GARY SNYDER:
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Gary Snyder is no stranger to longtime readers of THE
MOTHER EARTH NEWS°. In fact, his ecological broadside
"Four Changes" actually opened MOTHER N0. 1! In later
years, a quote from Gary's work graced our Let the Men
& Women of Wisdom Speak in our tenth anniversary issue
(No. 60), and one of his poems helped kick off our
Fieldbook feature in No. 86.
Born in San Francisco on May 8, 1930, Snyder first came to
national attention, ironically enough, as the model for the
hero of another writer's book-the character Faphy Ryder in
lack Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums (1958). His own major
publications were soon to follow, though, beginning with
Riprap (1959), reaching a peak of sorts with the Pulitzer
Prize-winning Turtle Island (which took its name from a
Native American term for North America and was published in
1974), and culminatingfor the present, anyway-with Axe
Handles, which was released by North Point Press early this
year. (Ordering information for this fine collection of
poems follows the interview.)
Through much of his work, Gary has functioned as a strong
voice for the planet and-perhaps even more significant for
the creatures of this earth that lack the means of
representing themselves in the chambers of human politics.
And in recent years his expression of such concerns has
often been in the form of comments relating to a somewhat
confusing-on the surface, at least-concept called
bioregionalism.
To find out more about this movement (if, indeed, movement
is even an appropriate term), MOTHER staffers Bruce Woods
and Dave Schoonmaker met with Gary at the headquarters of
his Berkeley publisher. In the following
interview-excerpted from their discussions-you'll learn
that bioregionalism can be as complex as the laying of a
groundwork for a new "Green politics" for the United
States, a movement that aims to rethink all of our
arbitrary political boundaries, or as simple as the urgent
message that it's time for all of us to discover where we
are and to take responsibility for the soil, water, plants,
birds, and beasts that share our locale. It's a sure bet
that all aspects and interpretations of the bioregional
concept won't appeal to every reader of this magazine, but
it's just as likely that some aspect of what Gary Snyder
has to say will touch each and every one of us.
PLOWBOY: Gary, you were among the first
contemporary North American poets to address the problems
of caring for the earth and the living creatures that share
the planet with us. Can you tell me how your background,
place of origin, and education may have pushed you in that
direction?
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