A Fitting Biography of a Pioneer in Ecology

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	• Beyond the Outer Shores: The Untold Odyssey of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering Ecologist Who Inspired John ... Eric Enno Tamm, Eric Tamm Da Capo Press, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Vancouver focus distorts picture

Although I enjoyed the first part of the book and scattered sections throughout, Tamm did not succeed in capturing Rickett's ecological worldview by a kind of non-lineal, disorganized presentation of information. It is also unbalanced by his love 'em/hate 'em view of Steinbeck, and his love 'em like crazy view of Campbell, which in most cases obfuscates the story (except in telling of actual facts, such as Steinbeck's poor judgment in taking Rickett's name off the Viking edition of Sea of Cortez).
Tamm's inordinate fixation on personality conflicts affected the development of the book most particularly in his not exploring the trip to Baha. It is oddly and disappointingly skipped, and at this point the book becomes centered on Rickett's journeys to the Vancouver Is. area, which, lo and behold, is where Tamm is from.
There are a lot of interesting spots in this book, but it would have been better served by good editorial direction (much as Rickett's writings were served by Steinbeck's pen).

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Excellent

As one only slightly familiar with Steinbeck and Rickets and stories of their friendship, I found Mr. Tamm's book incredibly well researched and full of the stories and details I was hoping to find. I was so intrigued that these major intellectuals, that is Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell, found this much lesser known personality of Ed Rickets as the galvanizing force in their mutual friendships, but more so as a major influence in the shaping of their personal philosophies. I wonder if that is why Steinbeck is so compelling since people know his life was surrounded with people as interesting and elusive as Ed Rickets. This is one of those true stories, it seems, that is larger than fiction. If you, too, are curious, you will not be disappointed in Mr. Tamm's book.

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Beyond a mere Biography

I was drawn to this book by my curiosity regarding the "Doc" character from the Steinbeck novels. I had expected a short biography that would cover most of the facts of his life and perhaps stress some of the more sensational moments that may have been inspirational to Steinbeck. What I found instead was a very finely crafted piece of non-fiction writing.

What sets this book apart from a mere biography is how the author develops many secondary themes that relate to Ed Ricketts and then weaves them together in a rich tapestry of ideas. There are the secondary characters of Steinbeck and Campbell, but there are also other significant themes such as ecology. There are wonderful descriptions of the Pacific Coast, particularly Vancouver Island, which I am sure Ricketts himself would have been very enthusiastic about.

Beyond the Outer Shores is also attractively illustrated and features many interesting photographs. Whether you are a Biologist or a fan of Steinbeck you will find this non-fictional account of a life lived with passion more compelling than any fictional character ever created.

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A Fitting Biography of a Pioneer in Ecology

Many years ago I was asked to clean out a storage shed in Yuma, Arizona. I was not paid, but was told I could keep whatever I found that interested me. The shed mostly contained little of interest, but I cleaned it out anyway. However I did retain three items at the time - two World War I helmets (one German and one American) and a hardbound first edition of Steinbeck and Ricketts "The Sea of Cortez." I poured over the latter book eagerly. It was a battered copy, but I read through it until the end, including Ed Ricketts' annotated list of specimens collected on the trip, made at the start of World War II, to the Gulf of California. I later read the account of Ed Ricketts in "Between Pacific Tides'" but wanted more. I have now found that much needed book in Eric Enno Tamm's "Beyond the Outer Shores."

This is a fascinating book (this is why I gave it five stars), if one occasionally flawed by such lapses as "Chief Seattle's speech" or the pontifications or digressions of the author. It chronicles the life of Ed Ricketts and in parallel, those of John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell. All of these people were flawed (as are all human beings), but what a great wealth of ideas they left to us! I cannot judge how much Ed Ricketts influenced the other two, but there was certainly some cross-fertilization going on between the friends. As Steinbeck noted in "The Sea of Cortez," it was hard sometimes to remember just which idea was whose.

In any case, this is by far the most complete account of the life of Ed Ricketts, his family, and of the ideas that he and his associates had while drinking beer and haunting the tide pools of the Pacific and Gulf of California. Most of these ideas, I think, were worthwhile, if not always totally original. I, for one, pretty much agree with their conclusions.

Tamm covers much of the blanks left by Steinbeck's rather short account. From Tamm's account we learn much more about Ed's complicated private life, his difficulties in publication, his methodical collecting and his views on ecology and nature. We thus glimpse the multifaceted personality that was Ed Ricketts. His accidental death was indeed tragic, as he had much work to do and was an important part of a number of other peoples' lives.

Read this book if you want to understand the life of Ed Ricketts and his close association with the complex biota in the intertidal zone!

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Ebb tide

I was very much disappointed in this book. The writing seems borderline hyperbolic and lightweight, almost like it's in a travel magazine, or weekly news magazine. The material is largely a rehash of published information, and does not capture the feeling of that time. The work seems padded and lacking in substance as a result. I kept wondering how it could possibly drag on after the first couple chapters. For anyone who has read Steinbeck's books, or Ricketts's books, or the Hedgepeth book on Ed this is unnecessary, but maybe a newbie will be encouraged to go for sterner, more genuine stuff as a result of reading this.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

In the 1930s, while the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression sent most of America into the doldrums, a lively intellectual and artistic community formed in the West, revolving around three legendary friends: Ed Ricketts, John Steinbeck, and Joseph Campbell. Steinbeck immortalized Monterey's bohemian spirit in Cannery Row, but the area's true lifeblood was his best friend and mentor, Ed Ricketts. Today Ed Ricketts is usually remembered as "Doc"?the beer-drinking philosopher-scientist who presided over Monterey's population of "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches" in Cannery Row?but Ricketts was actually a trailblazing ecologist who did seminal work in the emerging field on the Pacific Coast. His ideas were decades before their time, and his two books, Between Pacific Tides and Sea of Cortez (coauthored with Steinbeck), are still considered classics. Now, some sixty years after his untimely death, Ricketts' ecological approach and ethic seem more relevant than ever.

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