Foreword by Robert & Johanna Titus, trade paper, 6 x 9, 344 pages, 87 illustrations. Author Dana Cudmore grew up in the middle of New York State's "Cave Country"--home to an astonishing 150+ caves including world-famous Howe Caverns and Secret Caverns. This book explores the wonder and drama in the history of the caves and describes the remarkable personal and engineering accomplishments that turned some into popular tourist destinations. It is an intriguing, surprising, sometimes humorous and very human look back at nearly 200 years of adventure in New York's most famous caves and the explorers and entrepreneurs whose courage and vision have made the caves a part of the lives of millions of visitors from around the world. Cudmore and friends explored many of the area's caves, including some of the spectacular ones that are not public and less well-known, such as Ball's, Schoharie Caverns, Selleck's, and Knox Cave. Still not rediscovered, however, is Lester Howe's legendary Garden of Eden Cave, which Howe claimed was "bigger and better" than the famous cave he discovered and opened to the public in 1842. The search continues.
Hand-in-hand with the story of the caves is the story of the stone and cement quarry that was also built on the region's unique geology, and the history of the feisty, hardscrabble community that grew up around the original Howes Cave entrance and the quarry.
Previously undocumented details taken from years of accumulated research have formed this compelling history, including such exciting recent developments as the sale of Howe Caverns and its rebirth as an adventure destination (Naked Cave Tour, anyone?), the reopening of the Howes Cave quarry, and the creation of a new, first-of-its-kind, museum dedicated to these underground empires.
"Cudmore has written a book not solely about the caves' history, but about all the history attached to the caves--the multitude of personalities and the cultural and economic tides that have swept across the Leatherstocking Country and its greatest natural wonders. ... Underground Empires is a rise, fall, rise, fall, and rise again story filled with colorful characters, high adventure, a little romance even, and some tantalizing mysteries." -- From the foreword by Robert and Johanna Titus
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dana Cudmore of Cobleskill is a retired communications professional who worked as a newspaper reporter and editor as well as a public relations director in the New York State university system. After running his own agency, Media Services, for a dozen years, he worked as an external affairs officer for a federal disaster response agency before retiring. Among other distinctions, he was a member of the original board of directors of the Cave House Museum of Mining and Geology, created in Howes Cave in 2003. Cudmore put himself through college working summers at Howe Caverns, where he developed an interest in its history and folklore. As a young man he explored many of the region's other, undeveloped caves, as well as caves in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. He writes of his first experiences as a young Howe Caverns tour guide: The 52? "other world" of the cave offered a bit of thrill, and I was fascinated by its mysterious dark passages--some unseen and unavailable to the public. I wanted to explore and to know all I could. Cudmore's fascination with caves and Schoharie County's Cave Country eventually led to his first book, The Remarkable Howe Caverns Story (1990), which was followed by Unearthing Howes Cave: A Community and a Quarry from 1842 On (2005).
240 PP. Hard bound. A true-life scientific adventure story, this thrilling book takes the reader deep into South African caves to discover fossil remains that compel a monumental reframing of the human family tree.
In the summer of 2022, Lee Berger lost 50 pounds in order to wriggle though impossibly small openings in the Rising Star cave complex in South Africa--spaces where his team has been unearthing the remains of Homo naledi, a proto-human likely to have coexisted with Homo sapiens some 250,000 years ago.
The lead researcher on the site, still Berger had never made his way into the dark, cramped, dangerous underground spaces where many of the naledi fossils had been found. Now he was ready to do so. Once inside the cave, Berger made shocking new discoveries that expand our understanding of this early hominid--discoveries that stand to alter our fundamental understanding of what makes us human. So what does it all mean?
Join Berger on the adventure of a lifetime as he explores the Rising Star cave system and begins the complicated process of explaining these extraordinary finds--finds that force a rethinking of human evolution, and discoveries that Berger calls "the Rosetta stone of the human mind."
World-famous since the mid-1800s, Howe’s Cave had been modernized for visitors in 1927-29 with an elevator entrance, clean paths, and electric lights. A grand reopening on Decoration Day, 1929 made Howe Caverns, Inc. one of upstate New York’s most popular tourist destinations.
Less than a year later, two of the new corporation’s employees died in the cave under baffling circumstances in the early morning hours of April 24, 1930. They collapsed near the postcard-worthy formation the Bell of Moscow.
At 5 a.m. that same morning, 7½ tons of dynamite knocked 60,000 tons of limestone from the hillside at the old cement quarry, just southeast of the cave. Had fumes from the blast found their way through the maze of caverns’ passages and killed the men more than a half-mile away? Or had it loosened dangerous gases lurking in the cave for eons?
This is the untold story of that tragedy: the rescue attempts, the investigation and coroner’s report, and finally, the legal recourse sought by the widows of the two men. Much of the story is told in vivid, first-hand accounts taken from court records of one of the cases. The testimony—by rescuers, cave experts, quarrymen, explosives engineers, doctors, and chemists under the dueling questioning of the widow’s attorney and his adversary —unravels the mystery of who was responsible and illuminates unfamiliar avenues of the dark, remarkable cave. How will the jury decide?
The Cave Electrician’s Widow:The Tragedy at Howe Caverns & Courtroom Battle for Justiceis part David vs. Goliath; part mystery, part courtroom drama, part travelogue through the fascinating underground realm of the caverns, and much more.
Includes more than 20 photos and maps to recreate for readers the entire tableau of the 1930 tragedy – both above and below ground.
2024. From Karst Waters Institute. By William B White, Daniel H Doctor and Srah K Carmichael. 38 pp.
INTRODUCING THE ULTIMATE FIELD GUIDE TO SPELEOTHEMS from the scientists of Karst Waters Institute.
Almost anyone who ever took a cave tour learned the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, but can you tell anthodites from helictites? Moon milk from pool fingers? Bacon from boxwork? Just as illustrated guides help visitors identify flora and fauna of the surface world, Speleothems: A guide to speleothem form and identification provides cave visitors with descriptions and images of over thirty types of natural mineral deposits found in caves. Written by the cave scientists William B. White, Daniel H. Doctor, and Sarah K. Carmichael, this new publication of Karst Waters Institute describes not only the appearance and names of various speleothems, but the chemical (and sometimes biological) processes that create them. It is perfect for your next cave visit. While commonly called "formations" on cave tours, the term "speleothem" was invented in 1952 to distinguish cave deposits from geological strata which are also called "formations." Readers will learn to classify a wide variety of speleothems by appearance, method of formation, and common geographic locations. Speleothems also provides sources for additional information as well as instruction on how to protect and preserve these rare and delicate cave features. Budding geologists and curious visitors alike will gain deeper understanding of the magnificent world below in this beautifully illustrated and informative handbook.
MEET THE AUTHORS
William B. White William B. "Will" White, a member of the KWI Board since the its formation, has published more than 400 papers on cave and karst research. He is a fellow of the AAAS, the Mineralogical Society of America, and the NSS and spent 40 years teaching geology on the Penn State faculty. Daniel H. Doctor Dan Doctor is a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey specializing in karst. His research interests include the hydrology and geochemistry of karst aquifers, assessment of sinkhole hazards, evolution of Appalachian karst landscapes, and paleoclimate records from karst areas. Sarah K. Carmichael Dr. Sarah Carmichael studies "tiny minerals that tell big stories" as a professor of Fluid-Rock Geochemistry and Biomineralogy at Appalachian State University. She became a National Geographic Explorer in 2018 and in 2022 was named one of the Explorers Club 50--fifty people changing the world.
Following a number of avoidable caving incidents, the NSS Vertical Training Commission ("VTC") was chartered, in 2021. VTC's curriculum is designed to help interested individuals obtain the appropriate and sufficient competencies, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills needed to be safe while vertical caving with single-rope techniques. These materials are used in conjuction with a training program that provides hands-on experience while being accessible, attainable, and understandable to a diverse range of cavers. Also available in convenient lay flat spiral bound format.
VTC is based on a train-the-trainers model. Students who master the curriculum may later attend a trainer course, designed to prepare competent and active cavers to safely teach others at the grotto level.
This is the first edition of the student materials for the Level 1 Curriculum, "Basic Vertical Techniques."
A tender and true poetry collection about a man’s life, family, and surroundings. A lifelong caver, John's book includes two caving related poems.
Cole’s autobiographical poetry collection captures the author’s life from childhood to old age.
In this book of poems written between 1985 and 2023, Cole revisits his childhood, youth, adulthood, and senior years. The poet’s journey is divided into seven non-chronological sections. In his youth, Cole recalls carefree “days of play in woods & fields” (“mrs. ramsey”) in his home state of Kentucky. He writes of his father, an abusive and alcoholic “highly imperfect patriarch” who taught Cole that “that you can destroy your life / all on your own / and die bitter and sad and abandoned” (“what my father taught me”). Relatives are at the center of “ghost story,” in which Cole evokes a grandmother, “cumbrous, phlegmatic, laconic / uneasy amazon in her faded cotton dress.” The author gingerly recounts holding his longtime partner after death: “I lifted you / light as corn silk / and carried you / to the body bag” (“reunion”).The “La Pasada” section features 11 Spanish-infused poems set in Mexico, where “riotous birdsong awakens me / just before dawn watercolors / the palm-fringed horizon” (“birds of tlacotalpan”).The final, titular poem mourns the fleeting nature of all things: “there’s your Forever / for as long as you live / and then it too / is gone.” Cole’s blank verse style makes for an easy, breezy read that novice and seasoned poetry readers alike will enjoy. Characters are fully formed and come alive in his descriptions; there’s Mrs. Ramsey, “a hobbled crone in her ragged shawl / bent upon her walking stick,”and the author’s former roommate, Jenny, “beautiful, but haunted / violent, volant / as only dandelions / in their stubborn generosity / diligently dare” (“Jenny”). At over 250 pages, the collection could have used some pruning; some readers may also have preferred a chronological ordering of the poems.
A tender and true poetry collection about a man’s life, family, and surroundings - Kirkus Review
When small-town farmer and spelunking enthusiast Floyd Collins became trapped in a southern Kentucky cave in early 1925, the sensationalism and hysteria of the rescue attempt generated America's first true media spectacle, making Collins's story one of the most prominent of the century. The crowds that gathered outside Sand Cave turned the rescue site into a carnival. Collins's plight was front-page news throughout the country, hourly bulletins interrupted radio programs, and Congress recessed to hear the latest word.
With a new foreword by Tina Landau, bookwriter and director of the musical Floyd Collins, as well as a new afterword by Roger W. Brucker, Trapped! is a tense adventure and a brilliant historical re-creation of the past--a tale as enthralling today as it was when the event took place over one hundred years ago.
Robert K. Murray (1922-2019) was professor of history at Pennsylvania State University for more than three decades as well as a senior fellow in the university's Institute for the Arts and Humanities. His work includes The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration, The 103rd Ballot: Democrats and the Disaster in Madison Square Garden, and the coauthored book Greatness in the White House: Rating the Presidents--From George Washington through Ronald Reagan.
Roger W. Brucker is a lifelong cave explorer and cofounder of the Cave Research Foundation. He is coauthor of several books, including The Longest Cave with Richard A. Watson, and is also author of Grand, Gloomy, and Peculiar: Stephen Bishop at Mammoth Cave and Mama Says, Don't Cave: Ergor's Unbelievable Cave Stories (under the pseudonym Ergor Rubric). 358 Pages, Trade Paperback.
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An eye-opening look at the 1925 news story of Kentuckian Floyd Collins, trapped in a cave near Cave City.... Both a fine historical investigative piece and a compelling read.
~Kentucky Monthly
The tension and confusion of the days of rescue attempts are made real.... The abysmally tragic efforts to capitalize on an exhibition of the cave explorer's body is not omitted.
~The Augusta Chronicle
Trapped! puts into context the importance of exploration and the role of media in accurately reporting on the accidents that can happen in original exploration.... [It] illustrates the spirit of one man's curiosity, resilience, and deep commitment to humankind's drive for expanded horizons.
~C. William Steele, international cave explorer and author of Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World's Deepest Caves
With nearly 1500 species, bats account for more than twenty percent of mammalian species. The most successful and most diverse group of mammals, bats come in different sizes, shapes, and colors, from the tiny bumblebee bat to the giant golden-crowned flying fox. Some bats eat fruit and nectar; others eat frogs, scorpions, or fish. Vampire bats feed on blood. Bats are the only mammals that can fly; their fingers have elongated through evolution to become wings with a unique, super-flexible skin membrane stretched between them. Their robust immune system is one of the reasons for their extreme longevity. A tiny bat can live for forty years.
Yossi Yovel, an ecologist and a neurobiologist, is passionate about deciphering the secrets of bats, including using AI to decipher their communication. In The Genius Bat, he brings to vivid life these amazing creatures as well as the obsessive and sometimes eccentric people who study them–bat scientists. From muddy rainforests to star-covered night deserts, from guest houses in Thailand to museum drawers full of fossils in New York, this is an eye-opening and entertaining account of a mighty mammal. 350 pp. Hardcover. 2025.
3rd Edition, Version 2.2, 2022. Edited by Anmar Mirza. Including information on safe caving, the underground environment, cave rescue equipment, litter rigging, psychological considerations, cave search, cave rescue management, flooding considerations, small party rescue, patient care and communications.
Out of print, USED BOOK. 1991. Edited by by Michael Ray Taylor. Published by Urs Widmer of Speleo Projects. A standard setting book and a classic in cave photography literature. Clean copy.
An historical and iconographic trip to the mythic Scottish cave that became a symbol of the Romanticism. With 145 objects from the collections of the "Franco Anelli" Speleological Documentation Centre - Bologna. 2021, 80 pp. 9 x 7 1/2 inches. English language edition.
Price: $25.00
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