Vll 



INTERVIEW HISTORY 



Christopher Granger and I first met in the Cosmos Club in Washington, 

 B.C. in May of 1964. There, where probably many times before he had talked 

 out decisions facing him, we discussed the proposal for him to tape record 

 his memoirs as a part of the Resources for the Future series on the history 

 of forest policy. Ed Kotok had some months before talked to his old friend 

 about the project, and Granger had written me that he would be happy to 

 cooperate, but that he was dubious as to what his memoir could contribute 

 for posterity and that he preferred to write out as a &quot;brief, concise document&quot; 

 any such story of his life rather than be interviewed. 



That day in the Cosmos Club he explained to me again that he could 

 not, he felt, sit down over a microphone and relate in off-the-cuff con 

 versation the complexities of the years behind him. Even though, I asked, 

 we carefully worked out an outline for questions beforehand? No; it was 

 too unpredictable. Later I came to understand that the precision of Mr. 

 Granger s mind and the economy of his communications had long been a major 

 characteristic of his administrative style. The retired Assistant Chief 

 was unmoved by my gentle remonstrance that in addition to factual data, 

 his personality and conversational manner would also be of interest to those 

 tracing the successes and trials of the national forests. Nor was he 

 swayed by my assurance that he would have the right to edit the transcript. 



In a very few minutes, we had compromised: a memoir, yes; but 

 written out and based on a detailed outline we would agree on. I showed 

 him the questions and topics which I had gathered for the interview out 

 line. He read it, offered advice on the relative emphases of each subject, 

 and added a few new topics. Together we hammered out, filled in, rearranged, 

 checked chronology, and when I returned to the office in Berkeley a master 

 outline was typed up and sent to him. It was August 2, 1965, when his 

 memoir, a pencilled manuscript of fifty-two legal-size pages, arrived in the 

 mail. 



It was indeed the &quot;brief, concise document&quot; that he had promised: a 

 lean but accurate, cautious but informative statement from a well-disciplined 

 mind. Hoping for more elucidation at several points in the account, I sent 

 him a list of specific questions. These he answered conscientiously, giving 

 permission for each question and answer to be inserted in its logical place 

 in the manuscript. This was done, and the final typed version was mailed 

 to him in September, 1967, whereupon he immediately proofread it, approved 

 it, and returned it with some material for the appendix, such as the draft 

 he had written for a forest regulation bill. He requested enough additional 

 copies of his memoir to deposit one in the U.S. Forest Service Washington 

 Office and one in the Forest History Society, in addition to the regular 

 repositories . 



Two months later, a letter came from Granger s long-time friend and 

 colleague, Raymond Marsh, informing us of the fatal heart attack which had 

 struck Mr. Granger at his home November 21, 1967. Because I had been with 



