William J. Fritz

Other authors have written of the charm of remote rural Yaak, Montana, one of the last areas of the United States to be homesteaded, from the point of view of a casual visitor, a tourist, or a temporary resident. A time of some of his happiest memories, Bill Fritz actually lived the experience as a child beginning with a mother tending him as an ill six-week-old in an original homesteader's cabin with no electricity, running water, or bath facilities and certainly no disposable diapers This experience catapulted him into a series of frontiers, culminating with serving for nine years as the president of the College of Staten Island, The City University of New York. Here, he sets the stage for his many experiences, some of which he shares in this book.

"Frontiers of the Soul" continues the theme set in "Stories of the Yaak" with Bill Fritz's final break with the Seventh-day Adventist church and the emotional consequences. As the title might imply, there is less focus on adventure and more on the effects of his religious upbringing. Examples include the unexpected and sudden separation from his father, dealing with issues of scientific creationism, decision to leave the church, and subsequent loss of mentors, friends, and family. The book continues to describe frontiers of rural Wales and his connection with the spirit of Charles Darwin who faced some of the same conflicts on the same mountain but 200 years earlier. The narrative is set against a backdrop of Puerto Rican culture, time spent in the Caribbean on a research vessel, scuba diving, caving, and other adventures all woven around the theme of his path away from a cult-like upbringing.

With more than 10,000 geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots, as well as cubic mile upon cubic mile of once-incendiary rhyolite, the landscape of Yellowstone Country vividly displays its fiery past and present. The region contains 1/5 of the world�s geysers, including the most famous of them all, and is the setting of some of Earth�s most destructive volcanic eruptions. The 19 road guides in Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country fully explore this volcanic pedigree while also delivering you to sites that have recorded the region�s broad and deep geologic story, which includes exquisitely preserved, 50-million-year-old petrified trees buried in conglomerate; mountain-sized blocks of rock that slid more than 50 miles in a massive debris avalanche; the glacially carved craggy peaks and U-shaped valleys of the Beartooth Mountains and Absaroka Range; and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the excavation of which is still a mystery. This completely revised second edition reexamines the region using the latest scientific thinking and now includes stunning full-color photos, maps, and diagrams.