Show BOOKS iferOuRnbna Fame and heroism are perishable commodities and the names of Kit Carson and John C Frfmoni don’t resonate in popular history as they did a century and a half ago Yet both were remarkable perand sonages David Roberts has written a remarkable book about diem tided -- A C Newer World: Kit Carton John Frdmont and the Claiming of tho American Watt (Simon & Schuster $25) Canon who served bril liantly as Frfmont’s scout during explorations of the Rocky Mountains made his reputation as an Indian fighter Yet the author depicts him as a shrewd but compassionate guide who gradually became aware of the injustices visited on Native Americans and did what be could to redress them ftfmont was to become the first-ev- - Vvii'"1 “"r ' 2 V-'-'- 'i ' V - i' Want a homemade meal but only teye a pinch of time? er Republican candidate farthe Presidency in 1856 He lost to James Buchanan clearing the way four yean later for a much stronger candidate Abraham Lincoln However it's not as a politician but as a pioneer— who became known as die “Pathfinder of the West— that he lives in this book Although Frfmont could be vain and boastful he was an explorer of tremendous courage and persistence who survived a harrowing attempt to cross die San Juan Mountain Range in of 1848 Roberts’ account of the doomed expedition which ended in cannibalism is a classic of graphic disaster description But even more important is the fine sense of balance lie maintains between mythology and modern-da- y snow-cover- ed er 19th-centu- ry perspectives as he recreates die great era of Western exploration Mason MMAIMB MMCN tt SOOO Mfli W lit IIQVI 1' v |