by Douglas Carithers, unpublished, March 1998
This is the story of how a real Park Ranger became the model for the character The Lone Ranger in The Monkey Wrench Gang and a life-long friend of Ed Abbey. A hilarious tale of Abbey's own botched foray into Monkey Business that became the inspiration for the Great Highway Construction raid in MWG, and how a maverick ranger saved the eco-hero's bacon from the clutches of Law Enforcement.
With Abbey's death and the expiration (maybe!) of the statute of limitations, Douglas Carithers has decided to go public with the Monkey Tale only he can tell.
A paper copy of the full unpublished manuscript (5 pages) is available from kemosabe@cybertrails.com.