A Radical, Revolutionary Book
I was surfing Amazon.com the other night looking for some information and came across a recently reprinted edition of what I consider the most radical, revolutionary book I have ever read. I first picked it up as a senior in college in 1969-70. It is still one of my most treasured books.



On the Loose by Terry Russell and Renny Russell.



What would be so revolutionary about a picture and word book about nature? It is a liberating book. It is a book that captures the independent spirit of exploration and hope and freedom. In the wilderness that the Russell brothers explored, one can discover the depths of one's own soul as well as the awesome heights and breadths of The Creator.

In "reading" this book for the first time my eyes were opened to things that had been right in my backyard but I had never seen. I lived on the edge of the Allegheny/Appalachian wilderness of Pine Creek and north central Pennsylvania. Only by going away to school, discovering this book, and then returning home, did I see that there are opportunities for this kind of liberation in more places than one can even begin to imagine.

The result has been an adult life that has done some of this exploring- both in the Pine Creek Valley, but also in some day hiking in the Austrian Alps, canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and kayaking in the Apostle Islands. The result has been an adult life that has been powerfully enriched by God's grace in His Creation.

I am glad this truly profound book is back in print. May it bring the same pwoer and liberation to others as it did to me.