
Diary of a Fire Lookout (2008) - evilsimon
https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/5853/diary-of-a-fire-lookout-philip-connors
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rusk
I am surprised that nothing has been said (or much anyway) in light of the
current wildfires situations, about how maybe 3 years ago spending on public
parks was slashed. Surely it stands to reason that with less feet on the
ground, there are going to be more fires taking off, that could have otherwise
been stopped.

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Mediterraneo10
The linked article is a recent account by Philip Connors. I rather expected it
to be a 2008-era article about one of the most famous fire lookouts in
literature: Gary Snyder who worked as a fire lookout in the 1950s and found
the job congruent with the interest in Zen and contemplation that
distinguished him as a member of the Beats.

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zabzonk
Perhaps more famous - Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels.

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Mediterraneo10
But of course Jack only went there because (as fictionalized in _The Dharma
Bums_ ) Gary had told him it was a cool experience.

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gkop
[https://outline.com/p7La5C](https://outline.com/p7La5C)

For any reader of Edward Abbey, this essay is delightfully pretentious and
soft. I actually assumed it was semi-ironic until I looked up the author. If
you found it interesting, and prefer a bit more grit, consider reading Edward
Abbey’s essay Fire Lookout. And if you are at all fond of cheesy romance,
Abbey’s [mediocre, on-topic] novel Black Sun. For the very brave, you might
try spending a summer of your own up on the tower, it’s still a thing in the
American West, not as many operating towers as there used to be (because
technology), but a job that doesn’t require much special training. If you look
hard you’ll find a tower with serviceable LTE - please post back if you try
the digital monk thing on a fire tower!

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ddoran
The author wrote a book "Fire Season" about his period in a tower.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9341909-fire-
season](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9341909-fire-season)

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selfhoster11
Is there a non-subscriber version available elsewhere?

