denim silos

beenlookingforthemagic:

In the late summer of 1988, an interview with environmentalist, activist, nature writer Edward Abbey appeared in Western Winds Magazine. During the interview, which was by Paul Bousquet with some help from editor Fred Lifton, Abbey said the following:

WW: According to my calculations you turned 60 this year. How did this affect you?
Abbey: Haven’t given it much thought. It’s one of those things that happen when you keep hanging around. I expect my life to become an easy downhill slide from here on. My father is 86 and still working—alone—out in the Appalachian woods every day, cutting down trees and hauling them down to the sawmill. Barring accidents internal or external, I’ll probably end up doing something like that. Longevity, like intelligence or good looks, is largely a matter of heredity: choose your parents with care. Also, it helps to have a mean, rancorous, rotten disposition; us mean and ugly types are hard to kill.

Abbey died on March 14, 1989 due to complications from surgery. He left instructions on what to do with his remains: Abbey wanted his body transported in the bed of a pickup truck, and wished to be buried as soon as possible. He did not want to be embalmed or placed in a coffin. Instead, he prefered to be placed inside of an old sleeping bag, and requested that his friends disregard all state laws concerning burial. “I want my body to help fertilize the growth of a cactus or cliff rose or sagebrush or tree.” For his funeral, Abbey stated “No formal speeches desired, though the deceased will not interfere if someone feels the urge. But keep it all simple and brief.” He requested gunfire and bagpipe music, a cheerful and raucous wake, “[a]nd a flood of beer and booze! Lots of singing, dancing, talking, hollering, laughing, and lovemaking.”

A 2003 Outside article described how his friends honored his request:

“The last time Ed smiled was when I told him where he was going to be buried,” says Doug Peacock, an environmental crusader in Edward Abbey’s inner circle. On March 14, 1989, the day Abbey died from esophageal bleeding at 62, Peacock, along with his friend Jack Loeffler, his father-in-law Tom Cartwright, and his brother-in-law Steve Prescott, wrapped Abbey’s body in his blue sleeping bag, packed it with dry ice, and loaded Cactus Ed into Loeffler’s Chevy pickup. After stopping at a liquor store in Tucson for five cases of beer, and some whiskey to pour on the grave, they drove off into the desert. The men searched for the right spot the entire next day and finally turned down a long rutted road, drove to the end, and began digging. That night they buried Ed and toasted the life of America’s prickliest and most outspoken environmentalist.

(photo via i12bent)