Eiseley Anecdotes

THE CREATION OF A YOUNG EISELEY FAN (circa 1976)

Dr. Loren Eiseley was chosen to give a public lecture in western Nebraska. If I recall correctly, he was sponsored by the Mari Sandoz Foundation of Chadron State College. The decision was made to conduct the lecture in Scottsbluff, at the new college campus. It also seemed fitting, due to the proximity of Scottsbluff, where Loren did his first archaeological field work, helping define the Scottsbluff projectile point type.

At the time, I was conducting field mapping in the canyons of southern Utah. I drove to Dove Creek, Colorado, and flew to Scottsbluff. I had been asked to provide the introduction for Dr. Eiseley, at the lecture. My wife, Wanda, and our youngest son, Finn had driven to Scottsbluff, to join us. We had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Eiseley for the evening meal, then took him to the lecture hall. Loren was having a book signing prior to the lecture. I told Finn (age 10) that he could help by carrying books for Loren to sign. He gladly cooperated and I finally asked him, "Finn, would you like to have Dr. Eiseley sign a book for you?" His response was eagerly positive, so I purchased a copy of 'The Immense Journey' and told him to take it to the desk and Dr. Eiseley would sign it for him. He promptly did so and Loren told him, "Finn, I am just going to sign this 'Loren', that way it will show that we are good friends".

As soon as he received the autographed copy, my son sat down in the front row of the lecture hall and began reading his new book. Soon, he walked up on the stage where Loren was signing books, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "That's pretty good, I am going to read the whole thing!"

Loren laughed, heartily, and declared that it was one of his best endorsements.

Submitted by: Larry D. Agenbroad, Ph. D., Director, The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota, Inc.

Loren Eiseley, 1966/67

I was an 8th and 9th grade student in two different schools in Quito, Ecuador from 1966 through 1968. During the 1966/67 school year Loren was a special guest at the Alliance Academy, where he spoke about earth, humankind, the cosmos, our possible relationships to it all, and all manner of explainable historic natural and cultural events that are often thought of as miracles in various religious texts and beliefs. As a youngster who loved all things worldly and otherwordly natural, I was fascinated by this man's thoughts and ability to explain things in a manner that everyone understood. I've never forgotten his lecture or him and the questions he posed to all of us. He greatly affected me and the directions I took in life, and his ruminations, which led to my own, still affect me today.

Submitted by: Steve Resler, Albany, NY