Replace the busy streets of Southern California with the tranquillity of an Idaho cattle ranch, and you get T. Louise Freeman-Toole's first book, "Standing Up to the Rock."
Freeman-Toole recently returned from a three-week promotional tour of her book, which is set on the Snake River on the north edge of Hells Canyon.
The book is a biographical description of her experiences at a Hells Canyon cattle ranch, where she learned that her preconceived notions of ranch life were far from reality.
"It corrected my stereotype or simplistic view of rural people," said Freeman-Toole, a part-time administrative assistant at the University of Idaho College of Education, who also edits the Washington State University Press.
Freeman-Toole, who grew up in the sprawling Los Angeles area in the 1960s, became close friends with a woman of similar age who spent her entire childhood on a quiet cattle ranch. She and her son also spent much of their time fixing fences, rounding up cattle and hiking - activities that Freeman-Toole said gave them a different perspective on life than they were previously accustomed to.
It had a particular effect on Freeman-Toole, who has spent much of her adult life as an environmentalist with such organizations as the Palouse Audobon Society and the Palouse Preservation League.
Her attitude toward farmers and cattle ranchers changed in a number of ways, especially with how farmers preserve the land while trying to provide food and stability for their families.
"It's not like I've given up being an environmentalist," said Freeman-Toole, a freelance writer who's had several short essays published in various newspapers and magazines. "But I've seen the way these ranchers rotate their grazing (by moving cattle around a pasture), and the streams are in wonderful shape and they have trout."
The cover of "Standing Up to the Rock" is a copy of an oil-painting by Beth Rimmelspacher, who is from the Hells Canyon area. Rimmelspacher is a full-time artist who works out of her home studio in the Clarkston area. She said the cover is a perfect complement to Freeman-Toole's book, because it shows the actual location of the story, with boats in the water and realistic landscape features. Rimmelspacher read the un-edited version of "Standing Up to the Rock", and can't wait to get her hands on the final, published copy.
"Anybody who spent time in the canyon will definitely enjoy (the book)," Rimmelspacher said.
"It really flows together with her history growing up in L.A. and her time spent on the ranch."
"Standing Up to the Rock" currently is available at the Washington State University Bookie, the University of Idaho bookstore and BookPeople in Moscow.
