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I married a Park Ranger and became a Park Wife: Hear me, Hear me...
My Memoir is a story of adventure, isolation, and dedication as a Park Wife living in eight of our unique National Isle Royale, Crater Lake, Hawaii Volcanoes, Olympic, Sequoia, Lehman Caves (now Great Basin), Chalmette Battlefield (now Jean Lafitte National Historical Park) and Shenandoah. I had the good fortune to have married a Park Ranger and become a Park Wife. We belonged to the three privileged generations that experienced this unique “folk culture,” which began in Yellowstone National Park when a “single” ranger smuggled his wife into his remote back-country cabin—a lifestyle that no longer exists. These are my stories; living at the edge of a volcano, in deep snow, in a rain forest, a high desert, in a cemetery, and often in isolation. A life I could never imagine; not even in my wildest dreams.
403 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 3, 2018
9 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 20, 2024
2024 I own keeper 3.75
This is the memoir of a wife and homemaker who volunteered a lot of her time and devoted her life to helping her husband succeed in his career. Her effort and the effort of women like her were taken for granted and underappreciated and unpaid. It seemed quite unfair, but then I remembered, as a Air Force officer wife I was expected to behave in the same way. I am glad times have changed. At least to a certain extent. I am sure there are still those who have to put their career second to help their spouses succeed.
She seems to have had a great adventurious life. She got the opportunity to do a lot of fun things, and she has a lot of fond memories. We owe her and women like her gratitude for helping the national Park Service grow and prosper in its early years. Though I still think it’s better, that they have paid people and recognized volunteers, doing that work now , and hopefully wives aren’t expected to make this as their second unpaid career anymore,. But who knows, maybe they still do.
I enjoyed learning what it was like to live in the parks at that time. If she thought they were crowded back in the 60s, I wonder what she would think now? It was interesting learning about the politics and the role park wives played in their husband‘s careers. It did remind me a lot of officers wives. And that brought back unhappy memories. And mixed emotions. So it wasn’t always a pleasant read. So can’t give it a full 4.
It was well written and entertaining. Good story telling abilities.
This is the memoir of a wife and homemaker who volunteered a lot of her time and devoted her life to helping her husband succeed in his career. Her effort and the effort of women like her were taken for granted and underappreciated and unpaid. It seemed quite unfair, but then I remembered, as a Air Force officer wife I was expected to behave in the same way. I am glad times have changed. At least to a certain extent. I am sure there are still those who have to put their career second to help their spouses succeed.
She seems to have had a great adventurious life. She got the opportunity to do a lot of fun things, and she has a lot of fond memories. We owe her and women like her gratitude for helping the national Park Service grow and prosper in its early years. Though I still think it’s better, that they have paid people and recognized volunteers, doing that work now , and hopefully wives aren’t expected to make this as their second unpaid career anymore,. But who knows, maybe they still do.
I enjoyed learning what it was like to live in the parks at that time. If she thought they were crowded back in the 60s, I wonder what she would think now? It was interesting learning about the politics and the role park wives played in their husband‘s careers. It did remind me a lot of officers wives. And that brought back unhappy memories. And mixed emotions. So it wasn’t always a pleasant read. So can’t give it a full 4.
It was well written and entertaining. Good story telling abilities.
January 13, 2026
Okay, so the book wasn't necessarily bad. However, it has a VERY niche audience. I quite enjoyed the first part of the book as Phel relived her adventures early in her marriage as she adjusted to living a remote life in our nation's beautiful public lands.
HOWEVER, this is a very raw, uncensored account of life as a housewife and mother during the 1950s through the 1980s, so I had to have patience and approach this text as though I were listening to my grandmother tell stories of her past, forgiving her language and inability to find her place in the present/future.
The story was fine. The adventures were personal, and I'm grateful Phel shared them, but they are delivered to a very niche audience, and the stories are certainly of a bygone era (one I hope to never revisit)!
HOWEVER, this is a very raw, uncensored account of life as a housewife and mother during the 1950s through the 1980s, so I had to have patience and approach this text as though I were listening to my grandmother tell stories of her past, forgiving her language and inability to find her place in the present/future.
The story was fine. The adventures were personal, and I'm grateful Phel shared them, but they are delivered to a very niche audience, and the stories are certainly of a bygone era (one I hope to never revisit)!
July 14, 2023
Truly a memoir that is historical fiction! Phel gives you a glimpse of her life in the 60’s & 70’s being a park rangers wife; and the lifestyle and culture that comes with it. I believe it’s a glimpse in American History that we’ll never see again in this technological era. Thank you Phel for sharing your life with readers and sharing a bit of American history. From her parents that immigrated to America and being a first generation American, you can truly understand the era she was growing up in and just how unique her life was!
September 29, 2019
Loved this book! Loved reading about Phel's experiences at National Parks my husband and I have visited and the ones we haven't. Appreciated her experiences making do with what she had available, sometimes meager, at best. She and her husband certainly lived in a variety of places and experienced many different environments and cultures. Phel has a story to tell and tells it well!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews