The Last Frontier: Incredible Tales of Survival, Exploration, and Adventure from Alaska Magazine

From Library Journal
Taken from the pages of Alaska Magazine and its predecessor, The Alaska Sportsman, these stories represent 67 years of work by Alaskan writers. The tales are as diverse as the writers themselves, ranging from a memoir piece by a nurse who managed a hospital in Barrow in 1921 to a present-day account of a bear-watching trip to Mount Katmai by mystery writer Dana Stabenow. One chapter recounts the exploits of the 97th Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, an all-black unit that helped build the Alaska Highway in 1942-43. Another tells the frightening tale of a man trapped beneath a capsized fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska. Selected for their clear depiction of Alaska, past and present, the 59 stories are accompanied by reproductions of Alaska Magazine covers dating from 1935 to 2002. A noteworthy addition to any travel collection owing to the unique nature and diversity of the material. Mary V. Welk, ChicagoCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
These 58 stories first saw publication in Alaska Magazine (or its predecessor, The Alaska Sportsman) between January 1935 (the first issue) and March 2002. These mostly first-person accounts tell of wolf packs in the wild; hunting for gold, walrus, salmon, moose, and bears; life among the Inuit; trapping foxes with the help of Eskimos; and the killing of grizzly bears by Koyukon Indians. Others discuss long summer nights where it never really gets dark, dance-hall girls, hiking trails, rock and snow avalanches, surviving an attack by mosquitoes, and an ascent of Denali by dogsled. Environmentalists may be upset by some tales in which the writers boast of killing animals, but the stories, overall, are pleasant reading. The book includes 16 pages of magazine cover illustrations. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Since 1935, Alaska magazine has charted the development of our biggest, most mysterious state. With compelling stories on such events as earthquakes, tidal waves, grizzly and polar bear attacks, the Russian influence, the Gold Rush, the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians during World War II, hunting and fishing, the lives of sourdoughs, village life, and much more, The Last Frontier truly captures the essence of our largest state. Other chapters include the tale of the Eskimo commercial pilot, flying villagers across the Arctic. Or the one about the young woman who conducted the 1940 census in the Interior by dog team. Or the story about the family who placed their automobile on a raft, hooked paddles to the axles, and steered their home-built paddle-wheeler down the Yukon River to the first road-whereupon they removed the car from the barge, and drove home to Nebraska. Other stories you won't want to miss in this book include: Don Sheldon's floatplane rescue of eight men from white water; the mystery of Klutuk, the beast of the tundra; how Julie Collins's sled dog saved her life; the trials and tribulations of a nurse running a hospital on the arctic coast in 1921; an Athabascan writer interviews her grandmother, a medicine woman; newsworthy events across the state and much, much more. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 352 pages)

From the Back Cover
Since 1935, Alaska magazine has charted the development of our biggest, most mysterious state. With compelling stories on such events as earthquakes, tidal waves, grizzly and polar bear attacks, the Russian influence, the Gold Rush, the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians during World War II, hunting and fishing, the lives of sourdoughs, village life, and much more, The Last Frontier truly captures the essence of our largest state. Other chapters include the tale of the Eskimo commercial pilot, flying villagers across the Arctic. Or the one about the young woman who conducted the 1940 census in the Interior by dog team. Or the story about the family who placed their automobile on a raft, hooked paddles to the axles, and steered their home-built paddle-wheeler down the Yukon River to the first road-whereupon they removed the car from the barge, and drove home to Nebraska. Other stories you won't want to miss in this book include: Don Sheldon's floatplane rescue of eight men from white water; the mystery of Klutuk, the beast of the tundra; how Julie Collins's sled dog saved her life; the trials and tribulations of a nurse running a hospital on the arctic coast in 1921; an Athabascan writer interviews her grandmother, a medicine woman; newsworthy events across the state and much, much more. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 352 pages)



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Taken from the pages of Alaska Magazine and its predecessor, The Alaska Sportsman, these stories represent 67 years of work by Alaskan writers. The tales are as diverse as the writers themselves, ranging from a memoir piece by a nurse who managed a hospital in Barrow in 1921 to a present-day account of a bear-watching trip to Mount Katmai by mystery writer Dana Stabenow. One chapter recounts the exploits of the 97th Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, an all-black unit that helped build the Alaska Highway in 1942-43. Another tells the frightening tale of a man trapped beneath a capsized fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska. Selected for their clear depiction of Alaska, past and present, the 59 stories are accompanied by reproductions of Alaska Magazine covers dating from 1935 to 2002. A noteworthy addition to any travel collection owing to the unique nature and diversity of the material. Mary V. Welk, Chicago Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.


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