Eruption : the untold story of Mount St. Helens

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Title:

Eruption : the untold story of Mount St. Helens

Author:

Olson, Steve, 1956- author.

Yen, Jonathan, narrator.

Summary:

For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the long quiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. Still, when a massive explosion took the top off the mountain, no one was prepared. Fifty-seven people died, including newlywed logger John Killian (for years afterward, his father searched for him in the ash), scientist Dave Johnston, and celebrated local curmudgeon Harry Truman. The lives of many others were forever changed.

General Note:

Title from web page.

Compact discs.

Edition:

Unabridged.

Physical Description:

7 audio discs (8.5 hr.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.

Genre:

Audiobooks.

Subject Term:

Volcanic eruptions -- Washington (State)

Volcanoes -- Washington (State)

Geographic Term:

Saint Helens, Mount (Wash.) -- Eruption, 1980.

Author(s):

Yen, Jonathan,

Publisher:

HighBridge Audio,

Publication Date:

2016

ISBN:

9781681680187

Publication Information:

[Minneapolis, MN] : HighBridge Audio, [2016]

Call Number:

CDB 551.2 OLSON

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003208389	Adult Nonfiction Books on CDs	551.2 OLSON	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Survival narrative meets scientific, natural, and social history in the riveting story of a volcanic disaster. For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the longquiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. Still, when a massive explosion took the top off the mountain, no one was prepared. Fifty-seven people died, including newlywed logger John Killian (for years afterward, his father searched for him in the ash), scientist Dave Johnston, and celebrated local curmudgeon Harry Truman. The lives of many others were forever changed. Steve Olson interweaves history, science, and vivid personal stories of the volcano's victims and survivors to portray the disaster as a multifaceted turning point. Powerful economic, political, and historical forces influenced who died when the volcano erupted, and their deaths marked the end of an era in the Pacific Northwest. The eruption of Mount St. Helens transformed volcanic science, the study of environmental resilience, and our perceptions of how to survive on an increasingly dangerous planet.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Olson (Count Down) brings cinematic structure to descriptions of the events surrounding the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, finding in them a lesson for those tasked with mitigating the effects of future disasters. He sets the scene by presenting the history of the U.S. Forest Service and describing the growth of Weyerhaeuser, a forest-products company that owned much of the land around the mountain. Olson also introduces geologists and their attempts to convey the extent of the volcano's capabilities once it began to rumble in March. A group led by the Forest Service proposed restricting areas, authorized by governor Dixy Lee Ray, but they left land owned by Weyerhaeuser unrestricted despite its proximity to an ominous bulge in the mountain's side. With the danger clear to readers, Olson follows the individuals who were near the mountain on the night before the eruption, reconstructing the final moments of those who died and the paths that the survivors took to where they could be rescued. He concludes with descriptions of the explosion's aftermath, the establishment of the national monument, and the scientific advances based on research on the eruption. Making it clear that these deaths could have been prevented by properly established restricted areas, Olson takes a detailed and human-centered look at a terrible disaster. Agent: Raphael Sagalyn, ICM/Sagalyn. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Fifty-seven people lost their lives on May 18, 1980, when Washington State's Mount St. Helens erupted with catastrophic force. National Book Award finalist (Mapping Human History) Olson tells the story of this tragic event using personal narratives of survivors and other primary documents. Olson solidly builds tension as he places the survivors and victims in their locations prior to the eruption. The actual eruption is brilliantly narrated; the listener is taken from one locale to another as events unfold and tragedy strikes some and others are saved by sheer luck and instinct. The environmental policies, scientific achievements, and geological knowledge gained complete the book. The ideology of environmental preservation and conservation is a major theme throughout, which adds another layer. The decision by Olson to spend nearly a quarter of the audio-book tracing the history of the lumber industry in general and the Weyerhaeuser Company in particular will likely disrupt the narrative flow for most listeners but will not ruin the experience. Jonathan Yen reads expertly. VERDICT Fans of Olson's previous work, geology, natural disasters, and the Pacific Northwest will find this audiobook worthy of their time.-Jason L. -Steagall, -Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.