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Along with remarkable before-and-after images (including the famous Rosenquist photos of the initial blast), Rob Carson's 20th-anniversary retrospective captures the human drama leading up to the eruption and two decades of subsequent scientific discovery in its aftermath. The idea of a volcano erupting in the continental U.S. was certainly novel at the end of the age of disco. Washington governor Dixy Lee Ray hoped "to live long enough to see one of our volcanoes erupt." Sightseers rushed to the mountain, buying T-shirts with premature slogans like "I Survived Mount St. Helens." Harry Truman, "crotchety octogenarian" and whisky-packing owner and operator of the Mount St. Helens Lodge, made headlines by refusing to leave his home, claiming "that mountain will never hurt me." Truman perished under several hundred feet of ash. A geologist named David Johnston wasn't supposed to be near the mountain that day, but as fate would have it, he traded shifts; his last words shouted into his radio were "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!"
While the human element figures prominently in Carson's book, the truly amazing story is the one of postblast ecological recovery. Take the humble pocket gopher: those that survived began mixing ash with underlying soil, playing a critical role in making the land suitable once more for plant and animal life. Unbelievably, just three years after the eruption, 90 percent of plant species and nearly all mammals had returned to the most devastated areas. Scientists quickly learned that recovery, rather than depending on colonizing species from outside the blast zone, relied largely on species that never left--like hibernating frogs and toads, lucky pocket gophers, and countless subterranean insects. Of course, life outside the blast helped, too; the woolly bear caterpillar parachuted in to reclaim territory and windblown fireweed seeds soon blossomed in the pumice. And meanwhile, the mountain itself (called "Fire Mountain" by the Native American Klickitats) is rapidly growing once again. --Martha Silano
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Book Description Condition: Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 21340988-75
Book Description paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_332649889
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 4. Seller Inventory # G0912365331I3N00
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 4. Seller Inventory # G0912365331I3N00
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Jacket has some light edge wear and is price clipped Size: 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Book. Seller Inventory # 050959
Book Description Paperback. Condition: near fine. Dust Jacket Condition: near fine. First Edition, no additional pri. NOT an ex library book. Clean interior pages. Gift inscription on second front endpaper. Dust jacket has 1/2" tears bottom of endflaps, no chips, price is not clipped. A card is laid in with the same illustration as the book cover has a small bag of ash, I assume from Mount St Helens, attached on the back. Seller Inventory # 300456
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Later Edition. ISBN 0912365331. Hardback. Very Good to Near Fine condition book in a Very Good plus condition dustjacket, with slight creasing to jacket edges. Tight, sound, unmarked copy except for signatures of Rob Carson and Geff Hinds on second front free endpaper. No statement of later printing on copyright page. $28.00 original price is present and unclipped on front flap of dustjacket. Oversized. Seller Inventory # 99095661