In celebration of the success of The Monkey Wrench Gang, on the 10 year anniversary of its publication, legendary cartoonist and all around madman R. Crumb illustrated a special edition of the book. Even from the few videos I’ve seen of these two, and of course through their work, it’s almost too easy to imagine the two of them hanging out. I bet they would have made their buddy William Burroughs ride in the backseat of Abbey’s red shark.

via Cold Splinters

A look at the modern environmental movement as well as an Ed Abbey documentary, Wrenched digs up some archival footage (most of which we’ve seen) as well as some of his old buddies who share stories from the days. There are celebrities and modern day monkey wrenchers interviews and footage culled from TV. Worst case scenario, it’s interesting to watch. Best case, it’s a call to arms.

Outdoor sage and proponent of civil disobedience Edward Abbey penned several personal letters that were run a few years ago in Orion Magazine. This one, posted recently on Adventure Journal, was sent to the University of Georgia responding to criticism of Earth First! and Abbey’s novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang. The work is pure Abbey, [ more... ]

Another enterprising filmmaker would like some of your money. But here’s the good news: it looks like they’ve unearthed some more Edward Abbey archival footage. This documentary focuses on those who linger on the extremes of the environmental movement, and hey, it’s great environmentalist don’t all play by the rules, we all know huge corporations don’t. Check out the movie Wrenched, and if you’re inspired, feel free to help them get it produced.

via Cold Splinters

The video essay.

Edward Abbey is the Hunter Thompson of the environment. He drives a big red shark, motors around drinking beer, and has nothing but contempt for the establishment. I’ve seen a few other videos with Edward Abbey walking around his former residence in Arches National Park, but nothing quite this extensive.

“It used to take a whole day to drive in and out of this god awful place. Now anybody with wheels can do it in a couple of hours.”

Ned Judge, who posted this story to Vimeo, says that he produced the film with Ed Abbey back in 1985, but it never aired because the network became uncomfortable putting him on the air.

I love that the two times Abbey gets honked at by another vehicle, it’s the same white Chevy Suburban. Perhaps it was Ned’s old car?

Edward Abbey’s 1975 Cadillac Eldorado is for sale on eBay. The old guy stuck with the classics, none of that SUV garbage for him. The car’s changed hands a few times, and it comes with the original title signed by Abbey and some old plates that say “Hayduke.” As bizarre a piece of literary history [ more... ]

Friend of Cold Splinters Eric Temple pulled together a handful of appearances Edward Abbey made on TV. In this one, I love how he drives a Cadillac into the park, years after the Park Service had given him a truck as his only way back there. Funnily enough he makes a joke about the Government supplying toilet paper in the pit toilets, well, not for much longer.