I never met Abbey nor heard him in public. He was and is controversial on numerous subjects. One such subject was the migration, into the United States, of illegal aliens to supplement the domestic workforce, particularly from south of the border. Abbey wrote, published, and commented at some length, with some heat, and in blunt language, on the subject. You would think his position was fixed in stone.

And yet I wonder.
Although Abbey has passed away, I think about what I can learn of him, not just as a voice/writer, but as a person; there is an impressive amount of reminiscence about the kind of man he was, published and available. This is the impression I receive. I observe a soft-spoken, deep-voiced man, who listens as much, if not more than, he speaks, when out among people; not gregarious or extroverted, but somewhat wary and cautious. I speculate about how he would carry himself face to face with someone whose first language is Spanish and who comes from south of the border, or with any individual with personal ties to same. With the person, I reckon he would be considerate, would look them in the eye, and be civil; is this wishful thinking?

Because, I believe that way of carrying himself, his deportment with people out in the world, would speak for him as a man with respect, even sympathy, for his fellow person. Yes, it is easy to find pronouncements from Edward Abbey that are racist and hostile regarding illegal aliens from Mexico, direct statements in blunt language to that effect. This adds up to a person with strong, polarized beliefs and opinions about issues, who would make no secret of same, and who would not deny his racist stance if someone started a conversation about the immigration issue. So if, hypothetically, Edward Abbey had a person, or a bar booth sized group of persons, approach him and confront him about his published statements, he would stand right up, look them straight in the eye, and in a low steady voice confirm that he wrote those things and that he believed what he wrote.

I really question if this puts him in Donald Trump's company. I sincerely doubt if Edward Abbey would support Trump's proposal to build a wall protecting the U.S. from Mexico. And I believe that Abbey, were he here, would reject Trump's proposal and his candidacy in the plainest, most blunt language possible.

Now, here is a question that I cannot answer, and perhaps someone else can.

How do the vilified illegal aliens, along with those who defend them and their rights, view a person like Edward Abbey with his biased statements and his complex humanity? Do they accept Abbey, and individuals like him, the more readily because there is no pretense and no illusion about him, and because "what they see is what they get"?