Richard Gunderson

Richard Gunderson is a logger who works for the Sanderson company. He followed the same line of work as his father who “died in the woods” during a logging accident (54). At the beginning of the narrative, he decides to take out a loan to purchase a track of land, 24-7 Ridge, that his father had dreamed of owning. While he had worked for Sanderson his entire life, he wants to start his own logging operation to earn more money and support his family. He does not tell Colleen about the purchase because he knows she will be crushed that he used the money they set aside for a new baby, had Colleen carried her pregnancy to term, on the 24-7 Ridge. After she miscarried, Rich did not know how to console his wife. He felt helpless to soothe her grief and resolved to not get her pregnant...