We Aspired: The Last Innocent Americans

Sinclair, a former climber and ranger at Grand Teton National Park in the 1960s and now a professor of English at Evergreen State College, has written a book mainly for mountaineers, a memoir of how some young men of the post-World War II generation found themselves in the mountains out West. His dramatic, well-told narrative encompasses a climb up Mt. McKinley in Alaska, a sometimes perilous trek to Mexico and many tales of life as a ranger, including some poignant and not always successful rescue efforts. As a Dartmouth '58 dropout influenced by political activist Allard Lowenstein, Sinclair went to Wyoming, where, after living as a ski bum, he embraced rescue work as a way to make his contribution to society and found many virtues in mountain-culture camaraderie. Sinclair ultimately left Wyoming for academia and parenthood; his son, without any push from his father, has also sought out the ``sacred'' mountains. Sinclair's subtitle seems a bit broad, but he suggests, with a measure of conviction, that his was a generation ``that aspired to be heroes but ended up in the hero business.'' Photos not seen by PW. (July)