Book notes | The Big Burn
In The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt & the Fire that Saved America, author Timothy Egan relates the events of the historic 1910 wildfire in the western United States while engaging the reader in an adventure story of the pioneer West. He first brings the characters to life and explains the mission of President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve the wild lands of America.
Roosevelt's foes are powerful and many. They also have the resources to defeat plans to create a national service to protect what remains of American forests after the New England states were pillaged by the railroad barons of the day. The residents living in the northern Idaho wilderness towns and villages have no interest in preservation. Like the robber barons of lumber, mining, and rail, they are after the wealth to be had from the land. Roosevelt begins his conservation efforts in this atmosphere, with a meager crew in the driest summer in decades.
Egan goes on to describe the land, the towns, and the mostly uneducated people who reside there. His telling of the gestation, birth, and life of a wildfire is breathtaking. The fire has a life of its own and creates a weather system strong enough to overcome all efforts to stifle it. The story of the men whose heroic and epic actions worked to save people and land is told with heart and a reality that proves the extensiveness of Egan's research.
Similarities to today
The story is brought to a satisfying conclusion and the final pages read like an epilogue. Egan relates what became of the main characters after the fire as well as what became of Roosevelt's idea, plans, and mission to create what became the National Forest Service.
UMRA Book Club members found this book to be an educational and extremely satisfying read. They all agreed that the book provided information about this wildfire and about America's forests at the turn of the century that they didn’t have before. They enjoyed how the author told the story by documenting individual stories of the heroes who fought the fire. Many commented on the similarities to today’s political atmosphere around the environment and climate change: Haven’t we learned anything?
—Paula M. Knutzen, UMRA Book Club I member
Book Club I to meet June 18
Fri, Jun 18 2021, 2pm
Paula Knutzen will lead the discussion of The Big Burn by Timothy Egan when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 18.
This book club currently has 16 members, a number that works well for our discussions. Contact Pat Tollefson at [email protected] for more information, including suggestions for starting a new book club.
Upcoming Events
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.