William O. Douglas (1898–1980)

I read My Wilderness: East to Katahdin and My Wilderness: The Pacific West, both by William O. Douglas in the spring of 1969. I was looking forward to going to summer camp in New Hampshire, and hiking the White Mountains.

These books started my real love of hiking and wilderness. These books transported me to remote places I can never likely get to such as the Brooks Range of Alaska.The book triggered an avid interest in nature and wilderness. While my views have matured, I still have those books on my shelf and remember them fondly.… (mais)

I just finished reading The Court Years, 1939-1975: The Autobiography of William O. Douglas by William O. Douglas. As a lawyer and avid reader, I found large parts of the book fascinating. Among the little-known stories I learned,in the section about racial segregation, I learned about a county that seceded from Confederate Alabama, a "secession within a secession", see Civil War Within Civil War - Secession From Seceders.

This book must have been given to me as a law-school graduation gift in 1982, and I finally got around to reading it. This Autobiography had certain aspects of a tell-all. Some of those tidbits included the sexual and marital peccadilloes of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Other scintillating tidbits included vignettes of his relationships and transactions with the U.S. presidents under which he served. His obvious hero was FDR. I assume this was written before the seamier underside of his life and administration became generally known. He gives hints of believing that LBJ was involved in JFK's assassination.

The Autobiography has a fascinating viewpoint on much of the legal struggles of the era, from a rather liberal perspective. His liberalism was of an old-fashioned, common-sense variety which would be unrecognizable in modern times. Overall, the book is a good read. Other enjoyable books of his have been My Wilderness: The Pacific West and by My Wilderness: East to Katahdin, both by William O. Douglas.… (mais)