Leonard Clark was my uncle, and the new edition having been released, I have recently re-read The Rivers Ran East.

I found this book to be most incredible, not simply for the storytelling, but more importantly for Len's foresight into the value and preciousness of the South American rainforest. While he was admittedly not an environmentalist, he was truly a man ahead of his times in that respect. His appreciation for and finely detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Amazon River basin are extremely topical and perhaps even more pertinent today than when he wrote the book. Among all else, he identifies specific native tribal practices and forest herbs as remedies unknown by Western medicine; as with many other products of the rainforest, these hold great promise and yet remain unresearched. Furthermore, his anthropological descriptions of the Amazonian natives capture a culture that now, just 50 years later, has largely been transformed to modern society and lost.

Purely on a swash-buckling adventure-tale level, the book is priceless: this is a real-life Indiana Jones! Len's hair-raising stunts, death-defying experiences, and encounters with Amazonian headhunters hit the reader one after another with nearly a breath in between.

Altogether five of Leonard's books were published: A Wanderer Till I Die (1937), The Rivers Ran East (1953), The Marching Wind (1954), Explorer's Digest (1955), and Yucatan Adventure (posthumously in 1958). All five make for fascinating reading. Many of his books were translated into Italian, Japanese, and other languages. My mother was Len's younger half-sister and I inherited her collection, which includes first editions in English of all five, as well as several of the translated versions, for example, the Japanese edition of The Marching Wind. In addition to The Rivers Ran East, The Marching Wind has also recently been republished and is now also available on Amazon.com. Beyond his books, articles by Len were published in National Geographic, Life, Literary Digest, Field and Stream, Popular Science, and American Weekly. The family still receives inquiries from time to time about possibly make a film based on one of his adventures, but none has been produced to date.

All of Len's books except for A Wanderer Till I Die were written after World War II. However, it was during the war that he perhaps made his greatest - though unpublished - contributions. Leonard served as an officer in the OSS, spending a good portion of the war in the China-Burma-India corridor conducting intelligence work in the Yellow River valley. Near the end of the war, he was stationed on Formosa and accepted the first (unofficial) surrender of the Japanese there. He earned the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Order of the White Cloud with Ribbon, the highest honor given by the Chinese to the foreigners who served them.

All of Leonard's works are fact, not fiction, and he is very highly regarded in our family as a military hero and quintessential adventurer. After the war, he built a log cabin near Fresno, California that I visited as a child. I remember Len as a large, quiet, gentle man who liked to tease us children, smoke his pipe, and take long contemplative walks in the woods with my mother. Yet he also embodied a sophistication, powerfulness, and seriousness that I sensed even as a child.

Len was born on 1/6/1907. He died on 5/4/1957 under mysterious circumstances while exploring for gold and diamond mines on the Caroni River in Venezuela. You will find a fairly extensive biography in Current Biography, Volume 17, No. 1, January 1956, although this does not cover his last years. In addition, my father devoted 20 pages in our family history to Len. For more information, please feel free to contact me.

A fantastic adventure story from an Author who apparently fears nothing. Very detailed and factual with photographs to back up his story. I would also like to learn more about this author and have only found that he wrote an article for National Geographic in 1938 about Hainan Island and it's inhabitants. That story was written in the same style. Mr. Clark was(?) indeed an aventurous soul.

A friend highly recommended this book. He's pointed me to several interesting books over the years, but this was his best recommendation. After waiting for what seemed forever to get a copy, I read it overnight.

The Rivers Ran East is a great exploration story. I've been fascinated by the exploits of the great Victorian explorers, especially Sir Richard Francis Burton, for years. To me, Leonard Clark was probably the last of the Victorian-style explorers - facing the wilderness armed with few supplies, but inspired by a burning desire for exploration (with selfish reasons like gold thrown in for good measure).

Like some of the other reviewers, I want more information. The book's ending seemed to promise a continuation, but I guess it never happened. Some publisher needs to reprint this great book, complete with updates on "the rest of the story".

I noticed this book on my parent's book shelf when I was growing up. My 5th grade class had studied Tibet and I always meant to read it. Well, many years later, I finally got around to it and it turned out to be a rather interesting book. What makes it interesting is this glimpse at the many different people who make up the vast area of Tibet.

The author, Leonard Clark, is a rather archaic type of fellow to read in the 21st century. It's somewhat akin to reading about a 19th Century explorer 50 years ago. The man, fresh out of World War II intrigue in this general area of China, decides that he wants to explore the area of a sacred mountain. The name of the mountain is Amne Machin and it is located deep in the thinly explored areas of Tibet. Mr. Clark briefly explains the background to his quest and, before we know it, he is on his way to Tibet with a mere $1200 to finance his travels. He is an odd sort of fellow who reminds you of a middle-aged bachelor British nobleman who explores for a living. His rare reflections on life indicate a rather detached point of view.

We sense his quest to find and measure the height of Amne Machin although I didn't feel particularly excited about this aspect of his travels. I was most interested in the many different tribes of peoples and their remoteness from the rest of the world. Many of these different tribesmen are Mongols who date back to the original Horde. Mr. Clark has convinced the local military leader of the need to find an escape route from the unstoppable advance of the Red Chinese. Thus he is able to explore this lawless area accompanied by a small army. Mr. Clark is an astute observer of the many different tribes, flora, fauna, customs, topography and travails of the area. I found myself shivering with him in the many blizzards he seemed to encounter. I also found myself wondering if I, too, could survive on the various forms of food and drink that he subsisted on.

This book didn't exactly grab me once I started reading it. In fact I kept it at the office and would read a bit of it several times a week during my lunch break. It left me wondering about whatever happened to these many tribes of people rather than wondering whatever happened to the author.

Although The Marching Wind was written in the late 40's, this non-fiction story is still very intriguing in today's world. It relates the story of traveler/explorer Leonard Clark and his yak caravan journey through Tibet. Clark convinced the Chinese Nationalist leaders that he could find them an escape route through Tibet as the communists approached. At the same time, Clark plans to measure a mountain in Tibet that is reputably higher than Everest.
The book is written as a detailed travel log of the expedition through the wilds of forbidding Tibet during incredibly cold weather for which none of the modern equipment used for extreme weather is available. The caravan is constantly on watch for the fierce Ngolog tribe members reputed to be highly aggressive and murderous. It is a well written and exciting story.

This book speaks volumes if the reader takes the time to peruse the text. However, as a quick reference it is somewhat cumbersome. Also, the star rating system often does little justice to movies which started or define a genre, those with substance over style, and to movies that have inspired other screen works. Two and one-half to three stars appear too frequently for these types of movies.

Maltin's guide is not bad. I refer to the 1998 paperback Issue. It contains 19.000 reviews of film or TV movies. I think it is a must.But the editor/author, ie Maltin has nothing to say about choice or verdict. Choice is evidently films known to the USA audience. Verdict is not easy to understand: **** is top, BOMB is bottom. Grade 1 is ****, grade 2 is ***½, grade 3 is ***,et cetera. What does a certain grade signify? Maltin has nothing to say.What more: A room with a view, Elvira Madigan, Goodfather III are all rated ***, the same as Gentlemen prefer Blondes. I have just seen MM in Gentlemen prefer Blondes, and it is a charming movie. But to compare it to the others is a major fault, I think. I suggest 1) Skip all B/W movies but the very best,as Metropolis. 2) Give data on audience 3) Make a much better index. Of course You could make a B/W supplement - even including B-movies of Ronald Reagan or John Wayne. And you might even include a list of the James Bond movies. Hollywood or USA,

I really enjoy reading books by, "The Queen of Suspense", Mary Higgins Clark. Her nouvels are full of mystery and suspense that gives you chills up your spine. And the way she uses words to catch your attention and spark your imagination. The book, Before I Say Goodbye, was very suspenseful but I didn't find the mystery nearly as deep as some of her others. I found some of the text to have errors as far as her ordering of the plot, and so the book was somewhat hard to follow due to that. The book was mainly about a young woman, Nell, who, when young, lost her parents to a tragic plane crash and ended up living with her grandfather. Her grandfather was highly into politics which was the main reason why Nell, wanted to be part of the poitical world. Nell's husband died during a tragic boat eplosion leaving nasty evidence of her husbands life, which Nell hadn't known. Will Nell's help from her psychic friends help her to solve the mystery of her husband's tragic death or will Nell go on living her life never really knowing what happened and why.

When Nell MacDermont loses her parents and grandma at a young age, all hope seems to be gone. Raised by her politician grandfather, Mac, she learns the ins and outs of all the Congress secrets.
After having a quarrel, her husband Adam's boat, Cornelia II, explodes while he and four other co-workers are on board. Feeling guilty, her great-aunt Gert suggests Nell go to see a famous medium, Bonnie Wilson. Skeptical at the beginning, Nell starts to believe everything Bonnie is telling her. But it seems there are just so many unanswered questions about the mysterious explosion. Nell has no idea that she is the next target for the insane killer.
Mary Higgins Clark's Before I Say Goodbye is a tale of tragedy, mystery, and suspense. The way Clark combines these three aspects will keep the reader up late into the night, devouring the intense story. As the plot thickens, more and more suspects begin to appear. The reader will constantly be wondering, "Who did it?" and just as you think you have it figured out, Clark twists the evidence to point to someone else. Before I Say Goodbye will keep you on the edge of your seat and is not the type of book that should be read alone.

Former Congressman Cornelius "Mac" MacDermott asks his granddaughter Nell Cauliff to run for his old seat in the House. Two years ago she rejected his request because her spouse objected to her becoming Mac's legislative puppet. However, this time Nell decides she wants to run for the public office as politics is in her blood.

The next day she informs her husband, architect Adam Cauliff, about her plans. He becomes irate and they have a serious argument before he leaves for a meeting on his cruiser. An explosion occurs on the ship apparently killing Adam, several business associates and employees. Nell is left feeling guilty and ashamed of herself. The police believe the explosion was deliberate.

When rumors abound that Adam was on the take, Nell decides to investigate the accident to prove her spouse's innocence, which means one of the other guests was the intended victim. She also follows Adam's instructions from the grave thorough a medium while a killer looks on, wondering if Nell needs to be eliminated.

Known for her suspenseful bestsellers, Mary Higgins Clark writes an intriguing tale that combines elements of a thriller with that of an amateur sleuth mystery. The story line is fun and exciting, especially when Nell begins her inquiries. Nell is a wonderful character and her grandfather comes across as a powerful individual. The support cast is developed to the point where the reader understands their flaws. Ms. Clark provides her myriad of fans with another enthralling tale filled with action and adventure exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner

I was required to use this book in a college class. There was nothing in the text I did not already know. The format is strange. There are very odd exercises in the book. This text is overly wordy, there is nothing educating in this text. This was by far the worst education text I have ever come across.