Headed into the Wind
2019 Southwest Books of the Year
With the temperament of Santa Claus and the tenacity of a badger, Jack Loeffler reveals his compassion and concern for Southwestern traditional cultures and their respective habitats in the wake of Manifest Destiny. Working both as an individual and with comrades—including Edward Abbey and Gary Snyder—he was part of an early coterie of counterculturalists and environmentalists who fought to thwart the plunder of natural resources in the Southwest. Loeffler, a former jazz musician, fire lookout, museum curator, bioregionalist, and self-taught aural historian, shares his humor and imagination, his adventures, observations, reflections, and meditations along the trail in his retelling of a life well lived. In this honest memoir, he advises each and every one of us to go skinny-dipping joyfully in the flow of Nature to better understand where we’re headed.
Jack Loeffler's memoir traces not only his life as an adventurer and historian, but his life as an advocate for the Indigenous peoples of the western United States. A fascinating insight into his life, context, and work.'--Rachel Haisley, The King's English, Reading the West Advocacy Award shortlist
Stirring.
It’s impossible not to find humor in Loeffler’s writing. He’s an easygoing storyteller, and each fairly short snippet of his book can rope you in like a fireside tale.
This memoir is at once a desideratum, a manifesto, a listener’s guide to the Southwest, and a call to arms.
Yes, heading into the wind can be hard work, but as Loeffler shows when meditating on such important issues, we must do better.…His dreams might not all be attainable, but as goals to aspire to, they give us excellent guidance.
Loeffler, a Southwestern original, serves up a memoir told with wolfish zest.
[Loeffler’s] descriptions of the Southwestern ecosystem shine throughout.
Over these pages, we relive Loeffler’s life and learn why he might honestly come to the title of America’s most interesting and thoughtful man.
Jack Loeffler is an aural historian, environmentalist, writer, radio producer, and sound-collage artist. He is the author or editor of many books, including 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).
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One. Headed into the Wind
An Epiphany
Early Childhood
Education
Recognizing Homeland
America Needs Indians
Peyote Mind
Navajo Mountain
Reentry
Life as a Fire Lookout
Life as a Curator
Meeting the Udalls
Adventuring in Mexico
Radical Environmentalism
Black Mesa
Evolving Perspective
Minding the Flow of Nature
Reflections: The Black Mesa Defense Fund
Spiritual Restoration
Listening as an Art Form
Part Two. Reseeding the Commons of Human Consciousness
Time to Consider
Looking to the Bigger Picture
Indigenous Mindedness
Counterculture
Edward Abbey, Anarchism, and the Environment
More on Gary Snyder
More Reflections
The Lore of the Land
A Landscape Under Siege
A Change of Perspective
Restoring Indigenous Mindedness
Enduring Reflections
Rural? Urban?
Thinking Like a Watershed
A Few Suggestions
Toward a New Cultural Paradigm
