Buzz Caverly first joined the ranger staff at Baxter State Park in 1960, when the new park was just taking shape under the direction of Helon Taylor and the park's donor, Percival Baxter, who wished the park to be "forever wild." Caverly's legendary career in the park--one of the most unusual wilderness areas in the nation--culminated when he became park director in 1981. Over the years he saw tremendous changes in attitude about land conservation, public access, and park management. From the "Wild West" days of the 1960s to the intensely managed years of the 1990s and beyond, the clash of personalities and politics is entertaining and inspiring, and reveals the minefield of people and issues Buzz had to negotiate to save the park's wilderness character.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"...expansive 586-page tome that follows Caverly from his childhood through his early career in the park to his retirement. The result is an impressive, warts-and-all look at Caverly and the park thanks to Austin's exhaustive research and attention to detail....the storyteller in this case is top-notch, and readers are likely to start wishing the book was even longer before they reach the halfway mark..." --Bangor Daily News, February 28 - March 1, 2009
"...a delight to read and rich in information....Although packaged as a biography of Irvin Christoper 'Buzz' Caverly, who served Baxter State Park for half a century as a ranger, supervisor and director, the book is more a fascinating political and administrative history of the park's metamorphosis in modern times...a solid addition to the park history..." --Maine Sunday Telegram, April 5, 2009
"...not only a biography of Buzz but also a history of the park for those 45 years. Histories can be dull slogging, but this biographical story (or historical biography) is a page turner because it has all the elements of a good novel. The first and most important of those elements is a strong central character, Buzz himself....Also deserving of the title 'wilderness partner' alongside Buzz and Governor Baxter is, for my money, Phyllis Austin, who has held high the wilderness banner both during her long career as a reporter and now with this monumental, diligently researched, and thoroughly engaging tribute to Buzz Caverly. Percival Baxter, Buzz Caverly, Phyllis Austin - wilderness partners indeed." --Northern Woodlands Summer 2009
"...a delight to read and rich in information....Although packaged as a biography of Irvin Christoper 'Buzz' Caverly, who served Baxter State Park for half a century as a ranger, supervisor and director, the book is more a fascinating political and administrative history of the park's metamorphosis in modern times...a solid addition to the park history..." --Maine Sunday Telegram, April 5, 2009
"...not only a biography of Buzz but also a history of the park for those 45 years. Histories can be dull slogging, but this biographical story (or historical biography) is a page turner because it has all the elements of a good novel. The first and most important of those elements is a strong central character, Buzz himself....Also deserving of the title 'wilderness partner' alongside Buzz and Governor Baxter is, for my money, Phyllis Austin, who has held high the wilderness banner both during her long career as a reporter and now with this monumental, diligently researched, and thoroughly engaging tribute to Buzz Caverly. Percival Baxter, Buzz Caverly, Phyllis Austin - wilderness partners indeed." --Northern Woodlands Summer 2009
Review
"Buzz Caverly first joined the ranger staff at Baxter State Park in 1960...Buzz's legendary career in the park--one of the most unusual wilderness areas in the nation--culminated when he became park director in 1981...Buzz's goals, whether increasing protection for wildlife or decreasing the amount of development inside the park, were always framed and informed by his understanding of Percival Baxter's vision. Baxter Park attracts over 60,000 visitors a year because it is a premier wild place unlike any other in New England--and, in some respects, the whole country. Buzz Caverly's imprint is everywhere in the park--the land,the mountains, the roads, the campgrounds, the trails, the flora and fauna, and the people who oversee the daily life of the place. Buzz knew in his heart what he wanted to accomplish--defending and enhancing the park's wilderness character. To his admirers across the country, he is a rare kind of wilderness hero."
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than just wilderness partners...more like dedicated employees for a lifetime,
This review is from: Wilderness Partners: Buzz Caverly and Baxter State Park (Paperback)
After having known Buzz and Jan for many years and having the opportunity to volunteer at the park for many years, I find this book a real accounting of the 46 years that it took to live out this dream. Phyllis does a great job blending anecdote and history to give the reader a true account of the preservation of Baxter Park over the last four decades. Anyone who reads this book will come away with the feeling of the love the Caverly's had for Gov. Baxter and his park. I just wish somehow the truth about Buzz's exit from the park abruptly would be revealed and then all would know the true story and respect for 46 years of superbly dedicated service and the rewards it should of garnered.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Full Vista Biography,
By Ann Longacre (KS, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wilderness Partners: Buzz Caverly and Baxter State Park (Paperback)
I followed Phyllis Austin's environmental news articles during the many years she wrote for the Maine Times. I felt drawn to her work because it went deep, didn't pull punches, and ultimately had real impact on conservation policy in the state. In "Wilderness Partners" she's taken her well-honed reporting skills to new heights, penning a sustained narrative so personally informed by the Baxter State Park natural landscape and so rich with anecdotes and insights into human foibles & strengths that even passages on environmental policy-making are fascinating. No lazy trekker when it comes to research, Austin has circumnavigated her subjects - both Caverly and the park - and then climbed up/down/into the essence of what they are. The result is a hefty book that offers readers a big bold vista. Her story-telling skills combined with her own devotion to (and clearly intimate relation with) the natural world, make this a moving read - and a remarkable example of what people with passion, vision, and drive can accomplish (and here I'm speaking of Caverly, Baxter, and Austin).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Review of "Wilderness Partners" by Dean Bennett,
This review is from: Wilderness Partners: Buzz Caverly and Baxter State Park (Paperback)
Phyllis Austin conveys to all who enjoy and care for our wild places the difficulties in protecting their outstanding values. She has captured the inspirational story of one man, Buzz Caverly, who with the unflagging support of his wife, Jan, spent a lifetime dedicated to protecting New England's largest wilderness area, Baxter State Park in northern Maine. This 200,000-plus acre area, which was purchased single-handedly and given to the people of Maine by former Governor Percival Baxter, is a magnificent mountain region of lakes and forests surrounding Maine's highest mountain, Katahdin, the spectacular terminus of the famed Appalachian Trail. It was Baxter who wrote to Buzz, after he was appointed supervisor of the park in 1968, that "we are partners in this project," meaning Baxter's thirty-three year effort to acquire the land and establish it to be managed in perpetuity with most of it as "forever wild."
From 1960 when he was a young ranger to his retirement in 2006 as director, Buzz Caverly tried to hold true to Baxter's vision for the park. Austin tells the story as it occurred without gloss or embellishment, and Buzz is shown to be profoundly human, a man who made mistakes, but who accepted them with a resolve to be better and overcome them to achieve Baxter's dream. In this Buzz was Baxter's wilderness partner. Buzz was guided by what Stewart L. Udall, one of our country's greatest conservationists and former secretary of the interior under President John F. Kennedy, called the "never-ending vigilance needed in this country to preserve the quality and the essence of natural treasures we are prone to assume we have `saved.'" The political, economic, and social pressures that work against the very qualities that we love in our natural treasures are enormous today, and it takes men and women of Buzz Caverly's dedication to "save" them. Phyllis Austin has done a remarkable job in bringing this message to us
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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