A Pagan Polemic
200 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Paperback
Release Date:15 Nov 2023
ISBN:9780826365170
A Pagan Polemic
Reflections on Nature, Consciousness, and Anarchism
University of New Mexico Press
A Pagan Polemic curates the evolving perspective of Jack Loeffler--itinerant wanderer, environmental warrior, storyteller, and story collector--whose true education began when he was marched into the Nevada desert one day at dawn to play "The Stars and Stripes Forever" during an atomic bomb test a scant few miles away. Since that day in 1957, Jack's mission in life has been to record peoples of the borderlands and to bring "Indigenous mindedness" to the forefront of the conversation about our precarious environments and our decaying planet. A Pagan Polemic is a sweeping manifesto of Jack's core beliefs and long experience as a fierce (and funny) advocate for Nature and Nature-mindedness and against poisonous politics and policies.
Here in one volume is a virtually complete account of the history of water and environmental issues in the American Southwest. Jack Loeffler is always arguing in favor of the great work of wild nature and the consciousness of serious nature scientists and scholars. He wrote a series of books, gave talks and lectures, climbed mountains and ran rivers, and knew everybody. Here is a lot of the story of those years--and we are lucky to have it.'--Gary Snyder, author of The Practice of the Wild: Essays
Loeffler takes the reader on a deep dive into nature-driven philosophies through the voices of many diverse thinkers, including his own strong, playful, and crucial voice.'--Craig Leland Childs, author of Stone Desert: A Naturalist's Exploration of Canyonlands National Park
No one listens to the Southwest like Jack Loeffler. This collection of essays constitutes a perfect guide to the life's work of an unsurpassed student of the Arid Lands.'--William deBuys, author of The Trail to Kanjiroba: Rediscovering Earth in an Age of Loss
Jack Loeffler is an aural historian, environmentalist, writer, radio producer, and sound-collage artist. He is the author or editor of many books, including Headed into the Wind: A Memoir, Thinking Like a Watershed: Voices from the West, Survival Along the Continental Divide: An Anthology of Interviews, and Adventures with Ed: A Portrait of Abbey (all from UNM Press).
Prologue. Rambling Reflections of the Reservoir of Memory
1. Our Window: An Editorial--1972
2. The Practice of Aural History
3. Native Windows into the Natural World
4. Aldo Leopold in the Southwest
5. Averting Dystopia
6. LUCA's Dream
7. Conflicting Ideologies
8. Counterculture in the Land of Clear Light
9. In Praise of Restoration Ecology
10. Nature Abhors a Maximum
11. A Sonoran Illumination
12. Thinking Like a Watershed
13. The Colorado River Compact Is 100 Years Old
14. On Direct Action
15. A Case for Naturist Anarchism
16. Naturizing Consciousness
17. Seeking Coherence
18. Lingering Speculations
Conclusion. Invigorating Metamorphosis
Acknowledgments
1. Our Window: An Editorial--1972
2. The Practice of Aural History
3. Native Windows into the Natural World
4. Aldo Leopold in the Southwest
5. Averting Dystopia
6. LUCA's Dream
7. Conflicting Ideologies
8. Counterculture in the Land of Clear Light
9. In Praise of Restoration Ecology
10. Nature Abhors a Maximum
11. A Sonoran Illumination
12. Thinking Like a Watershed
13. The Colorado River Compact Is 100 Years Old
14. On Direct Action
15. A Case for Naturist Anarchism
16. Naturizing Consciousness
17. Seeking Coherence
18. Lingering Speculations
Conclusion. Invigorating Metamorphosis
Acknowledgments
