Cave expert, 80, still spelunking By JAMI KINTON • News Journal • November 13, 2009
SHELBY -- Roger Brucker got himself into the thick of many an adventure while growing up in Shelby. Now, at age 80, the active Beavercreek resident said his exploits are far from over. Brucker, a veteran spelunker, is one of the nation's leading experts on Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and has co-authored five books on cave exploration. "I've had an interest in caves since I was a little boy. I would take blankets and drape them over chairs. We also had this barn in the back of our house on North Gamble Street and I would pile up the hay to make little places to hide in," he said. "Shelby was a town that, growing up, there was plenty to do. You could hike along the Black Fork and have plenty of adventures. Plus, my mother encouraged me to explore. I think that general curiosity and adventurous nature stuck with me." Since visiting Mammoth Cave at age 8 with his mother, Brucker said he has been back more than 500 times -- along with exploring countless other caves around the country. "When we first started exploring Mammoth Cave, it was about 35 miles long," he said. "Now it's about 400 miles long, and we keep finding more cave through different tunnels. Part of the joy of cave exploration is finding new passages. We think someday it'll be 1,000 miles long." In earlier days, Brucker said he quickly graduated from a more amateur way of exploring. "There is a right way and a wrong way to do this," he said. "The wrong way to go is by yourself with a flashlight. The right way is with knee pads and a hard hat, three sources of lights and making sure to tell people where you're going." In 1951, Brucker married Lynn, 53, who still enjoys exploring with him. The couple said they spend anywhere from 10 to 15 hours on one excursion. "My wife is very good at it," Brucker said. "We have a lot of fun together." Although Brucker majored in fine arts at Oberlin College and became president of OIA Marketing Communications, where he worked for 50 years, Brucker said cave exploration was always a side "obsession." "When I was still working, I would take about eight to 10 weekends a year to go explore," he said. After a week-long expedition in 1954, Brucker ended up writing his first book on cave exploration. On Oct. 1, he released his fifth novel, "Grand, Gloomy and Peculiar," about a slave and his explorations within Mammoth Caves. His first four books were nonfiction. Brucker said he doesn't see an end in sight. "It's very physically demanding and requires you to not be afraid of the unknown because you come to things you can't do and you've never done before," he said. "You find a deep pit and you have to find away around it. I can't do the things I used to, but I love it just the same." http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20091113/LIFESTYLE/911130303 =
