I appreciate Cherie Newman’s review of Joe Hutto’s The Light in High Places in the July 19, 2010, edition. However, Newman missed the key point. She quotes Hutto writing that “it is not the greed of multinational corporations with their vicious bulldozers, chain saws, and oil rigs” consuming the earth’s resources and polluting our environment, “but rather individuals like you and me” — via our daily consumer choices. In her conclusion, Newman states that “we get to be privileged voyeurs to the author’s discoveries, without even having to lace up our hiking boots.” I would argue that it’s exactly this kind of individual consumer choice that is at the root of many environmental problems today. Even if light-hearted, the implication is that it’s better to enjoy the outdoors vicariously and not have to exert any effort in doing so. I believe that investing a little more energy in getting outdoors and less in material goods and misguided attempts to make life “easier” would do us all some good. The conclusion should read: “While we may not get to lace up our hiking boots and get outdoors, we do at least get to be privileged voyeurs to the author’s discoveries.”
Mike Tranel
Arlington, Virginia
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline These boots were made for walking….
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