The call of the wild

Coming up with this list sent Paul Danicic yearning for a monthlong canoe trip with a pile of books. Danicic is executive director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, a Minneapolis-based organization whose mission is to protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, as well as the Quetico-Superior Ecosystem. Here are the books he'd stow in his Duluth pack, and why:

"The Singing Wilderness" by Sigurd Olson

Olson is required reading for all people interested in the human condition. His ability to relate the meaning of being out there to his life is legendary. His essay "The Way of the Canoe" should be required reading for every Minnesotan. (To gain the full scope of humanity's relationship with the most refined vessel ever made by humans, also check out the Onion's "No Canoe Can Hold Me" at www.theonion.com/content/node/46695.)

"The Grace of the Wild" by Paul Gruchow

Gruchow is the tragic, modern heir to Olson. This book gets at the essence of being out there and why it is so important. His writing is especially beautiful and flowing, like a stream that you watch and listen to, becoming mesmerized.

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Krakauer writes a faster-paced book without forgetting eloquence and style. It is a great story and gets at another side of what it is like to do something so rugged and how our decisions lead us into safety or danger. It helps to know that this is Everest; not all mountaineering is this intense.

Another Minnesota classic that every young person who has any trickle of adventure left in them should read. Paddling, getting lost, meeting new cultures, worrying about food and shelter, winter coming -- it's all there!

"Saving Quetico-Superior: A Land Set Apart" by R. Newell Searle

For the more, should we say, diligent reader, this book impressed upon me the immense amount of years and work it took to get both the Boundary Waters and Quetico officially protected. That the public actually values preserving these places over development is what really makes America different. From this book, I understand how this conservation work will be required of each generation.