Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

There are some experiences that everyone looks back on and remembers exactly where they were. Events like 9/11, the death of John F. Kennedy, and so many others, live on in the memory. For many people living in the Western United States in 1980, the eruption of Mount St. Helen's is one of those events. 

I've heard many of these personal stories from my parents, aunts and uncles, and others about what they remember from that day so I was fascinated when I saw this book on the shared bookshelf in our faculty room last week. I picked up the copy of Steve Olson's Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens and found it extremely fascinating.

Honestly, it's not the most action packed read. Much of the beginning of the book is focused on the area surrounding Mount St. Helens, the logging industry there, and even the lives of the men who established forestry and industry there. It becomes obviously relevant in discussions about who is to blame for the lives lost that day.

One of the parts I found most interesting is the explanation of the ways scientists tracked the volcano activity leading up to the eruption. There were some warning signs and people believe that the government should have been more prepared for what happened. I saw many parallels between this and current events that are happening now with the way that people wish the government would handle COVID-19. One quote from a newspaper in 1975 stood out to me, "Maybe it's time to take a lot closer look at the bureaucratic decisions being made by some of our governmental agencies and to start reducing their powers back to where the citizens control instead of being controlled." I see the exact same sentiments being echoed today!

I also enjoyed this book for its reverence and awe of nature. Many of the scientists and outdoorsmen that experienced the eruption or were nearby when it happened, were there because of their love of nature. That area of Washington has a significant naturalist history. I was reminded of the feelings I have when I'm in nature when I read this: "If a church represents the efforts of the devout to invite God to join them in a place created by people, then a forest is a place where God already resides, and people can choose to recognize or ignore his presence." Nature is one of the places that I always feel closest to a divine presence. 

I loved that portions of the book where devoted to environmentalism--critical of the logging companies that chopped down so many of the amazing landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. The author even includes this sentiment in the last sentence of the epilogue: "The world is impermanent--the eruption of Mount St. Helens showed how quickly and drastically things can change. Yet we still can be good stewards of the things we love."

And of course, the most exciting part of the book was reading the stories of survivors and those who lost their lives in the eruption. Hearing about how scary and incredible it was to be so close to such a massive eruption here in the United States was a great addition to the book. It brought it back to a more personal level.

I recommend this book to those who find non-fiction, history, environmentalism, and volcanoes fascinating. It's not a fast-paced book but it is well worth the read. You can purchase a copy here!