by By Phyllis Austin
Tilbury House, 2008
Any reader might well ask, on first hefting this 586-page book, “Isn’t it too long?” This reader’s answer is an unqualified “No.” I can’t claim I read it in one sitting, but if things like eating and sleeping, feeding the cat, and filling the woodbox had not interfered, I would have.
Because this book chronicles Buzz Caverly’s entire career, from his first summer as a greenhorn ranger in 1960 until his retirement in 2005, it is not only a biography of Buzz but also a history of the park for those 45 years. Histories can be dull slogging, but this biographical history (or historical biography) is a page turner because it has all the elements of a good novel. The first and most important of those elements is a strong central character, Buzz himself. A farm boy from Cornville, Maine, Buzz was lucky enough to encounter two sources of inspiration early in his life, and he remained toughly, tenaciously loyal to them as he worked his way up through the ranks to eventually serve his last 25 years in the top position of director of Baxter State Park.
The first source of inspiration was Mount Katahdin. When Buzz’s family moved north from Skowhegan to Enfield and he spent his last year of high school at Lee Academy, Buzz would often take time off from his studies and hike up to the fire tower on nearby Rollins Mountain. It was from that vantage point that Katahdin became more than just a pretty sight for him and he first felt “inspired in my heart and soul.”
His second source was Governor Baxter, who persisted for over 30 years in acquiring – piece by piece – the lands that now make up Baxter State Park. Buzz met Percival Baxter during his first summer at the park, and the young ranger’s admiration for the man and for Baxter’s vision of the park as a sanctuary to be kept “forever wild” would become Buzz’s guideposts throughout his career.
Defending Baxter’s legacy was Buzz’s sacred mission in life. How he remained true to that mission in the ever-shifting political landscape – whether fending off initiatives to widen the park tote road, or converting the once private camps at Kidney Pond to simpler, public accommodations, or dealing with myriad other problems of the changing times, such as overcrowding, snowmobile use, and military training flights over the park – makes for a story rich in suspense and human drama.
The book takes its title from a note that Governor Baxter sent to Buzz in 1968, in which he wrote: “We are partners in this project.” Percival Baxter and Buzz Caverly are, each in their own way, heroes in the cause of wilderness in Maine: Baxter for creating the park, Caverly for defending Baxter’s “forever wild” imperative against all comers and continuing to advocate for it now in his retirement. Also deserving of the title “wilderness partner” alongside Buzz and Governor Baxter is, for my money, Phyllis Austin, who has held high the wilderness banner both during her long career as a reporter and now with this monumental, diligently researched, and thoroughly engaging tribute to Buzz Caverly. Percival Baxter, Buzz Caverly, Phyllis Austin – wilderness partners indeed.