The Ghost Walker

This has to be one of my most favorite books of all time! R.D. Lawrence not only gives a factual accounting of the lifestyle of the mountain lion in situ, he does it with an incredible empathy. His description of the wilderness habitat of the cougar and its fellow inhabitants is breath-takingly painted with masterful wording; it draws you in, it brings you THERE. His feeling for the object of his study is incredibly personal,insightful,concise, and haunting in its attitude of acceptance of the almost mystical relationship he feels with the species. When he first physically encounters Ghost,"his" cougar,he speaks of feeling as if he was two separate entities: the factual,observant scientist and the curious,awe-struck, vulnerable human. He DOES give much information on the cougar,but you can also sense the terrible anguish he feels,personally, about the loss of each one(in other parts of the book) and his tremendous concern in the survival of the species as a whole. Mr. Lawrence treats each individual cougar AS a TRUE individual;a creature with its own personality, not with just the cold,impersonal categorizing title of "animal". The vibrancy of his attitude of "fellow-creature" towards this wonderful big cat makes me wonder if he isn't really a cougar in part, inside his soul. Mr. Lawrence, you have one very staunch fan and fellow lover of the mountain lion right here!

Mr. Lawrence draws deeply on his life experience with nature and writes true facts about the cougar and how it lives life day in and day out.