The Long Ride

Overview

A vivid, sweeping, passionate story about a modern-day adventure, this is a beautiful chronology of Lucian Spataro and his team’s record-setting Arabian horse ride across the United States to draw attention to the destruction of the world’s rainforests. Told with wit and eloquence, the story moves from the beaches and crowded streets of Los Angeles, across Death Valley and the Painted Desert, through hundreds of towns and cities in the Midwest, before ending on the East Coast in an effort to bring an eye to environmental issues that in 1989 had no visibility or advocate in the United States. The urgency and importance of Spataro’s mission remains today as 20 years later the situation has not improved. Like the original ride itself, this book serves as both a report from the environmental front line and a fresh call to action.

Reviews

“When Lucian first came to me with the proposal to use Arabian horses for a coast-to-coast ride to bring attention to our issue, I loved the gutsiness of the idea. We at Rainforest Action Network were honored to saddle up to his ride and it became the grueling, glorious event that you can read about today.”  —Randy Hayes, founder, Rainforest Action Network

“A great adventure, and for a great reason. We’re in a decisive moment right now, when our actions will decide whether or not we have these kinds of treasures in our future. May this lovely journey help renew our commitment to making the changes we must!”  —Bill McKibben, author, Eaarth

“With both urgency and humor, Lucian presents the choices we must make to protect rainforests and our planet for future generations. He shows that horseback is a compelling way to truly see with greater clarity the fate of our land and environment and to inspire people to act to protect what we value.”  —Luther Propst, founder and executive director, Sonoran Institute

“Even the most important messages are all too easily missed or tuned out in a media-saturated world. But it's not so easy to ignore a message when it's coming at you from a man on a horse . . . and that's a good thing, because his warning about the plight of rainforests is both urgent and of great significance for the future of the world.”  —Curt Stager, climate scientist and author, Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth

Author Biography

Lucian Spataro, Jr., PhD, is an environmentalist, a businessman, an educator, and an adventurer. He is the former director of the Program on Sustainable Development at the University of Arizona’s International College and was a pioneer for sustainability in the Arizona-Sonora region. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jane Goodall, PhD, is a preeminent conservationist and the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Bazy Tankersley is breeder of Arabian horses and the founder and owner of Al-Marah Arabians. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.