Posts by Epicenter Press
Alaska’s Artist Jon Van Zyle, by Jon Van Zyle
As a youth, Jon remembers his artistic mother encouraging him and his twin brother to express their creativity. It worked. Both Jon and his twin brother are professional artists: Jon in Alaska and his brother in Hawaii. His love of the outdoors lured Jon to Alaska and the entire 49th State has become his inspiration. …
Read MoreVillagers, by Claire Fejes
The Natives of Alaska, the Athabaskan Indians, are facing a momentous crisis. Their traditional way of life is being threatened with extinction by the culture of the white man. What changes have been wrought in the lifestyle of the Indians? How are they meeting the challenge to their heritage? In Villagers (224 pages), Claire Fejes–a resident…
Read MoreSled Dog Wisdom, by Tricia Brown
Mushers love to share stories of the rare relationships they have with their sled dogs, whether they’re in the dog lot, out training, or competing in sprint, mid-distance, or thousand-mile races. As mushers learn time and again, the heart of a sled dog is filled with loyalty, determination, and full dose of quirkiness. This newly…
Read MoreCold Starry Night, by Claire Fejes
Young Claire Fejes was a promising sculptor and painter in New York City in 1946, when her husband gave in to “gold fever”. She held the unconventional view that her career was as important as his. But in those days, a woman followed her husband, so Claire did – to Fairbanks, last stop on the…
Read MoreDead Man’s Dancer, by Tom Brennan
Mechele is young, attractive, and looking to cash in on her aesthetic assets when she moves from New Orleans to Alaska in 1994 to earn money for college tuition. Her charms ensnare the affections of three men, and the combined effects of jealously, lust, and greed take a deadly turn in this true crime story.…
Read MoreDreaming Bears, by J. Michael Holloway
Dreaming Bears (208 pages) is the true story of the rare friendship that develops between a young medical student with deep roots in the South and an elderly Indian couple in the wilds of northeast Alaska. In 1961, Mike Holloway, his brother Ted, and a college friend set out from South Carolina to spend the…
Read MoreBad Friday, by Lew Freedman
On March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake lasting more than five minutes rocked south central Alaska, leveling waterfronts, collapsing bridges, and crumbling landscapes. Bad Friday (265 pages) relives the most powerful quake in North American history, and the ensuing tidal waves that left homes broken, children orphaned, and infrastructure decimated. Yet, from within the…
Read MoreThe Tlingit Indians, by Aurel Krause
In 1881, two German geographers were on their way to the continental United States from the Bering Sea Coast when they came upon a Native population in southeast Alaska that had formed a society far more complex than those of most other North American tribes. Upon return to Germany, Aurel Krause published “The Tlingit Indians.”…
Read MoreMidnight Sun, Arctic Moon, by Mary Albanese
Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon (216 pages) follows a young upstate New York woman who begins the adventure of a life-time as she moves away from her safe and conventional path. She is unable to resist the excitement and challenge of a chance to become a geological explorer in Alaska, where she maps remote wilderness areas…
Read MoreCold River Spirits, by Jan Harper-Haines
Cold River Spirits (192 pages) is a wryly humorous and inspirational story about a proud Alaska Native family struggling to survive in two worlds. Sam and Louise Harper and their ten children make a soul-grinding transition into a modern white-dominated society where they face bigotry, poverty, and illness. Yet, Louise, the Athabascan matriarch, remains in…
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