* * * Three Star Heroes * * *

Hey, you're not only warm, you're practically there!

These are my second-string heroes - the backup range that often sub for the Big Guys, and certainly as worthy in their own right. Here's a bit of background that should help you make a four-star pick, next time around.

John Muir...

could easily make the top of anyone's list, for his lifelong dedication to the preservation of Wilderness as a national ethic. My own affection for him, though, has more to do with the image of a free spirit, so at ease with carefree mountain hikes and rustic aerie retreats that he puts modern-day backpackers to a bit of shame. He only lacks, for me, the touch of some 'outlaw' in his nature - "Pure Muir," they could have called him. Hardly a discredit, but . . . I can't claim false laurels.

 

Peace Pilgrim...

puts me in a state of absolute awe. This woman took faith to its outer limit, abandoning all settled residence for a life on the open road: without money, without baggage - all in the profession of a spiritual mission, which she pursued for the last 28 years of a long life. She inspired many, many people, starting from scratch and without the formal preparation most think is so necessary to a calling. Only one small flaw, from my perspective . . . there was not enough perversity in her makeup.

 

William J. Long...

is the dark horse of this lot - not known to many, a century since he fought the Nature Establishment to a near standstill with his rugged insistence that wild animals have a consciousness hardly dissimilar to our own. A battle that raged in the periodical press of the time for several years and even engaged that old stalwart, Teddy Roosevelt, who raged against his ideas. William Long had enough 'black sheep' in him to make up for the rest in this group. If I had to find fault, it would only be that his cause did not ultimately prevail, which is hardly a personal discredit - and in fact, he could be right up there with my topmost.

With all the reflections embedded above, you should have no problem at all picking a top-ranker; but I'll caution you with a final clue: the names of two of my high three are are not the names by which they are popularly known.