BOOK REVIEW

Poets on the Peaks: Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen and Jack Kerouac in the North Cascades

book by John Suiter

Counterpoint, 2002

review by Bob Pavlik

I came across this book by happenstance. Browsing in my local bookstore, I was struck by the convergence of intriguing topics: the North Cascades, fire lookouts, and Beat Generation writers. What could be better?

John Suiter spent several years exploring the magnificently wild mountain range of northern Washington, photographing the scenery as well as the steel and wood structures that once housed a network of fire spotters, the first line defense in the US Forest Service's ardent effort to suppress a naturally occurring event.

He read the letters and journals of Snyder, Kerouac and Whalen, and compiled a marvelous history of their time in the mountains as well as the West Coast literary centers of Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. He offers detailed accounts of how these artists met, how they came to work as firewatchers, and how that experience changed them and influenced their writings.

The author describes the now famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery in 1955, where Alan Ginsberg premiered "Howl" and where the others (Whalen, Snyder, Michael McClure, and Philip Lamantia) gained literary recognition. He places the event within the context of their complicated personal relationships and in the shadow of Hozomeen, the brooding peak that inspired and informed the trio's poetic sensibilities.

Suiter writes about the Forest Service men who Snyder, in particular, befriended. I appreciate this inclusion in the book, because these blue collar, deep woods workers rarely gain any notice of their existence beyond their immediate families and friends. There are poets with double bitted axes and cork soled boots.

I found the account of Gary Snyder's blacklisting during the '50s particularly intriguing and chilling, an ominous precursor of assaults on civil liberties in our times.

The author provides a detailed epilogue that traces the various poets' paths: Whalen to the San Francisco Zen Center; Snyder to Japan and eventually to Kitkitdizze, his northern California ranch; and Kerouac to an early grave. In addition, Suiter chronicles the history of the Wilderness Act of 1964, the creation of North Cascades National Park in 1968, and the unfortunate demise of many of the forest service fire lookouts.

Poets on the Peaks is heavily illustrated with Suiter's marvelous black and white photographs depicting the peaks and valleys of the North Cascades, as well as the remaining fire lookouts on Desolation and Sourdough mountains. He includes a handful of vintage images, and they show how little the region has changed during a time when the world has changed so much. There is an excellent bibliography and 54 pages of detailed notes (titled annotations in the book). A map would have been a nice addition to this volume.

John Muir admonished us to "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings." Thanks to John Suiter's graceful and beautiful book, we now know how well three poets heeded his call.*