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REVIEWS:
Pilots
take aerial view of Lewis and Clark's trek "Chasing
Lewis and Clark Across America: A 21st Century Aviation Adventure" Lowery and his older son built the "Cloud Chaser," a bright green, open-cockpit airplane that allowed Lowery to take spectacular shots. Of the flood of Lewis and Clark books that I've viewed, the shots included in this book are among the best at providing perspective to the fields and rivers, valleys and mountains along the historic route. Walker and Lowery traveled more than 14,000 miles in search of story and scenes during the summer of 2003. Readers may recognize some of the sites, although they'll get a different view. Lowery's photos seem to pop from the pages with depth rarely found in photo books. It's almost like looking at a topographical map overlayed with the actual colors and textures of the land. You feel as if you're in the plane moving forward over The Dalles on the Columbia River Gorge. And the view of White Cliffs in Montana offers a sharp contrast between the powdery-looking rock faces and the brown-and-green stripes of the fields. In the air above Upper Red Rock Lake, the adventurers find a part of Montana where "a potential artistic masterpiece stretches out before us in every direction." The beauty that Lowery captures is the "mirror-like surface" of the lake where puffs of white clouds dance in a vivid blue sky that's reflected in the waters. But the book is much more than landscapes and text recalling the past. Many photos feature towns, wildlife or residents along the way. Excerpts from the Lewis and Clark journals are used, but Walker's text gives a personal feel to the modern journey. And features, such as the photographer's notes about tools and technology, add richness. For example, the corps navigated by compass, while the authors used GPS and the Internet. Among the corps' colorful challenges were traveling past the falls of the Missouri River near modern-day Great Falls and cresting daunting heights. The modern team found moments of accomplishment, too: "We've done it, crossed the Continental Divide in a flying machine not much bigger than a canoe, with the wind in our faces and some of the nation's most rugged mountains not far below our feet." Both journeys are adventures hard, if not impossible, to duplicate in all their difficulties and discoveries. But this book is readers' best chance to sample the experience for themselves. Lowery describes his journey aptly at the start of the book: "The plane flies, but it's my mind that soars." And the
book can let yours, too. Great
Falls Tribune The Great Falls Tribune's suggested reading list for children and adults interested in Lewis and Clark "Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America," by Ron Lowery and Mary Walker, Windsock Media (2004). Of all the Lewis and Clark by air books out, this one has the most stunning photos and modern-era text. Looking for a special gift? This coffee-table book is it. Southern
Living The book, subtitled A 21st Century Aviation Adventure, re-creates the legendary journey of Lewis and Clark across the Louisiana Purchase expanse and beyond. Photography and prose unite to illuminate the American geography and culture along the Missouri River all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Photographer Ron Lowery and writer Mary Walker fuse their talents to record America the beautiful. Though Lewis and Clark possessed no plane nor charted map, the two-person crew aboard Cloud Chaser, Lowery's handcrafted plane built especially for photography and exploring, captures a stunning modern version of the explorer's adventure. Lowery and Walker show the country not as a mere landmass nor a reservoir of cultures. Instead, we see it as a living thing, with curving rivers for veins and the people themselves representing a steady heartbeat. Join Lowery and Walker in a "green canoe" in the sky, and experience the journey of Lewis and Clark. ©2005 Southern Living Aviation
& Business Journal, Pacific Northwest Edition MidWest Book Review, Book Watch, January 2005 Harold's Bookshelf Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America Ron Lowery, Mary Walker Windsock Media 6303 Clark Road, Harrison, TN 37341 ISBN: 0974920711 $45.00 167 pp. This is an absolutely beautiful pictorial trip along the route Lewis and Clark took as they followed the Missouri River west to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean. But this is a view that Lewis and Clark could not see. Almost all the pictures are from the viewpoint of a small aircraft flying over the landscape. The photographs include everything from modern cities to landscapes that have not changed significantly from the time of their original explorations. The text contains historic information about the trip and the sites photographed as well as details of the plane trip and current information. The photographs include beautiful patchwork landscapes, meandering rivers, forts Mandan and Union, the rough folds of the hills and canyons of the Missouri Breaks, the Rockies, and the Columbia River. This aerial vantage point gives a different perspective on the difficulties and beauty of the terrain that Lewis and Clark traversed so many years ago. Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition or who just enjoys aerial photography. ©2005 November,
2004 Book
of the Month Ron Lowery is a pilot and writer extraordinary. His personal observations of this expedition are absolutely poetic. Lowery and his son, Alan, built a unique plane from a twin engine kit. They named the plane Cloud Chaser and because it was bright green color it was referred to as the “green canoe in the sky.” For you
airplane buffs, the plane will cruise at 75 mph, stalls at
35 mph, can climb 1,800 feet per minute and can take off with
less than two hundred feet of runway.
>>more September
14, 2004
“Chasing
Lewis & Clark Across America” by Ron Lowery and
Mary Walker, Windsock Media, 163 pages, $45. Chasing
Lewis & Clark Across America is the collaborative
effort of accomplished pilot and writer Mary Walker and aerial
photography expert Ron Lowery. Sweeping and stunning full-color
images from above display the territory that Lewis and Clark
once crossed in their heroic journey of exploration. A small
amount of commentary and photographer’s notes enriches
the collection, but the vase pictures of terrain stretching
as far as the eye can see speaks for itself too. A breathtaking
memorial to treasure, and the next best thing to getting in
an airplane and flying over the Lewis and Clark trail to see
for oneself. October, 2004 My
Picks of the Month... I have always liked “coffee table” books because their size permits them to deal with various topics in a large format that is particularly useful for those that feature photography and art. Since I also love history, Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America ($45.00, Windsock Media) by Ron Lowery and Mary Walker, just knocked my socks off. Lowery, an experienced pilot and photographer, along with Walker, a pilot and writer, decided to celebrate the bicentennial of the famed expedition that opened up the West to the then-fledging American nation. Retracing the expedition’s route, these two have produced a book filled with the most stunning color photos of America’s still breathtaking prairies, vast forests, abundant farmlands, and western mountains. Lowery shot more than 4,000 photos of their journey from an open cockpit twin-engine plane called “Cloud Chaser.” His partner has written an inspiring text to accompany the photos, providing a history of the expedition and telling who this team came in contact with along the way. This is a book about America, then and now. —©2004 Alan Caruba, Editor, Member National Book Critics Circle ForeWord
Magazine “With
stunning photos and crackling prose, Ron Lowery and Mary Walker
have created a visual and literary feast. Here is a view of
America you won’t see from an interstate or the window
of an airliner. The grandeur of our land comes vividly and
explosively to life in this terrific book; you’ll fall
in love with America every time you pick it up.” Tennessee Arts Commission Website of the Week—July 12, 2004 “When
Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, he instructed
them to observe with care ‘the face of the country’
they traveled. But the explorers were bound by land, river channels
and gravity. Ron Lowery and Mary Walker’s Chasing Lewis
& Clark Across America takes us exhilaratingly aloft to
see the full length of the trail from a perspective that neither
Lewis and Clark nor anyone else has seen. Here are the magnificent
rivers and mountains–and here also is the handiwork os
subsequent development, the machine in the garden. The result
is a deeply moving vision of the primordial beauty of the Lewis
and Clark landscape and its continuing vulnerability. This is
more than a coffee-table book; it is an eyewitness testament
to the
wild lands we love and need to protect.” “This
book is an evocative and inspiring message to re-live the journey
of Lewis and Clark, to learn to fly, and to have an adventure.” “Ron
and Mary take us on a magical mystery tour across America through
the eyes of Lewis and Clark. This book is not only historically
important but entertaining, and a must read for anyone interested
in one of the greatest adventures of all time.” (read newspaper articles during the trip >>more)
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