Of Men and Mountains Author:William O. Douglas Of Men and Mountains is a personal. passionate tribute to the great outdoors by former United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. An independent and bold thinker on many issues, Douglas was particularly active and outspoken on environmental concerns. — As a child, Douglas almost died of infantile paralysis. To build his strength, he ... more »began hiking in the foothills and then the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Gradually his legs and his spirits were transformed, and he began his lifelong love of wilderness and self-discovery.
In 1949 after a fall from a horse broke all but one of his ribs, the busy 51-year-old Douglas had time to write about the profound influence nature had on his life. "These pages contain what I, as a boy, saw, felt, smelled, tasted, and heard in the mountains," he begins. What follows are evocative, compelling tales of the grandeur of the mountains and the solitude of the individual.« less