Iditarod Dreams, by Lew Freedman and DeeDee Jonrowe
DeeDee Jonrowe loves dogs, and her consuming passion is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Winter and summer, virtually day and night (even in her dreams!), she and her huskies prepare for the annual race across Alaska. Iditarod Dreams is an absorbing, personal account of a year in the life of this remarkable woman living on the edge of the wilderness with her husband, Mike, and enough howling huskies to populate a small town. It is about the special bond between a woman and her dogs and about the astonishing measure of skill and stamina required to compete in the Iditarod.
“The Iditarod is Alaska’s answer to the lower 48 states’ Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby. This dogsled race lasts ten or 11 days and covers 1100 miles. In her first-person narrative, Jonrowe describes her year preparing for the racing season and living the sledder’s life. The book begins with the 1993 Iditarod, in which Jonrowe placed second, and ends with the 1994 race. The authors cover dog training, the raising of pups for future teams, other races such as the Alpinrod in Europe, and the politics of the Iditarod. Defending the race against animal rights groups’ objections that the race and racers are cruel to the dogs, Jonrowe talks about motivation, love for the land, and never giving up. The chapters are a bit choppy, but overall the book is very readable. Recommended for large sports collections.”
–Lisa J. Cochenet, Winfield P.L., Ill.
Lew Freedman (born 1951) is a sportswriter and former sports editor of the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska, and The Republic in Columbus, Indiana. He has worked on the staffs of the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Florida Times-Union, and has authored over six dozen books.
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