I met John Goodwin on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He had taken an Amtrak all the way from San Francisco to stand there with a sign and ask people to call their representatives about the parks. About thirty of us turned up. He told stories all afternoon and let kids try on his ranger hat.
Then I read his book. Then I had him on the podcast — in that order, which turned out to matter. By the time we sat down I already knew some of what he had been carrying.
He’s a friend, and that changes how you read something. You’re not turning pages to find out what happens to a stranger.
Why I recommend it
Echoes of the Badge is John’s account of working as a law enforcement ranger for the National Park Service. The second edition is out now, with additional stories in it. He also came on the podcast — you can hear him tell some of this himself in Episode 27.
What I hadn’t realized, and what the book makes plain, is how much a ranger is expected to be. It isn’t one job. It’s law enforcement and emergency medicine and search and rescue and interpretation and whatever else the day hands you, in places where help is a long way off.
He had a front seat at some of the most amazing places in this country. Those same places can be tragic. Both of those are in this book, and he doesn’t flinch from either.
Missy’s Honest Take
I felt like a fly on the wall. Joy and fear, sometimes in the same chapter.
What I keep coming back to isn’t one particular story. It’s the scale of what we ask of these people, and how little most of us know about it. I’ve spent years visiting parks and talking about them for a living, and I still didn’t know.
If you’re after a straightforward adventure book, this isn’t quite that. It’s honest about the hard parts, because the job is.
One more thing
Reading is part of being outside for me. The curiosity, the paying attention, the wanting to know what’s underneath a place I’m standing in.
This one changes what you see the next time you pass a ranger. That’s worth an evening.
Get this gear
Echoes of the Badge is for anyone who loves the parks and has never thought much about the people who run them. If you want the parks without the difficult parts, this isn’t that book.
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