Anne LaBastille dies at 77; naturalist inspired women to explore outdoors

[n2doc]

Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times
July 9, 2011, 10:29 a.m.
Naturalist Anne LaBastille became something of a cult hero among modern women for embracing a distinctly frontier past.

When her marriage fell apart in the mid-1960s, she took refuge in the wilderness, building a log cabin on a hidden lake in the Adirondack Mountains and then carving an influential writing career out of her remote existence.



Both the women's and environmental movements were on the rise in 1976 when she published "Woodswoman," the first in a four-volume autobiographical series that celebrated her adventures -- and inspired women across the nation to engage in the great outdoors.

LaBastille, who had Alzheimer's disease, died July 1 at a care facility in Plattsburgh, N.Y., said her friend Doris Herwig. She was 77.

"She had a huge impact on at least two generations of predominantly women," said James Lassoie, a professor of international conservation at Cornell University who worked on projects with LaBastille. "Those books were really important for a large cohort of women interested in conservation and the outdoors -- hiking, guiding, fishing -- all things that Anne did."

more
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-anne-labastille-20110710,0,2083414.story

[demmiblue]

1. Sounds like she was an interesting woman.

Has anyone here read her books?


RIP, Anne.

[catchnrelease]

2. Definitely worth reading

Yes, a friend passed them on to me and I really enjoyed them. She was really an amazing and tough woman. I think I'll go back and reread the series.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. I first read about her in a National Geographic article

back when I was a kid.

[RushIsRot]

4. This a person I would have loved to meet, but only learned of her

existence today via this posting on DU. I have already ordered two of her books to make up for lost time.

R.I.P. Ms. LaBastille!