Read these 50 pages, then write a letter to the people on page 56. (You will NOT be able to NOT write the letter.) This little book is a strange and wonderful thing that will move people to action on behalf of a place they have never seen.

Really pleasant read about the author's experience and subsequent advice for day hikers and backpackers ( I appreciated his distinguishing the two). I'm just starting out hiking again after 20 years away from it, and he covers the fundamentals and inspires with his stories. Just what I was looking for; a quick read and some pointers to some great hikes across the United States.

Rick Bass' New Wolves (1-58574-265-1, $14.95) charts the return of the Mexican Wolf to the American Southwest and the controversies surrounding its preservation. Political, social and natural history blend in essays which survey the wolves and provide first-person observations. A recommended pick for any who love animals and natural history.

Well, you won't want them in your backyard if you're raising cattle. This story about the Ninemile wolf pack in northwestern Montana is a fascinating account of a wolf reintroduction program, and it deals with the complexity of the situation thoroughly and compassionately. Bass makes no secret of his own opinions--he wants wolves to make a comeback in the lower 48--but he discusses the concerns of the ranchers and all parties involved in a professional, fair manner. I learned more about wolves from reading this book than from any other source, and it helped me to clear up many of my own misconceptions about these canines. Bass very cleverly shows us the human side of the wolf reintroduction issue, the often predictable pattern of what happens when you put wolves and people together. And it helped me to think about wolves in a new way--if there's an antonym for anthropomorphism, Bass's writing is it. And like all of Bass's other books, this one displays his uncanny economy with words. If you think that all nonfiction writing should be devoid of passion or color, this isn't the book for you. But if you love wolves, you'll love this book.

For all of us, there are symbols of Christmas that were permanently etched in our minds in childhood. Few of those etchings come close to the magic that was created by Rankin/Bass holiday classic, 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'. No child can resist viewing it when it is televised, because it renders a timeless story about what it means to be human - exploring some of our failings and triumphs, as seen through the eyes of a child. This message is carefully delivered to us through the interaction of irresistible animated puppets.

I consider myself a fan of the TV special, having seen it when it first aired in 1964 (I was eleven years old)... and virtually every time since, that it has been aired.

After reading Rick Goldschmidt's latest book (The Making of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), I have a much deeper appreciation of what was involved in its production.

Rick, once again, conducts exhaustive research on this Rankin/Bass classic... and then does an eloquent job placing the critical ingredients of the Rudolph TV Special on the pages of his latest book for us to ponder. We learn that the TV Special was successful because contributions to its success were made by a number of key people - all gifted in their own areas. Noteworthy, was the fact that a significant amount of animation frontiering that was done during its production. We also learn that the TV Special was comercially feasible through the involvement of one of the premier technology companies of the day - General Electric.

Rick's book pays homage to these creative individuals (and their work), while enabling us to appreciate them as well. The book includes not only a tidy assortment of 'one of a kind' behind the scenes pictures, but the 'original' screenplay. It is fascinating reading, and will be on display on my coffee table throughout the holidays, and beyond.

I highly recommend it.

This insightful, intensely well-research book is the definitive look at the inner-workings of a classic animated TV special. Whether you're a fan of the show, a fan of vintage stop-motion animation, a die-hard baby-boomer, or just plain old in a yuletide mood, this book delivers the goods! Don't miss out!

Finally someone has taken on this Holiday Classic by the Horns, and the result is a flawless behind the scenes guide to what has become America's favorite Holiday Story.
The Book, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, is filled with more Rankin/Bass Tidbits, facts, photos, Secrets, & behind the scenes stories than anyone could hope for.
Rudolph, is Mr. Goldschmidt's second book about the RANKIN / BASS STUDIOS. His first, The Enchanted world of Rankin Bass, is the most comprehensive guide to All of Rankin Bass's Holiday Classics. It too, is fill with Great Detail & Art from Many of the Studio's Original Artists such as Paul Coker, Jack Davis & Don Duga.
I would highly recommend both of these books to people of all ages. They not only bring back great memories, they will bring a smile to your face. They are what ANIMAGIC is all about.

My recent software engineering graduate course on software architecture relied mainly on this SEI text, along with several of the many SEI white papers posted on the SEI site, and such texts as Buschmann's Pattern Oriented Software Architecture (POSA) and Stelting/Maassen's Applied Java Patterns. Since the second edition of the text was available just two weeks after the start of the course, I decided not to purchase the first edition, and instead purchased the second edition. However, having used both editions for the course, I must say that the second edition is superior to the first even when only taking the architectural view notation into account (it uses UML rather than a cryptic, proprietary notation used in the first edition, although at this high of a level in modeling, UML sometimes disappoints as well). The addition of content from some SEI white papers to the text is also a benefit of the second edition. The text, regardless of the edition, is well written and very understandable.

The book is well written and quite comprehensive on the subjects covered. It provides an extensive coverage of topics around software architecture and explains the relationship between software architecture, architectural styles, systems, etc. It also includes a substantial number of novel discussions on issues such as architectural qualities, architecture-based system development, and architecture-based reuse. It uses extended examples to illustrate the points being made.

The only thing I didn't like was the lack of a more formal approach to presenting the subject matters.

I found this volume to be extremely useful. It contains very insightful commentary on what architecture is (a term that I find is misused a lot), what architecture affects, and how to evaluate the qualities of an architecture.

Two of their best insights for me:

* Architecture affects the organization of the company/business unit. (In my company, we didn't realize this and we failed to create an organization that could support the architecture.)

* Virtually any architecture can accomplish the functional needs of a system - what differentiates architectures are how they provide the essential qualities (performance, modifiability, maintainibility, etc.) to the product.

The book is strongly based in the real-world, with practical examples. I never felt they were straying into "theorectical" land.

I also bought "Applied Software Architecture" but didn't like it nearly as much - I highly recommend "Software Architecture in Practice"!

Impeccably researched and comprehensively detailed, "The Enchanted World Of Rankin/Bass" is a treasure trove of info for fans of the wonderful animated programs created by the duo. Lovingly written by Rick Goldschmidt, the book is a wonderful keepsake chronicling the creation and enduring impact of the classic rankin/Bass animated shows. Tons of rare photos--many in breathtaking color--rare memorabilia plus lots more await the reader on this terrific journey back in time. Compelling interviews with many of the personnel involved with the shows --voiceover artists, script writers, set designers, inudstry big wigs---draw the reader into the story. From "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" to "Frosty The Snowman," all your faviorites are here in this terrific tome. This is the bible for fans of Rankin/Bass and author Goldschmidt should be commended for his exemplary efforts. Refreshing, informative and full of fascinating minutaie, the book is a true labor of love. What are you waiting for? Stop reading this review and buy the book...NOW!

The Rankin/Bass animagic Holiday specials are as much a part of my childhood memories as putting up the tree, hanging the stockings and painting the eggs.

It is nice to see Rick Goldschmidt drag them from the foggy haze of my nostalgia and bring them back into the light. I never new that there was so much information on Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass. "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass" has it all, from the most obscure cel animated cartoon to the classic animagic of Rudolph and Santa.

Everything you could want is here: Behind the scenes photographs, a complete list of Rankin/Bass works, well-written articles and a jumble of Rankin/Bass memorabilia. This book is even more relevant, now that the Rankin/Bass filmography is being released on DVD. It will make you chomp at the bit for each new release.

If Peter Cottontail, The Snow Miser and Heat Miser, Frosty the Snowman and Happy the Christmas Baby ("those ears!") ring any bells for you, then you will enjoy "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass."

I think the other reviewers here have just about covered it BUT I wanted to add that this is the way a book should be done on a classic HOLIDAY TV SPECIAL. It is loaded with information and gives background on everything from the voice actors to the Stop-motion animation. In Rick's other book he covered the entire body of RANKIN/BASS work, which was quite an undertaking, considering there were many reference books out there with incorrect info. In this book, he covered the process. The two book collection cover the history of RANKIN/BASS PRODUCTIONS very nicely! A Perfect Holiday gift set!

Lost Grizzlies is a superb read! Rick Bass is fast becoming (may already be) our premier writer of the american wilderness. Bass' descriptions of the books characters and the wilds of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado are vivid. I enjoyed Bass' descriptions of Doug Peacock's brilliance and brutishness. I enjoyed reading ABOUT Peacock almost as much as I enjoyed reading Peacock's book (Grizzly Years).

As Rick Bass and Doug Peacock go high and deep into Colorado's San Juan Mountains, on the chance there might still be grizzlies somehow surviving there, we are treated to glimpses of unspeakable beauty and wonder. It's as though Bass were able to blend his own Ninemile Wolves with Peacock's Grizzly Years. Their journey is both exhilerating and meditative. Reading this book was a pleasure.

Rick Bass does it again! This book, as much a character desription of grizzly expert Doug Peacock as it is a search for supposedly extinct grizzly bears in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, is a great triumph. The story is compelling, the language is beautiful, and the search itself is important. Truly, our attitude toward grizzly bears must be a direct reflection of our attitude toward ourselves. Although sometimes Bass gets a little heavy-handed with his metaphors--we probably could figure out that Doug Peacock has many grizzly-like traits without his coming out and telling us--his plea for the protection and defense of grizzlies is compelling, believeable, and genuine. A wonderful read.

WINTER notes from Montana is a diary of Rick Bass' first winter in the Yaak Valley of Northern Montana. The book details his on going struggle of learning about and surviving the hardships of living in the snowbound Yaak Valley

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Bass moves from the warm climate of Texas were he was a geologist to the Yaak Valley to write. The book details Bass' struggle as he works to find enough wood to last the long winter and to learn all the tricks of survival in the cold and snow. Bass subtly points out changes happening to him through out the book and this is brought to light when his father comes to visit. While they are fishing ""you've changed," my father said, not uncomfortably, as he mended his line." I think this points out Bass' reason for moving to the Yaak Valley and his purpose in being there. Bass wanted to give up the life of the daily grind and to become one with nature and life.

Although the book is meant to view Bass' ideas on environmental issues, he doesn't over state any of them or push them on the reader. The book is well written and very enjoyable to read. Whether the reader is pro or con on the issues in the book he/she can take an enjoyable hour or two and read the book for the pure enjoyment of Bass' writing.

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I read this book during my first winter in Colorado which, having moved here from Arizona, has also been my first real winter ever. "Winter covers some things and reveals others" (p. 162), Rick Bass observes in his journal, which recounts the first winter he spent with his artist girlfriend, Elizabeth Hughes, without electricity, phones, or paved roads in Yaak Valley, Montana. In his 162-page "journal of winter, a journal of peace" (p. 28), Bass also discovers that winter has the power to transform. After "floundering for thirty years trying to figure this out, trying to get along in cities, trying to move fast," Bass encounters the "deep, dark woods," and the "quietness, a slowness" of winter (p. 161), which causes a change of seasons in his own heart.

Except for a only handful of neighbors, and the "no glitter, no makeup" (p. 77) regulars at the Dirty Shame tavern, Bass shares his "wild, magical valley" (p. 3) with grizzly bears, grouse, moose, mule deer, elk, porcupines, ducks, geese, owls, rabbits, mountain lions, bobcats, black bears, coyotes, gray wolves, badgers, martens, fishers, wolverines, lots of snow, and silence. "We had never felt such magic" (p. 5), Bass writes. "This valley shakes with mystery, with beauty, with secrets" (p. 61).

WINTER is to Rick Bass what DESERT SOLITAIRE is to Ed Abbey. Drawn from journals, both books address the important question of why wilderness is essential to man.

G. Merritt

Julie Parsons Review Winter Notes from Montana

Fantastic! Five thumbs up. Rick Bass brings to us city dwellers a love for open spaces,

wilderness, and the untamed north country. The simple common outdoor sights become unique

through Bass's writing. The wait for snow becomes an adventure in suspense. A walk in the snow

brings a new awareness of what silence is all about. Through Rick Bass's easy flowing style of

writing you experience the excitement of seeing tracks of wolves, deer, and bear it grabs at your

imagination. You want to pack your bags get in the car and head for the north land.To drive until

the road ends, to blaze a new trail. Rick Bass takes nature seriously, he sees nature and our

relationship to it as the most important purpose on earth. He write of a romance with the open

spaces. Trees are sacred for their splendor, yet necessary for those who chose to be apart of the

Yaak valley. Throughout Winter you feel a sense of purpose, A desire to communicate with

nature, to build a relationship bound on unspoken trust, to realize your place in the scheme of

nature. Rick Bass takes you on a journey while telling us how to relate to the elements. Rick Bass

portrays his love of nature, simple pleasures and man in a powerful, complex and compelling way. If you love nature want to feel the freedom of the wild while sitting in a comfortable chair

Rick Bass has a way of making you feel you are there.

This book made me angry. It also made me laugh. Sometimes, "art" wrenches from us unexpected emotions and this is what Rick Bass was able to do in "Colter". Somehow Bass has the extraordinary good fortune to own a truly superb bird dog, a wunderkind of the field. Colter, named after the Montana mountain man, has boundless energy, a true passion for hunting, and an aura of "goofiness". Bass was hardly his ideal companion in the field. He was, and probably still is, a terrible shot. Bird dogs expect the hunter to hold up his or her end of the bargain. After pointing a bird, holding the bird, and then flushing the bird, is it too much to ask that you actually shoot the bird? In Bass' case, it was far too often too much to ask. But this honesty is endearing as well as frustrating. Despite these failures in the field, Colter remained a hunting fool. This is a book about passions. Bass is fortunate enough to hunt over 100 days a year, and wingshooting has obviously consumed him. And he is passionate about his dogs, though his obvious preference for Colter comes through time and again. The perfect dog, and the imperfect man.

I first became aquainted with Rick Bass when a friend recommended I read _The Ninemile Wolves_. It was a great read, and I've been a loyal Bass reader ever since.

Like Bass' other works, the strength of _Colter_ lies in its simplicity. While the remarkable relationship between Bass and his dog frames the book, there is much to be learned about the outdoors, responsible hunting, life and loss.

In _Colter_ Bass illustrates that hunting is not so much about shooting birds as it is a heightened awareness of one's place in the world. Or perhaps should be. I never thought I would consider bird hunting, though having read _Colter_ I'd like to give it try.

My only complaint about the book was Bass' persistent self-consciousness about his (poor) markmanship. Bass admits that he is a lousy shot, giving countless examples of birds that Colter would flush and that he would miss. One can only assume that it was as frustrating for the dog as for the reader.

Despite this one gripe, however, _Colter_ is a good, quick read. I've been without a dog for several years now, and in _Colter_ I begin to see clearly the reasons why I miss it.

I grew up in a house without a dog. 6 years ago my wife and I were given a puppy and my life was changed forever. This book truly draws out the emotions any one who has ever loved a dog feels about their "best friend". Rick Bass is a truly gifted writer (I have read another of his books)who has a tremendous ability to describe in detail the things that one's mind says to one's self. Those thoughts, reflections and feelings that we experience within our own soul are the true fabric of life that makes us human. Rick Bass has produced words that capture the essence of what it is to be bound to a dog (not own a dog--if anyone is doing the owning it is the dog). He describes so many things that every one who lives with a dog sees. Even the small details describing where Colter sleeps to the way his legs run when he is dreaming.
The pasage on page 31 says it all:
"When you live with a dog-when a dog is a member of your family-you learn soon enough to see the world at least partially through that dog's eyes: when to let it out, when to let it in, when to feed it, when it wants to play, when it is troubled....
With a hunting dog, you learn to pursue what it pursues. Generations of mankind before you might have worked to sculpt this streamlined (yet fluid, and still developing) creature that is now in your life, and now, not in generations but in just a few short years, the dog turns around and sculpts you."