Stephenson Family Ties

This last week or so I 'sped through a couple of praiseworthy books.
Let me just say up front, no two books could appear from the very first to be more opposite in content, style or message.
We have fiction and non fiction.
We have history and fantasy.
We have pure escapism vs. an interesting history told in a most forthright and appealing manner.
One book takes place in the thickest of jungles in Africa. Its a jungle full to the brim with every form of life and energy that such lushness creates. The other takes place on one of the most remote locations of desert in the Northern Hemisphere. It takes place right here on the northern edge of the Grand Canyon. Right here in my own backyard!! Here the lowliest of reptiles struggle for survival.
Remarkably though, there was a similar 'theme' to each book. They are both stories of man's struggle for survival.
The most compelling of the two stories is of course the tale that is true!! Far From Cactus Flat is a marvelous glimpse into the life of the homesteaders that CHOSE to settle there on that harsh and barren landscape. More specifically its about the Bundy family who grew to love and cherish this land from the moment they first set foot on it in the late 1800's.
The author - Lyman Hafen- is a colleague of mine. I have always felt it a privilege to rub shoulders with him as I work to serve on the ZNHA board. Now, I confess, Im doubly impressed. And you will be too if you choose to open these pages and immerse yourself into the life and times of So. Utah, beginning at the turn of the century, and on into WWII and present time!!! Its all very fascinating!!
Go ahead...give Far From Cactus Flat a try!!!



As far as Tarzan of the Apes goes...
I first visited this book as a young teenager.
And I'll freely admit that I enjoyed once again visiting the life and times of the first real "Survivor"- Tarzan- just as much this second time through, all these many years later.