'Open Space' is illuminating

Terry Tempest Williams, a resident of Castle Valley, is a nationally acclaimed naturalist and author of such famed books as "Refuge," "Leap" and "Red." Her new smaller volume, "The Open Space of Democracy," is actually a triptych of essays originally published in Orion Magazine.

The lead essay, "Commencement" (her commencement address to the University of Utah in 2003), argues for a personal diplomacy; the second, "Ground Truthing," represents a journey through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a way of underlining the importance of open space; and the third, "Engagement," is an exploration of the heart, something Williams finds necessary in a democracy.

The most political book she has written, this impressionistic work consciously connects the importance of place with the necessity of cultivating democracy. Whether or not you agree with her, Williams is dependably eloquent with her words. Speaking candidly, she questions the efficacy of the Bush administration's war in Iraq.

While delivering her commencement address, Williams is inwardly nervous about the effect her critical statements might have on family and friends in attendance, as she calls for "reverence for life" and the protection of individual freedoms. She quotes Thomas Jefferson, saying, "I believe in perilous liberty over quiet servitude."

She notices that Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and former Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, are both disapproving of her remarks, the business school graduates boo her — but there is an equal amount of applause.

Bennett later tells her his belief that the war in Iraq is a noble cause, which is being waged for "peace and freedom." He asks her for what she would be willing to die. She replies that she would be willing to die for freedom of speech — "the open door to all freedoms."

Williams also writes her views more directly: "Since George W. Bush took the office of president of the United States, I have been sick at heart, unable to stomach or abide by this administration's aggressive policies directed against the environment, education, social services, health care and our civil liberties — basically, the wholesale destruction of seemingly everything that contributes to a free society, except the special interests of big business."