Everett Ruess

If forced to use one word on this book, fascinating comes to mind as we read the letters by Everett Reuss from the age of 16 to his disappearance as a 20-year-old in the Utah desert in 1934. This is not spoiling the book, as the author explains his disappearance in both the preface and first chapter. The author writes that Everett “...was a highly complex young man...” and that is shown by these letters that he wrote to friends and family.

Everett Ruess began his wanderings at a young age. He was 16, an age the vast majority of boys and girls have more on their minds than the determination to be an outsider and free spirit. Everett was different and he knew that. At one point he writes, “My tragedy is that I don't fit in with any type of people.” and continues to write along the same theme periodically. His parents, especially his mother, knew this and that may have been why they never hindered him in his quest to travel.

With each letter, it became apparent that he was an artist with an eye to see Beauty. The author makes this clear from the first chapter; a chapter he aptly calls The Beauty and the Tragedy of Everett Ruess. Everett himself often wrote on his need for Beauty and his art. His Blockprints, to my untrained eye, show a depth of sharp imagination.



Everett was also an avid reader. He makes mention of many books he reads in the letters he writes. Those that have an interest in book reading could not be anything but impressed with the scope of literature that he devoured. He read many that must surely be interesting to every bibliophile, the noted such as Don Quixote, the more obscure such as The Fantastic Traveller by Maude Meagher being but one example of that. The Fantastic Traveller does not even have a Goodreads entry, but was seemingly popular in the early 1930s from what I can ascertain.

In a letter to his father, he makes mention of a book called A Short Introduction to the History of Human Stupidity by Walter B. Pitkin. The then nineteen-year-old Everett says he is “mentally stimulated” by it. He writes a few quotes that he thinks will interest his father. When he makes mention of works such as this, I find it impossible not to look up on Goodreads and other sources and just as an example, I found this link about Pitkins book for anyone that may be interested.

http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/blog/rkelly/2013/10/01/stacks-short-introduction-history-human-stupidity-walter-b-pitkin

Kurt Vonnegut, I was told, mentioned this book in The Last Interview.

In the end, though, the need for the beauty of the wilderness runs deep in his letters, and this may have led to his mysterious disappearance. Even those that come into contact with him sensed his needs. Archaeologist Clay Locket made mention of Everett nearly killing himself trying to find vantage points on steep and wet cliffs just to paint a watercolour. He “...loved everything.” said Lockett, who also called him a “strange kid.” For those of us in a comfortable suburban life, being that “strange kid” maybe what the attraction of this book is all about. My good friend Gordon Wilson has a keen eye for books such as this and wrote Ruess was a wandering soul that “we can all relate to at some level.” Well said!

Highly recommended for those that like travel. https://everettruess.net/