A writer has to have some kind of compulsive drive to do his work. If you don't have it, you'd better find another kind of work, because it's the only compulsion that will drive you through the psychological nightmares of writing.

He (Dave Brower) is an emotionalist in an age of dangerous reason.

If by some fiat I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence, this is the one I would choose: The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone.

Almost all Americans would recognize Anchorage, because Anchorage is that part of any city where the city has burst its seams and extruded Colonel Sanders.

I used to sit in class and listen to the terms come floating down the room like paper airplanes.

In making war with nature, there was risk of loss in winning.

Nonfiction-wha t the hell, that just says, this is nongrapefruit we're having this morning.