbey wrote an entire chapter in his book Hayduke Lives about the events at the Rendezvous. In autumn 1987, the Utne Reader printed a letter from Murray Bookchin that said Abbey, Garrett Hardin, and members of Earth First! were racists and caused environmental violence. Abbey was very upset, asked for a public apology, and said he was neither racist nor a supporter of terrorism. All three men Bookchin called "racist" opposed illegal immigration into the United States and believed that more people would harm the environment. About the accusation of "environmental violence," Abbey said the actions he supported were meant to stop the harm he believed the government and companies were causing to nature and living things.

Death and burial

One final piece of advice: […] It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here.

So go outside and hunt, fish, and spend time with friends. Explore forests, climb mountains, hike rivers, breathe deeply the fresh, clear air, sit quietly and think about the peaceful, mysterious space around you. Enjoy life, keep your mind focused and your body safe, and stay active. I promise you this: You will live longer than those who sit at desks, have their hearts locked away, and are distracted by calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive them.

Edward Abbey died on March 14, 1989, at the age of 62, in his home in Tucson, Arizona. His death was caused by bleeding from esophageal varices, which often happen because of portal hypertension, a condition often linked to liver damage from long-term alcohol use. He showed his sense of humor by leaving a message for anyone asking about his final words: "No comment." He also gave instructions about his burial: He wanted his body placed in the bed of a pickup truck and buried quickly. He did not want to be embalmed or placed in a coffin. Instead, he asked to be put inside an old sleeping bag and wanted his friends to ignore state burial laws. He said, "I want my body to help fertilize the growth of a cactus, cliff rose, sagebrush, or tree." For his funeral, he said, "No formal speeches are wanted, though the deceased will not stop someone if they feel the urge. Keep it simple and brief." He requested gunfire, bagpipe music, a lively wake, "[a]nd a flood of beer and booze! Lots of singing, dancing, talking, shouting, laughing, and lovemaking."

A 2003 article in Outside described how his friends honored his request:

Abbey’s body was buried in a secret desert spot, possibly in the Cabeza Prieta region of Arizona. His friends carved a stone marker nearby, reading:

EDWARD PAUL ABBEY 1927–1989 No Comment

In late March, about 200 friends of Abbey gathered near the Saguaro National Monument near Tucson to hold the wake he requested. A second, larger wake was held in May near his beloved Arches National Park, with speakers including Terry Tempest Williams and Wendell Berry.

Documentaries

• Wrenched, directed by filmmaker ML Lincoln, is a 2013 documentary film that continues the story from Edward Abbey's famous book The Monkey Wrench Gang. It shows how Abbey's ideas about protecting the environment through peaceful protest continue today. This film was originally named Lines Across the Sand.
• Edward Abbey: A Voice in the Wilderness is a 1993 documentary film that won awards. It was produced by Eric Temple for PBS.
• The Cracking of Glen Canyon Dam—With Edward Abbey and Earth First! (1982) records the first famous action by environmental activists when they placed a 300-foot-long black plastic "crack" over the dam. They used poetic language to call for the dam's removal. The film was produced by Toby McLeod, Glenn Switkes, and Randy Hayes.

Literature

Edward Abbey was influenced by writers such as Aldo Leopold, Henry David Thoreau, Gary Snyder, Peter Kropotkin, and A. B. Guthrie, Jr. While he was often compared to Thoreau or Leopold, Abbey did not want to be seen as a nature writer. He once said he did not understand why people preferred reading about the outdoors instead of simply experiencing it firsthand. Abbey was most interested in the theme of personal freedom fighting against a powerful, technology-driven society, with wild places serving as the setting for this conflict. Much of his writing criticized the U.S. National Park Service and American society for depending too much on cars and technology. He believed that wild areas should be protected as places where people could find peace and reminded society of what truly matters in life.

Abbey described his writing style as intentionally shocking and bold. He said he wanted to surprise readers and wake them up to important issues. He did not aim to calm or please people, and he preferred to take risks by making others uncomfortable rather than letting them ignore problems. He also tried to make his writing enjoyable while still challenging readers. Abbey believed that all writers had a responsibility to tell the truth, even if it upset powerful or popular groups.

Abbey's strong opinions, rejection of placing humans above nature, and outspoken views caused many people to disagree with him. Agrarian writer Wendell Berry noted that Abbey was often criticized by major environmental groups because his ideas were very different from those usually supported by environmentalists.

Abbey also faced criticism for views some called racist or sexist. In an essay titled "Immigration and Liberal Taboos" from his 1988 book One Life at a Time, Please, Abbey expressed opposition to immigration into the United States, regardless of legal status. He argued that continued population and industrial growth might not lead to happiness and could cause more suffering. He suggested that the United States should pause large-scale immigration until its own problems were resolved, as he believed the cultural differences of incoming people could conflict with American values such as democracy and a desire for a spacious, beautiful society.

Abbey's work is often credited with helping inspire the creation of Earth First! in 1980. His book The Monkey Wrench Gang influenced environmentalists who were frustrated with mainstream groups and their compromises. Earth First! promoted actions such as "monkeywrenching," which involved disrupting harmful activities to protect the environment. Although Abbey never officially joined the group, he was connected to many of its members and occasionally wrote for the organization.

Selected works

• Jonathan Troy (1954) (ISBN 1-131-40684-2)
• The Brave Cowboy (1956) (ISBN 0-8263-0448-6)
• Fire on the Mountain (1962) (ISBN 0-8263-0457-5)
• Black Sun (1971) (ISBN 0-88496-167-2)
• The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) (ISBN 0-397-01084-2)
• Good News (1980) (ISBN 0-525-11583-8)
• The Fool's Progress (1988) (ISBN 0-8050-0921-3)
• Hayduke Lives (1990) (ISBN 0-316-00411-1)
• Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey (1994) (ISBN 0-312-11265-3)

• Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness (1968) (ISBN 0-8165-1057-1)
• Appalachian Wilderness (1970)
• Slickrock (1971) (ISBN 0-87156-051-8)
• Cactus Country (1973)
• The Journey Home (1977) (ISBN 0-525-13753-X)
• The Hidden Canyon (1977)
• Abbey's Road (1979) (ISBN 0-525-05006-X)
• Desert Images (1979)
• Down the River (with Henry Thoreau & Other Friends) (1982) (ISBN 0-525-09524-1)
• In Praise of Mountain Lions (1984)
• Beyond the Wall (1984) (ISBN 0-03-069299-7)
• One Life at a Time, Please (1988) (ISBN 0-8050-0602-8)
• A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: Notes from a Secret Journal (1989)
• Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951–1989 (1994) (ISBN 0-316-00415-4)

• Cactus Chronicles, saved online on September 19, 2008, by Orion Magazine, published in July–August 2006
• Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast (2006) (ISBN 1-57131-284-6)

• Slumgullion Stew: An Edward Abbey Reader (1984)
• The Best of Edward Abbey (1984)
• The Serpents of Paradise: A Reader (1995)