Book Description

While teens today may spend their time playing video games or hanging out at the movies, Joe Ostringer's teenage years were spent doing such things as learning to make moonshine, panning for gold, and robbing pyramids in the Yucatan. With a rebellious streak that never faded, Joe's stories shed light on how he used his small fortunes to redirect his life from that of an outlaw to that of a hero. Author Jane Delveaux tells the tales of Joe as he left no stone unturned in his search for adventure. His escapades turned him into an intrepid explorer and master geologist. The culmination of this inquisitive adventurer's life resulted in a mineral discovery that shocked geologists worldwide. He found the mother lode, a priceless deposit of wollastonite. Despite his successes Joe's stories also include his head-on collision with the government in a showdown that involved the boldest, most devastating land grab in this country's history. The story of his battle to regain the rights to his wollastonite mine reveals the awesome power that political movements have successfully used to unjustly remove miners and landholders from their properties and gain control of this nation's most valuable resources. In a court decision that restored his GML rights to his mine, it also reveals the power that one brave individual can still possess, if he chooses to, in this land of the free. However, as hundreds of other miners can attest to, one win does not a victory make. They carry the fight forward.