Headed Into the Wind - by Jack Loeffler (Hardcover)

About the Book

Loeffler, a former jazz musician, fire lookout, museum curator, bioregionalist, and self-taught aural historian, shares his humor and imagination, his adventures, observations, reflections, and meditations along the trail in his retelling of a life well lived.

Book Synopsis

2019 Southwest Books of the Year

With the temperament of Santa Claus and the tenacity of a badger, Jack Loeffler reveals his compassion and concern for Southwestern traditional cultures and their respective habitats in the wake of Manifest Destiny. Working both as an individual and with comrades--including Edward Abbey and Gary Snyder--he was part of an early coterie of counterculturalists and environmentalists who fought to thwart the plunder of natural resources in the Southwest. Loeffler, a former jazz musician, fire lookout, museum curator, bioregionalist, and self-taught aural historian, shares his humor and imagination, his adventures, observations, reflections, and meditations along the trail in his retelling of a life well lived. In this honest memoir, he advises each and every one of us to go skinny-dipping joyfully in the flow of Nature to better understand where we're headed.

Review Quotes

"[Loeffler's] descriptions of the Southwestern ecosystem shine throughout."--Santa Fe New Mexican

"Loeffler, a Southwestern original, serves up a memoir told with wolfish zest."--Gregory McNamee, 2019 Southwest Books of the Year

"It's impossible not to find humor in Loeffler's writing. He's an easygoing storyteller, and each fairly short snippet of his book can rope you in like a fireside tale."--The Durango Telegraph

"Jack Loeffler's memoir traces not only his life as an adventurer and historian, but his life as an advocate for the Indigenous peoples of the western United States. A fascinating insight into his life, context, and work."--Rachel Haisley, The King's English, Reading the West Advocacy Award shortlist

"Over these pages, we relive Loeffler's life and learn why he might honestly come to the title of America's most interesting and thoughtful man."--Sean Prentiss, author of Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave

"Stirring."--Albuquerque Journal

"This memoir is at once a desideratum, a manifesto, a listener's guide to the Southwest, and a call to arms."--Journal of Folklore Research

"Yes, heading into the wind can be hard work, but as Loeffler shows when meditating on such important issues, we must do better. . . . His dreams might not all be attainable, but as goals to aspire to, they give us excellent guidance."--Jemez Thunder