Northwest Books: Man-eaters star in book about big predators

Published 11:37 am Sunday, September 21, 2003

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! And wolves, cougars and sharks. And man-eating crocodiles, too.

David Quammen invites readers to take a close look at man-eating predators “in the jungles of history and the mind,” in his new book, “Monster of God” (W. W. Norton, 384 pages, hard cover, $26.95).

Quammen thinks that the fear of falling victim to a man-eating predator is among the formative aspects of mankind. After all, we do not sit unchallenged atop “the Food Chain of Power and Glory,” but remain part of the natural world – sometimes prey.

He blends travel narrative, science, history, myth and adventure, in a world-wide view, its Wyoming to Siberia. He also considers religion, using as a springboard the Leviathan of the Book of Job – a fire-breathing, dragon-like thing.

Coexisting with a deadly predator is just part of life for a few people in remote parts of the world, Quammen says.

He believes that the outlook for what he calls alpha predators is grim, and that their loss will be felt in spiritual and psychological dimensions as well as ecological ones.

Botanical wealth

Michael Moore has added 20 years of research — and 168 pages – to the new edition of his unique book, “Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West” (Museum of New Mexico Press, 368 pages, soft cover, $24.95).

The author has been called “the godfather of American herbalists.” Moore is the founder and director of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine, in Bisbee, Arizona, where he works as a writer, researcher, therapist and teacher for professional herbalists.

The new edition contains 52 color photos, 148 hue drawings, and 134 maps.

The useful structure of the book includes a therapeutic use index – headache, stress, varicose veins, scores of ailments are listed. Moore has also written a companion volume, “Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West.”

In a preface to the new book, Moore says the volume is “a small agent for self- empowerment yet another small obstacle to centralization and Marketing America.”

Emigrant ordeal

In September 1860 Bannock Indians attacked a wagon train west of Fort Hall, Idaho.

Forty-nine days later cavalry troops from Fort Walla Walla rescued the few survivors.

One of them, 13-year-old Emeline Trimble, in 1892 wrote the story, republished now as “The Last Wagon Train” (Bear Creek Press, 40 pages, soft cover, $7.95).

It’s a worthy addition to publisher Mark Highberger’s “Northwest Classic Series.”

Only a handful of the original copies of this book remain, but now the story is available to all.