3 comments about National Geographic Destinations, Treasures of Alaska: The Last Great American Wilderness (NG Destinations).

1. I recently graduated college, and this was given to me as a gift. Previous to receiving it as a gift, a friend had the same magazine, and I enjoyed looking at it. I have the opportunity to say that I live in the one of the most beautiful places on earth, Alaska. I have lived here for 9 years and I have done and seen a lot of Alaska. But reading the magazine articles and looking at the beautiful photographs made me realize that there is so much more of Alaska that I have not seen, and that I am dying to get to see. I have see and read lots of book on Alaska, but up until this one, none of them done Alaska justice. Everytime family or friends come over and we start to talk about what we are going to do this summer, I pull out this magazine.



2. Alaska represents 20% of the land area of the United States, yet its entire population is less than that of most major cities in the "lower 48" and huge swaths of the state aren't on any road system. Animal species in short supply elsewhere roam freely in Alaska. Wildness is here in abundance. This National Geographic special magazine captures that wildness with a collection of its usual superb photography wrapped around a short narrative capturing selected vignettes of the state.
   
   In Alaska, it is still possible to experience a variety of dramatic natural landscapes and wildlife in isolation. This magazine is highly recommended as a preview for those who seek that experience.



3. I picked this book/magazine up on my second trip to Alaska. Although my travels have been business driven, I have built in free time with both trips to experience some of the slendor and solitude described in Treasures of Alaska. I knew my two visits had not demonstrated all that is Alaska, but after reading this it became evident that they did not comprise even the full tip of the iceberg. While reading on my departure flight and looking out the airplane window to the wilderness below I felt the urge to demand they turn the plane around.
   
   I think this book/magazine deserves inclusion as one of the Treasures of Alaska.

5 comments about The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship and Discovery in the Alaskan Wild.

1. An amazing story coupled with great writing makes for a great read. I've traveled to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest three times and have never read a book that does a better job of summing up the power and beauty of the region. Lynn Schooler adds such personal touches that I feel I was there with him and Michio. His feelings about nature, glaciers, and the grand scheme of life and death remind me of the book 'Freedom is the Highest Good' by Tim Hammell



2. 
   I had this book recommended to me by a friend who has a deep interest in bears ,has travelled widely and seen and watched many up close in their natural habitat;including in Alaska.She has shown me photos of standing only a few feet from wild Grizzly bears.I could hardly believe it, when she told me how approachable they were for experts and the pictures convinced me.Not to say, that I wouldn't keep my distance and give them utmost respect.When she told me this was an excellent book,and that I would enjoy it,I knew I was in for a great read.In other words,since it impressed her so much,it was sure to be good.
   I read a lot of "Nature" books and spend an awful lot of time outdoors birding and am very familiar with the enjoyment and spirituality one gets from that wonderous combination of people,animals, landscape,sounds and silence,weather and atmosphere,and all that is encompassed when one partakes in a relationship with nature.
   The excitement one gets when finding something new or just observing something seen before, is undescribable; but Schooler does as good a job of it as any nature writer that I have come across.He writes from the soul and great love he gets from living.Yes,this book is about the Blue Bear,Alaska and his friend and soulmate Michio,along with many other things,but what he really is writing about is the great enjoyment life is if one really learns to appreciate it.From this book you should learn that it is not only in Alaska that such enjoyment can be found.It is in the desert looking at sunsets,cactii and Roadrunners,in the forest searching out a Barred Owl,on the ocean watching a Tropicbird,sitting at a campsite when a Moose appears,or watching and trying to identify up to 20 different species of Gulls around Niagara Falls in the winter when it is wet windy and bitterly cold;or any of the millions of things the Creator has provided.
   I'd like to quote a few things that demonstrate the excellence of the author's writing skills:
   "Everything always gets what it needs."
   "Home is not always a door at the end of a sidewalk.
   Sometimes it is a broader place that holds the shape of the
   sky,the water we drink,and the food that becomes the minerals
   of our bones,Sometimes it is the sum of our experiences and
   memories,and sometimes it is wherever we happen to be-if
   we are with the right companion."
   "As a photographer,,"Michio taught me how to 'look' with
   my eyes-- but as a friend,how to 'see' with my heart."
   An excellent read for anyone who enjoys life,and a great eyeopener for anyone who thinks life is boring.



3. "The Blue Bear" by Lynn Schooler is a story of friends, of nature in all its raw and open forms, and of the possibilities of healing. The subject of this book -- just as photographer Michio Hoshino is quoted as saying about a Japanese documentary on him -- is actually Alaska itself. I enjoyed reading of the various journeys, both emotional and physical, that the author makes in his life, with the splendor of Alaska always providing a visual backdrop to the twists and turns in the plot.
   
   It was good that the author chose a more humble approach to his narrative as opposed to, for example, arrogantly listing all his conquests of the natural world, as we see in much of nature-related writings these days.
   
   I have to say, though, that after getting to know Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino better through the pages of this book, it was a bit difficult getting through the chapter in which he is literally taken away us. Of course, here in Japan, Hoshino is still considered something of a legend and his work lives on. Still, it was nice to be able to go behind the legend of a great photographer and human being, through such a gifted storyteller as author Schooler. A warm but tragic story that will leave you feeling much fuller inside than before.



4. I have been reading a lot of non-fiction Northern Frontier/Alaskan books and this was one of the better ones. A great read about a new friendship developing over something that was so rare and elusive. And yet such a sad and tragic end... Highly recommended. It's more about friendship than just that blue bear...



5. This book was probably the best book I have read in a long long time. It takes a LOT for me to say "I couldn't put it down" but I COULDN'T!!! It was written so well and so compellingly interesting, it was over before I knew it, and I wanted more. I do hope that Lynn Schooler writes again about ANYTHING ALASKA. A terrific find.

4 comments about Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska--Including Extensive Hitherto Unpublished Passages from the Original Journal.

1. I found this book to be very informative about the land and extream weather of Alaska but it ran a little dry quickly. This is a journal of around 9 months of Rockwell kents life while in Alaska. I have read other books that were written from journals and Kents does fair better then most. I can understand that a journal in Alsaka can run out of new and interesting things to write about and this book seemed to try to fill in the gaps with Kents thoughts and many philosophies. All in all I do recomend this book to anyone who really want a real veiw of what Alaska is actually like.



2. Of the many wilderness adventures that flood our view on the television or in movies, with dramatic, life-risking events, we can become weary of the slick presentations. Rockwell Kent tells of us of another type of adventure, the day to day living on remote Fox Island off Seward, in Alaska. The small pleasures, the difficult trips in an open boat to get supplies, the child's sweetness in his friendship with a magpie, all these and more stories are told in a daily journal. And illustrated as Kent always does, with insight and style. Kent as a writer is equal to Kent as an artist, intellectual and candid in his telling a story and sharing impressions. If this is your first reading of a Kent book, you have a long list of other books ahead for this was his first book done as a "first person" storyteller. His desire for remote and wild landscapes to paint took him, and then takes us, through his work, to many other places over many decades. But none are any more delightful and majestic than this trip to Alaska. To check out the validity of this remote place, I took a trip to Fox Island several years ago, and though I didn't see it in the winter as Rockwell and his son did, it was dramatic, beautiful and matched the feeling I'd gotten when I first read the book years ago. The nice touch of this edition is that the editor, Doug Capra, has a very fine introduction to the book and Capra knows his subject. He has been researching Kent for years, but more than that, he has something to say and says it well. Few Kent editors do. But the book--it makes a wonderful Christmas gift because it has a really fine description of what a meaningful Christmas celebration can be in a remote place, shared with a hermit on the island, the father and little boy. There are some delightful details in this story: the food taken for the trip; the books for father and son; the rigerous baths when the bay freezes and the ice cold waters no longer are available. Kent is no ordinary artist, writer or father. And this is no ordinary adventure. It makes you wish, even yearn, for that place, that time, those people. I knew Rockwell Kent in the final few years of his life and he still carried that energtic view of life, that love of beauty and nature that comes alive in this small work. And three cheers to Doug Capra for bringing this new edition to life for it is of the quality for which Kent was famous in his published books. (A wretched edition of this treasure of a story was published a few years before and this edition puts to rest a Kent lover's dispair about having a bad edition of a Kent work on the shelves, any shelves. I almost never throw books away but this earlier paperback with bad design from cover to cover merits polluting a garbage pail.) So, invest in some good reading, some laughs and some wistful thoughts about what a wilderness adventure could be. And for those who have courage, still can be.



3. You can pick this book off your library shelf any time, open it to any page, start at any paragraph and begin to feel a mantle of peace settle over your jangled nerves. "Wilderness" is the record of artist Rockwell Kent and his 9-year-old son spending a winter in Alaska on Fox Island in Resurrection Bay, near Seward, with only one elderly Swede as a neighbor. This "journal of quiet adventure" nonetheless is exciting in the relationships between father and son and old Olson and between the Kents and the harsh winter weather. Beautifuly and profusely illustrated by Rockwell and Rockwell, Jr.



4. Unlike the true frontiersmen (ie; Dick Proenneke, One Man's WIlderness or James Huntington, On The Edge of Nowhere), this man is a typical anti-establishment artist who escaped to the outdoors in search of himself. His work reveals his own state of depression. It would be interesting to know what became of his son.

2 comments about Adventure Guide Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska (Adventure Guide to the Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska) (Adventure Guide to the Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska).

1. I got a copy from the library, read it then went to amazon to order it. That says it all. We head to Alaska next year.



2. This book is oriented toward people who are doing the Inside Passage by ferry rather than cruise ship. Throughout the book there is constant snottiness toward cruises.
   
   I went by cruise ship and still found the book worth the price. If you are taking ferry boats, then this is the book to buy.
   
   The author does grudgingly admit that cruising is economical. Yes. I got 7 nights lodging, all the gourmet food I could eat, transportation to four cities, and an excursion to Hubbard Glacier for $1000. If my companion had had a more flexible schedule, I could have done it for $700. I.e., $100/day. Pretty hard to do better than that.

1 comments about Insiders' Guide to Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska: Including the Kenai Peninsula, Prince William Sound, and Denali National Park (Insiders' Guide Series).

1. I was very disappointed when I received this book. It has a beautiful cover, and I was expecting some photos of the area. There are none. In reality, it is a very small paperback with thin paper and not enough substance. In addition, the book is sort of a tourist guide to where to eat, where to stay. I was hoping for more content.

3 comments about Cheating Death: Amazing Survival Stories from Alaska.

1. This isn't a bad book, but there are better ones of this genre. Some of the stories are quite interesting; others, less so. Some could use more detail, more background research. According to the book, the author has taken up writing full time. You could have fooled me. This book appears to be written as a hobby, by someone who has occupational interests other than writing. But, some of the book is well documented, and overall the book is OK.



2. This book is full of excellent stories of survival in the vast and varied wilderness of Alaska. What I enjoyed most about these stories was the sense of ordinary people up against the extraordinary forces of nature and circumstance. There's a personal flavor to some of the chapters. Almost as if you're hearing your neighbor telling a story about his cousin up in Petersburg. Is this the best written book in the world? No, but the true stories are pretty good.



3. In Cheating Death, Larry Kaniut offers a series of short, unconnected tales of potentially deadly accidents whose victims walk away, if not unscathed, at least alive to tempt death again some day. Most of the accidents deal with the "normal" string of minor disasters that those who have lived in Alaska are pretty used to: small airplane crashes, small boat sinkings, small raft flippings, and encounters with not-so-small blizzards and bears. Most of these situations sound like the inventions of uninspired adventure writers except to those who have indeed lived for a time in the state that calls itself The Last Frontier, for we know that such adventures are indeed real life.

   Kaniut's book is an eclectic collection of such adventures as might appear in glossy magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Shooter, and other such publications whose stories usually involve a vicarious injection of testosterone into the reader. In fact, it's usually an overload of testosterone that gets the victims into their scrapes to begin with: "Gee, there's a wide, fast-flowing, silt-filled river full of boulders. Let's see if I can conquer it in my noisy, polluting, totally unnecessary jet boat!" "Oh, look! There's a huge, ancient, majestic grizzly boar. Let's see if I can kill it with my very expensive sport rifle." The one thing that ties almost all of Kaniut's victims together is their chest-pounding bravado and their insistence on being where they shouldn't when they shouldn't-but that, too, tends to be real life in Alaska, as does the religious fanaticism that a few of the victims display ad nauseam.

   Don't approach this little anthology looking for universal themes, character development, artfully interwoven plots and subplots, inspiring figures of speech (except maybe hyperbole) or anything at all of a memorable nature. However, if one is in need of some great outhouse reading material or wants to kill a few hours on the airliner between Anchorage and Seattle, Kaniut's collection of survival tales is the ticket! Knowing Alaska and its denizens, I have to admit that most of these wild tales may even have happened very much as they are told-with the exception of the giant octopus. That one I'm not buying (even if it does make a great read).

3 comments about The Alaska Highway: An Insider's Guide.

1. "The Alaskan Highway: An Insiders Guide" Is the most complete book that covers what to take , how to take it, where to stop, what to see, and over all how to survive the sometimes hazardous highway......I know it is what I used to start my journey to Eagle River, Alaska......I'll never forget the experience......I recommend this book and the Journey to anyone who needs a new out look on life; because the book will pave the path to the journey that will surely change your life!!!!! It did mine



2. Mr. Dalby has captured the spirit and reality of this "dream" trip. His advice, observations, and anecdotes are worth the purchase of this book, even if you don't plan to travel the Alaska Highway. His descriptions are great and the common sense approach is refreshing. We plan to take this trip in the summer of '99. Once we read the book, we were convinced that this trip was for us.



3. The scale of the map between pages xii and 1 can either be 0 - 160 miles or 0 -100 km. It cannot be both since 1 statute mile is appr. 1.6 km. Consequently, it should be 0 - 100 miles (0 - ~160 km) or 0 - 100 km (0 - ~60 miles). Which is it? Thank you.

2 comments about National Geographic Guide to the National Parks: Alaska (NG Guide to the National Parks).

1. This is a typically well designed and beautifully illustrated book from the National Geographic Society. It is great to flip through and grabs your attention. Note though, this is not really a guide to just the National Parks of Alaska. It is more a guide to all the wild areas and tourist sites of Alaska as they relate to the eight National Parks in the state.
   
   For example, of the 42 pages dedicated to Denali National Park, 12 were about the park itself (of which 3 were full page illustrations) 30 pages of the chapter were dedicated to "Exursions from the National Park." This included everything from briefly describing Fairbanks and Talkeetna to a description of the Yukon-Charley Preserve on the Canandian border.
   
   It is a great book, and well worth it for someone looking for a reference to put together an multi-day itinerary based around one of the parks, but if you are looking for more in-depth information about a certain park, you may want to pick up a different reference. On the other hand, if you love nature, Alaska and beautiful photos, this might be a book for you.



2. Fabulous book!!. It contains all the areas we are going on our upcoming trip to Alaska & more. I didn't realize that when I got this book. It has all we could ask for & so much more. You cannot go wrong with NG!

No comments about Moon Alaska (Moon Handbooks).

1 comments about Compass American Guides: Alaska's Inside Passage, 1st Edition (Compass American Guides).

1. The author describes numerous useful aspects of the cultural and historical attractions of areas along the Inside Passage. My only complaint is that I would like to see more maps with greater detail.