Edward Taylor Parsons: An Appreciation 223 



The Sierra Club meant more to Mr. Parsons than it can pos- 

 sibly mean to all but a very few. It filled a distinct place in his 

 life and became a vital part of his existence. This was due to 

 his inherited character and clean, strong personality. His years 

 of continuous travel all over the United States in the interest of 

 the company he so efficiently represented had not the slightest 

 effect as it does with many, of breaking down and lowering the 

 high mental and moral standards he had acquired in his youth 

 and during his university career. The better things in life con- 

 tinued to interest him with undiminished force. His taste for 

 the best literature was an ever-present source of enjoyment, 

 and because of his fondness for "God's out-of-doors," he joined 

 in the early Mazama expeditions, heart and soul. The ideals 

 of the Sierra Club, the inspiration of its leaders, John Muir, 

 Joseph Le Conte, and others, as well as the delightful summer 

 outings in the hospitable Sierra, made the strongest kind of 

 appeal to him and satisfied the higher longings of his nature. 

 It was on these outings that he met the girl he chose for his 

 wife, and her interest in all these same ideals and their similar 

 literary tastes made their married life one of enviable harmony. 



His devotion to the Club was most strongly evidenced by his 

 untiring labor in connection with the Sierra Club publications. 

 No amount of time-consuming drudgery such as the revision 

 of copy, proof-reading, or supervision of mechanical details of 

 the printing, caused him to shirk a task whose only compensa- 

 tion was the personal satisfaction of having done a good work 

 faithfully and well, and which, because of its nature, was fully 

 appreciated by only the very few who labored with him. Sel- 

 dom is a Club so fortunate as to have a man of such splendid 

 character and intellectual attainments so thoroughly devoted 

 to its welfare, and who gave so freely and generously of his 

 time to promote its cause. The Sierra Club and all his friends 

 have suffered a loss that cannot be measured. 



As a tribute to his devotion to the Club his friends have 

 started a subscription known as the "Parsons Memorial Fund," 

 and the response has been so generous that nearly a thousand 

 dollars has already been subscribed. This fund will be used 

 for the erection of an appropriate memorial. It has been de- 

 cided that this shall be a building or lodge of stone and as large 



