Posts Tagged ‘Nature’
Villagers, 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 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 MoreHooked! by Leslie Layland Fields
The rousing sea stories are all here: The dramas of near-death battles, the sickening tragedy of lovers and friends lost to the waters – but this is not the whole story. Hooked! (172 pages) represents an extraordinary holistic view of Alaskan fishing: Not just the dying, but the living; not just the obsessive doing of…
Read MoreBering Sea Blues, by Joe Upton
This a gripping memoir of a winter season of crab-fishing in the Bering Sea, filled with scary moments, killer ice, dangerous work, and-for the lucky ones-financial rewards. For others, survival was their reward. Just 25, Joe Upton was the youngest guy aboard when the 104-foot Flood Tide pulled out of Seattle in March 1971 headed…
Read MoreIn Search of the Kuskokwim, by Stephen Spurr
The United States knew relatively little about Alaska prior to the turn of the century when the Klondike Gold Rush was about to attract thousands of stampeders north, many of them spilling over into Alaska as more gold was discovered on the Yukon River and her tributaries. The government had few reliable maps of the…
Read MoreThe Fishes & Dishes Cookbook, by Kiyo Marsh, Tomi Marsh, and Laura Cooper
Some of the most dangerous work in the world takes place in the grounds of Alaska, where crews must deal with gale-force winds, towering seas, long hours, and… Baked Salmon Wellington? A generation ago, the women featured in this book might have been celebrated as pioneers. In today’s world, they are simply living their dreams…
Read MoreYukon Quest, by Lew Freedman
Over beer and hamburgers at the Two Rivers Lodge near Fairbanks, Alaska, a small group of mushers conceived a gutsy idea for a new sled dog race that would be more challenging than any other marathon race in the Far North. In 1984, mushers organized the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks and…
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