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Bringing the Stan Back to Life
An Interview with Christian Kallen
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Christian Kallen grew up in California, took up photography and film, became a movie critic, travel writer, and river guide, and came back to live in Angels Camp the year the Stanislaus Canyon flooded. He co-authored several books with Richard Bangs, including "Rivergods" and "Riding the Dragon's Back," about the first descents of the Yangtze. He is working on a documentary about the "Stanislaus warriors" (http://www.lastriverlost.com/) from his home in Healdsburg.
Q: How did you first learn about the fight to save the Stanislaus River?
A: I moved from California to Seattle to work for Adventure Travel magazine and soon I found myself drawn to white water rafting, where recreation and outdoor education can come together. Although the magazine had an international focus, I wanted to write about some destinations and activities in the United States for those who couldn’t afford to go to Chile or wherever for vacation. After rafting a few times in Washington, I wanted to go somewhere warmer. I knew of the commercial company OARS through the magazine and I booked a trip on the Stanislaus in July 1978.
While researching the river, I learned about an ongoing effort of Friends of the River to keep the river flowing. The river itself seemed like a direct connection to the natural world. Unlike the Grand Canyon, the beauty and scale was more approachable. Going down the river in 1978, amid the limestone walls and Rose Creek, I saw why many fought so long and hard to preserve it. After all I learned I had to include the political angle in my article. This article came out in the spring of 1979, and was ultimately used by FOR in their advocacy efforts. I have to say I don’t consider myself a Stan campaigner. I was associated with the Stanislaus campaign through the use of my article though that was the extent of my involvement at that time. Nonetheless, I am happy to do what I can to make up for it now.
Q: You have written several environmental books with Richard Bangs. Tell us how this came about.
A: While at the Adventure Travel magazine, I received many articles from Richard Bangs promoting river trips for his company, Sobek. In 1982, at a party in Vermont I met Joy Ungrich, a river guide from Sobek and she suggested I join their staff, writing catalog and brochure copy. From 1983 to 1987 I helped Richard and John Yost with marketing projects for Sobek while I lived in Angels Camp. A publisher read about our work at Sobek and encouraged Richard Bangs and me to begin writing together. As a result, we collaborated on four books, beginning with “Rivergods” which was based on many articles originally written by Richard, though I contributed a few chapters as well.
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Q: You are currently working on a documentary about the Stanislaus campaign. Tell me what inspired this project.
A: There are so many stories, legends and lore that need to be told and captured -- I want to bring the Stan back to life through media and film. . The documentary is intended to make the issue and place tangible. Some people’s response to environmental issues is that there is always another river. In this documentary, we hope to show what has been tangibly lost and that it is not true anymore that is just another river. I feel like I have a mission to share the stories while we still can. I don’t think of myself as an activist or an organizer but this project also inspired me to put on the Spirit of the Stanislaus event back in June. I have family in the area and knew some of the people involved in the campaign, and at the 30th anniversary of when Mark Dubois chained himself to the rock, I just wanted to bring everyone together.
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If you would like to tell your story, contact Christian at ckallen@msn.com. |
The working title is “Last River Lost.” Updates on the progress of the film as well as a trailer are available at our website, lastriverlost.com. This summer, we have been doing interviews and collecting video tape on the river as it is today. Our plan is to have a rough cut of the film in the Spring of 2010.
Q: Your son, Brian, is now a volunteer river guide for FOR. What do you think about that?
A: I took Brian rafting for the first time when he was a couple years old, on the East Fork of the Carson, and then again when he was 5 on the Snake River in Wyoming. For a long time I never thought my son would be interested in guiding he was more into sailing -- but I encouraged him sign up for the FOR guide training and he did this last spring. I am really pleased he is doing it with such enthusiasm -- he is up there every weekend! If you see him, tell him to call his father.
Q: When can we look forward to seeing the documentary?
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