Not only is it inspiring to go caving with someone who's been active
at it as long as Roger Brucker: one of the great things about Roger is
that a large number of people have been inspired to go caving with the
CRF in Mammoth after reading his books. While wandering around on the
Mammoth Big Map in the gym at the ICS, I ran into Roger and he
introduced me to someone who lives in the Houston area (his name
escapes me, maybe he's on this list?) that had been so inspired by
reading his books that he sent a fan letter to Roger. In response this
young man received a personal invitation from Roger to attend a CRF
Mammoth expedition, which he readily accepted, and he has now become a
regular contributor to the survey effort at the world's longest cave.
Diana
P.S. Roger would find it incredibly amusing to know that he married
Lynn in 1951, before she was born...
On Nov 14, 2009, at 2:18 PM, [email protected] wrote:
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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
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