Edward Abbey: The prickly anarchist who wanted his body to fertilize the desert floor.

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 30 September 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Author of the seminal Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey was a fierce critic of industrial tourism and a hero to radical environmentalists. He spent his life fighting institutions, from the FBI to the National Park Service, eventually requesting a burial that defied state law to return his remains to the earth.

Born in 1927, Edward Abbey was shaped by his father’s anarchist, atheist, and socialist convictions. His early distrust of authority was solidified during his military service, where he was twice demoted for his refusal to conform. This skepticism defined his career, leading him to view the modern techno-industrial state as a primary threat to personal liberty and the natural world. He famously rejected the label of 'nature writer,' arguing that the wilderness was not a subject to be read about, but a place to be inhabited.

Abbey’s literary reputation rests on works like 1968’s Desert Solitaire, which chronicled his time as a seasonal ranger at Arches National Monument. The book attacked 'industrial tourism' and the development of national parks, themes that later inspired the formation of Earth First! in 1980. While his writing was celebrated for its vivid descriptions of the American Southwest, his personal views—particularly his opposition to immigration—drew intense criticism. He was frequently labeled a racist by contemporaries, a charge he vehemently denied, insisting his stance was rooted in concerns over population growth and environmental preservation.

Throughout his life, Abbey was a target of FBI surveillance, a fact he claimed to find flattering. When he died in 1989 at age 62, he left behind instructions that were as provocative as his prose. He requested no embalming, no coffin, and no formal speeches. Instead, he wanted his body placed in an old sleeping bag and buried in the desert to nourish the local flora. His friends honored these wishes, transporting his remains in a pickup truck to an undisclosed location, where they buried him and held the raucous, beer-fueled wake he had envisioned.

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