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Title: Twenty-Five Letters From Norman Clyde, 1923-1964 by Dennis, G. Kruska, Norman Clyde, Mark Bright ISBN: 0-9669263-0-7 Publisher: Dawson's Book Shop Pub. Date: 20 December, 1998 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $60.50

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: A good read and wonderful addition to the Clyde literature.
Comment: The Sierra Echo, 1999.

A BOOK REVIEW by Bill Oliver

We've all heard much about, and have been awed by, Norman Clyde's unmatched mountaineering accomplishments-the numerous first ascents throughout the High Sierra, the notable search and rescues, "the pack that walked like a man." Although he supported himself largely by selling mountaineering articles, he revealed virtually nothing about the inner person. And he wanted it that way. Who then was this man behind the legend-the guy in front of "the pack?" Was he just a solitary old curmudgeon? What could reading 25 basically random and unconnected letters tell us?

Well, award-winning author Dennis Kruska has applied considerable scholarship and his great devotion to the subject in bringing these disparate letters alive-in telling a coherent story. Glen Dawson originally suggested the book project, and historian and SPS pioneer John Robinson further encouraged the author. The resulting 75-page book begins with the best Clyde biography I've seen to date. It traces the man from his forebears and follows his formal education, his coming West, and his later settling happily married in Pasadena. Some nine years later, in 1928, came the "infamous Halloween incident" at Independence High School in Owens Valley. Principal Clyde resigned five days later from the last full-time job he ever held.

Each Clyde letter is accompanied by brief background material that handily sets the scene. The majority of the correspondence was sent to Chester Versteeg-a fellow gnarly mountaineer who avidly mined Clyde's intimate Sierra lode. I knew Norman had been a grad student in the classics at UC Berkeley, but I never knew that later he also attended a semester of graduate work at USC. I was amused to read that in 1923 he declined a nomination for election to the Sierra Club's Angeles Chapter Executive Committee. I was amazed at the consistent thread that bespoke of his considerable disdain for Owens Valley folks.

This handsome volume concludes with a selected list of Clyde writings, an enumeration of first ascents in the Sierra Nevada, and a chronology of his life [1885-l972]. There are many pertinent photos and numerous carefully crafted line drawings original to this work, including a stunning oblique view of the High Sierra at the book's endpapers. This is a good read and a wonderful addition to the Clyde literature. Go for it!

Rating: 5
Summary: Norman Clyde's Life & Climbing Revealed As Never Before.
Comment: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 - THE INYO REGISTER

By Jed Reitman News Staff

Some say that Norman Clyde was the most prolific mountain climber ever to set foot in the Sierra Nevada range. He was one of those unique characters - a man who stood as tall and liberated as the peaks that line the Owens Valley.

Clyde made first-ascents of 100 peaks between the years 1914-1939. He set a speed record for climbing Mount Shasta. He went solo into the Eastern Sierra, time and time again, in search of the unclimbed and untainted.

Known for carrying a huge pack, some called him "the pack that walked like a man." He was the principal at Owens Valley High School in Independence until the infamous "Halloween incident" brought him to resignation. He wrote articles and letters about the mountains of the Sierra and about life in the Owens Valley. He spent his last years living on Baker Creek in Big Pine.

In a little-known, award-winning book by author Dennis Kruska, "Twenty-Five Letters from Norman Clyde - 1923-1964," the life of Norman Clyde is illuminated. For years, Clyde's mountaineering accomplishments have been recognized, but few details about the man himself have ever been revealed. The book is based on a cache of correspondence and photographs acquired from the late Chester Versteeg, and insight from Glen Dawson and Jules Eichorn - two men who climbed with Clyde. Kruska's scholarship has earned him an "Award of Merit" from the 1999 Western Books Exhibition.

The book is a small edition, fine press publication. A short biography of Norman Clyde sets the scene for 25 letters written by the man who lived a humble life of teaching, then surrendered to the mountains. Several appendices in the back of the book offer excellent reference to the selected writings of Clyde, a list of Clyde's first ascents in the Sierra Nevada and a chronology of his life. Sketches and photos illustrate the joys and hardships he faced.

Kruska noted that the profound meaning in mountain climbing can only be recognized by a chosen few. For those whose lives are touched by good tidings of the mountains, Norman Clyde's legacy will forever be inspiring.

Any mountaineer's life produces an abundance of tales. The life of Norman Clyde was no exception. The tale of the infamous "Halloween incident" is particularly entertaining. As principal of the Owens Valley School, Clyde fired several "protective" rounds at a group of rabble rousing boys looking to vandalize the campus. After a resentful resignation, Clyde succumbed to the high country with a bitter taste of the valley's social flavor. From then on, Clyde devoted himself to the mountains and focused his writings on making a meager living off of his tales of adventure and discovery.

Twenty-Five letters from Norman Clyde provides unheard information about Clyde's wife, his early career, his disdain for "ordinary" Owens Valley folks, and insight to his eventual mountain retreat.