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Rating: 
Summary: A biography that lets the subject speak out
Review: Father John Crowley was an unassuming man of unassuming physical presence whose humor and passion for the people and place of the California desert almost disappeared from memory. Joan Brooks' Desert Padre captures the spirit of a fascinating man. Her meticulous research lets Father John Crowley speak in his own voice about Owens Valley water wars, show business in the Alabama Hills and Death Valley's Shorty Harris. Don't let the copious quotations from Father Crowley's weekly "Sage and Tumbleweed" columns keep you from getting started in this book. Most authors intrude on their subject. Ms. Brooks, like Father Crowley's nom de plume - Inyokel, steps aside for her subject to take center stage. For anyone fascinated by the American desert, by California history or by the life of an unusual common man, Desert Padre is a "must read.
Rating:
Summary: A biography that lets the subject speak out
Review: Father John Crowley was an unassuming man of unassuming physical presence whose humor and passion for the people and place of the California desert almost disappeared from memory. Joan Brooks' Desert Padre captures the spirit of a fascinating man. Her meticulous research lets Father John Crowley speak in his own voice about Owens Valley water wars, show business in the Alabama Hills and Death Valley's Shorty Harris. Don't let the copious quotations from Father Crowley's weekly "Sage and Tumbleweed" columns keep you from getting started in this book. Most authors intrude on their subject. Ms. Brooks, like Father Crowley's nom de plume - Inyokel, steps aside for her subject to take center stage. For anyone fascinated by the American desert, by California history or by the life of an unusual common man, Desert Padre is a "must read.
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