The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado"When Glen Canyon was inundated, several years had already been dedicated to salvaging prehistoric Indian sites. But how could anyone salvage some of the music of one of the world's great symphonies of natural architecture? No one seemed to know quite how. Porter tried - and convinced us all over again that something happens to a place when his eye falls upon it that never happened before. In this color alchemy of his an unspoiled Glen Canyon somehow relives. Incredibly enough, the 72 color plates in this book do not overlap what Porter has done in his earlier book, IN WILDNESS IS THE PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD, but continue its discovery, truly great testimony to his brilliance as a colorist. The text consists of an introduction by Porter and selections from many eminent writers about the canyon itself, about the strangely magnificent land it lies in, and about the meaning of wildness. Born of a frustrating twelve-year struggle to save Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the book can serve a lasting purpose if it helps stave off the threats of dams on America's last great reaches of wilderness river. Had Eliot Porter's work appeared earlier, there would probably be no Glen Canyon Dam. The public would not likely have relinquished what this dam needlessly and irretrievably destroys if the public had known what it was losing. The least we can do is remember, with purpose, these things lost. The book helps us, most poignantly." -- David Brower. |
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alcove American earth Arch ARTS LIBRARY Aztec Creek beauty big river blue Bridge Canyon canyon country canyon walls carved Cathedral Canyon caves Cid Ricketts Sumner CLARENCE clay cliffs color Colorado River dark DAVID BROWER dead deep desert DUTTON ELIOT PORTER environment eroding Escalante basin Escalante River face feel feet fern finance flood flow FRANK WATERS geological Glen Canyon dam grain by grain Gulch HENRY BESTON Hidden Passage human JOHN JOHN WESLEY Powell JOSEPH WOOD KRUTCH knew Lake Powell land lichens light live look LOREN EISELEY maidenhair man's miles miracle Music Temple narrow natural world Navajo sandstone never past photographs Plateau pool preserve rain Redbud reflected river's edge rock sculpture shadow side canyons Sierra Club slots sometimes spring stone strata streams surface talus tapestries things trees tributaries upper walked Wall detail WALLACE STEGNER waterfall WELDON HEALD wild wilderness willow wind wonder WOOD KRUTCH