Hank Lentfer ’91 lives in and writes about Alaska and its wilderness areas.

From the outside, alumni author, Hank Lentfer ’91, is living an American dream.  He quits his 9-5 office job,  treks through untouched Alaskan wilderness, fells trees and mills them to build his own cabin, and gains prominence in conservation circles as he serves on boards and travels to Washington DC to defend his home state from environmental destruction.

Yet, Lentfer’s 2011 book, Faith of Cranes: Finding Hope and Family in Alaska really isn’t a celebration of personal liberation or a bland reporting of an idyllic life in Alaska’s wilderness.  Rather, it’s a story about the author’s journey through despair.  Despair in the face of unrelenting “progress”.  Despair in the face of habitat loss.  Despair and frustration with the interminable political process failing to protect the earth’s wild lands.

In his latest book, Faith of Cranes, Lentfer describes his journey into fatherhood and his evolving perspectives on hope and conservation.

Lentfer’s story will resonate with many Greeners working in environmental or social justice fields.  How does one maintain hope and optimism when the challenges are so many?  Lentfer describes his effort to “keep his despair in check” and connects the birth of his daughter with a shift in his thinking that enables him to stop worrying so much about the future.  He writes,

“I now believe even the extinction of cranes cannot render efforts at conservation irrelevant any more than the death of a soldier can strip meaning from calls for peace….”

What do you think?  Join the conversation by responding to the following question posed by Hank Lentfer in Faith of Cranes:

“If every step of one’s way is along a path of caring, does it matter what the future brings?”