A Hero on Mount St. Helens

This book was incredibly interesting reading, even though I wondered where we were going with the family history details in Chapter 2. The book quickly answered my question as it delved deep into David Johnston's personal history and contributions to global geothermal and volcanology knowledge. It also explored our geologic understanding of volcanoes, placing the St. Helens eruption in context with regard to both time and location around the globe. The writing is very descriptive, reminded me of my very brief time in the area, and inspires me to go back. The book has several endearing photos, but would also benefit from maps of volcanoes mentioned and the St. Helens area in particular -- but maybe that is just missing in the kindle ARC version. Ms. Holmes' work paints a personal picture of a natural tragedy that pushed our scientific knowledge forward by leaps and bounds. It is heartwarming that this small group of professionals used scientific discovery to help them deal with their loss of a true hero in David. Highly recommended reading -- couldn't put it down.

I picked this book up primarily because I remember my sixth-grade social studies teacher teaching us about the time when she was trapped as a tiny child on Mt. St. Helens in 1980. I can't seem to find details around it, and her married name is of course different from her maiden name. But it's an interesting peek into everything surrounding the 1980 eruption. Definitely an interesting look into some of the decisions made.

Part scientific history, part family story, the life and death of David Johnston is part of the larger saga of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Scientist Johnston died on the mountain after warning the world of the coming eruption. A sad and captivating true story.

A very good account of the events at Mount St. Helens, Washington at and around the time of it blowing up back in mid-May 1980. But more than that it tells about a volcanologist who lost his life while doing his job. Much of what was learned by him and others after the event helped a great deal since then in the amount of knowledge going forward. The team of scientists that were conducting scientific research at the closest camp to the volcano, Coldwater II, were sent back to Vancouver for the night, while David remained behind. He was serving watch in his assistant’s place, sending him away after 2 weeks of his being on site. David was scheduled to be relieved the next morning. He got up at dawn and radioed into Vancouver just before 7 a.m. on the 18th with the results of three laser measurements he’d taken earlier. He reported the weather as very nice, perfectly clear, temperature about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (ten degrees Celcius). At 8:32 a.m. (PDT), a 5.1 magnitude earthquake caused the bulge on the north face of the mountain to give way and the largest landslide in recorded history sped down its flank. Just before it hit, David managed one final radio message, “Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!” He was 30 years and 5 months old, to the day.

This wasn’t an excessively long story, it was just about right, giving background on David and his family as he grew up in Illinois. Very well written as it blends in facts about a deadly tornado early in Dave’s life...shaping him and leaning him toward a career in photojournalism. Then he got to college, with the Vietnam war going on and two of his early school buddies already on their way there. Dave took a geology class almost randomly and it changed his entire future when he found he was crazy about it and eventually changed his major. This ended up adding four more years to his college years, making a total of eleven. Partway through, this book became emotional for me as often happens. But it’s a really good story for those who enjoy science type memoirs. My parents traveled out west sometime after this event happened, and brought me back some of the ash. They went to where the lake used to be and talked about an abandoned truck that was still around somewhere. You could tell it had really made an impression on them, seeing the after effects. I highly recommend this book for those that have any interest. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Melanie Holmes, and the publisher for my fair review.

This book was very informative and felt almost reverential towards those that perished in the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

I was just a child when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980. But I grew up watching the memorials, ceremonies, documentaries and hearing the stories of ash falling around the globe. I only had one image in my mind of David Johnston, that of him sitting on the ridge in a chair with his feet propped up smiling with a journal in his lap. This book delves into who he was as a person, what drove him, made him who he was and gives you a more complete picture of him as a person instead of what happened to him to make him famous. This book also pays tribute to others that died that day doing what they loved or enjoying life in areas they thought they were safe in never knowing what fate had in store for them early that fateful morning.

Anyone who has any real interest in volcanoes will know of the cataclysmic eruption of Mt St Helens in 1980. I have a bit more than a passing knowledge as my academic background is one of Earth science, so Melanie Holmes’ A Hero on Mt St Helens is a book that immediately resonated with me.

It’s a biography of David Johnston, a volcanologist with the United States Geological Survey, who happened to be on duty on a ridge overlooking the volcano when it erupted, killing not only Johnston but but fifty-odd other individuals unfortunate enough to be within the danger area (which turned out to be far beyond that which the USGS had forecast).

The book is a biography of Johnston, calling on memories of his friends, writings from his diaries and so on, and in a way it’s a strange book. Johnston, risking his life to monitor the volcano was a hero by chance. A day later, even a few hours later, and someone else would have been in his place. Then I might well be reviewing a biography of someone else entirely.

On that basis you can argue that Johnston wasn’t heroic, but in a way he is Everyman. He represents all of those who take on such a dangerous task to protect us from potential natural hazards, and although much of his life is unremarkable it’s the very ordinariness of his background that helps to show how easily, and by chance, ordinary, dedicated scientists can become heroes.

In addition to to the minutiae (I would even say trivia) of Johnston’s life, the book contains a wealth of information about Mt St Helens and other volcanoes, about volcanic hazards and the personal stories of other volcanologists.

Because I’ve studied something of the discipline and keep myself up to date on what’s going on in the field, much of this wasn’t new to me. But for anyone who is interested but doesn’t know much about the topic, the story of David Johnston, an accidental hero, is fascinating, informative and in the end, useful. I thoroughly recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the University of Illinois Press for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Born and raised in Oregon, of course I know of St. Helens and the eruption. I'd even heard of the hero on the mountain and some of the things he'd done. But, all the stories and information I'd read before never came close to the information and detail here. It was fascinating to not only know more about the eruption, the science and people behind, but also about Washington and some of the history there. I loved Dave's passion but also his dedication. This is a dense but interesting story and I'm glad I read it.

A well-written and well-researched biography of volcanologist David Johnston combined with a detailed account of the eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980. Johnston lost his life in the eruption and the book is in many ways a tribute to him. The actual eruption is chronicled minute by minute, making for some very tense reading indeed, and certainly giving insight into what actually happens at such events. Interesting, informative, and inevitably moving at times, it’s a compelling read, and one which I very much enjoyed.

The eruption of Mount St. Helens happened before I was ever born. I can’t remember when I learned about what happened. I just remembering learning bits and pieces of the truth as time went by. I’ve watched a documentary or two about what happened but this was the first book I ever read about the events. I was drawn to this book because it focused on the life of David A. Johnston, a geologist that lost his life when Mount St. Helens erupted, calling out from the mountain moments before he died “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!”

This book focuses on the man and the volcano. Starting from his childhood in Oak Lawn to his untimely death, readers learn of the man who found joy in his research and sent others to safety while he stayed on the mountain. We also learn some of the science behind the eruption of Mount St. Helens and the aftermath of that eruption. I enjoyed this book. I thought it did a good job tracing Johnston’s life and highlighting his budding career. It’s an intimate portrait of one of the many people that lost their lives on May 18, 1980.

NUMBER OF HEARTS: 4
May 18, 1980
“Vancouver, Vancouver, This is it.”

Being from the Pacific Northwest and loving our mountains I understand David Johnson’s draw to Mt. St. Helens. It was amazingly beautiful mountain, it still is but in a very different way. I have climbed St. Helens twice now, once before reading this book and once after. I took a few extra moments the second trip up just for David. I was young when St. Helens blow but grow up learning about it and remember hearing David’s warning to Vancouver.

It was a wonderful tribute to a man who died doing what he loved. If you are from the PNW (or really anywhere) you should pick up this book and learn more about this wonderful young man.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley & University of Illinois Press in exchange for an honest review. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

A very interesting read! I did not know much about Mount St. Helens except it erupted and some people were killed. Nature and people are complex and amazing and I enjoyed this book.