An Intimate Wilderness

Arctic researcher, author, and photographer Norman Hallendy’s journey to the far north began in 1958, when many Inuit, who traditionally lived on the land, were moving to permanent settlements created by the Canadian government. In this unique memoir, Hallendy writes of his adventures, experiences with strange Arctic phenomena, encounters with wildlife, and deep friendships with Inuit elders. Very few have worked so closely with the Inuit to document their traditions, and, in this book, Hallendy preserves their voices and paints an incomparable portrait of a vibrant culture in a remote landscape.

In the Wilderness is an intimate look into the rich inner life of an odd-man-out comics creator. In a series of wryly funny autobiographical vignettes, Casanova Frankenstein endures schoolyard bullies, fumbles through ill-fated romances, and grapples with the anxieties of being a black weirdo.

The stirring memoir of one man's harrowing solo adventure in the Alaskan wilderness, and his discoveries about the home he leaves behind. 'This is the best wilderness narrative I've read for a long time. The tension between nature at its most exquisite and most lethal makes this the story of our times. A remarkable book' Nicholas Crane, TV presenter and author of Coast In the spring of 2007, hard on the heels of the worst winter in the history of Juneau, Alaska, Lynn Schooler finds himself facing the far side of middle age and exhausted by labouring to handcraft a home as his marriage slips away. Seeking solace and escape in nature, he sets out on a solo journey into the Alaskan wilderness, travelling first by small boat across the formidable Gulf of Alaska, then on foot along one of the wildest coastlines in North America. Walking Home is filled with stunning observations of the natural world, and rife with nail-biting adventure as Schooler fords swollen rivers and eludes aggressive grizzlies. But more important, it is a story about finding wholeness-and a sense of humanity-in the wild. His is a solitary journey, but Schooler is never alone; human stories people the landscape-tales of trappers, explorers, marooned sailors, and hermits, as well as the mythology of the region's Tlingit Indians. Alone in the middle of several thousand square miles of wilderness, Schooler conjures the souls of travellers past to learn how the trials of life may be better borne with the help and community of others. In Walking Home Schooler creates a conversation between the human and the natural, the past and present, and investigates, with elegance and soul, what it means to be a part of the flow of human history.

"Alden Jones began a deep dive into Cheryl Strayed's Wild to answer a question: How did Cheryl Strayed take material that is not inherently dramatic?hiking?and transform it into an inspirational memoir, beloved to so many? The answer would be revealed in Jones's craft analysis, and ultimately in Jones's memoir of her own time in the wilderness, written alongside her exploration of Wild. But when a sudden personal crisis occurs in the middle of writing the book, Jones realizes that an authentic account of her history requires confronting some difficult truths, both in her life and on the page. The result is a profoundly original work that merges literary criticism, craft discussion, and memoir?a celebration of Wild, of memoir, and of the power of a book to change one's life."--Amazon.com.

Melissa Walker set out on a journey that many women of her generation have mapped only in their dreams. Like many American chroniclers before her who have surrendered to the aimless pleasures of the road, Walker had no geographical destination in mind, but she did have two definite goals—one personal, one political—for her journey. She was looking for the peace and solitude of the backcountry, certainly, but she also wanted to learn the dynamics of preserving wild places and to devote herself to that cause. In the Sky Islands of southern Arizona, on the banks of the Popo Agie River and the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, and Olympic National Park, in Gila and Glacier Peak Wilderness, she encountered the hazards of wild animals and extreme weather, and she began to reassess what parts of her life she could control. Living on Wilderness Time is a book for those who have visited wild places and want to return, and for others whose overcommitted urban lives make them long for land where time is measured differently and human beings are scarce. Above all it is a call to join those who, like Aldo Leopold, see wilderness as vital to the human community. Melissa Walker is vice president of National Wilderness Watch, chair of the Georgia chapter of Wilderness Watch, serves on the Southern Appalachian Council of the Wilderness Society, and is the author of Reading the Environment and Down from the Mountaintop. She has been Professor of English at the University of New Orleans and Mercer University and a fellow of Women’s Studies at Emory University. Walker lives with her husband in Atlanta, Georgia.

CLICK HERE to download the first 40 pages of Midnight Wilderness * Presents the original foreword by Margaret E. Murie * Features a new afterword by the author, providing context for the Refuge today * Includes a new map and an updated bibliography Originally published more than twenty years ago, Midnight Wilderness is a passionate and vivid account of one of Alaska's greatest natural treasures, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Author Debbie Miller draws on her years of exploring this unique, magical, and expansive territory, weaving chilling adventure, personal anecdote, wildlife observation, and Native American life into a beautiful and compelling memoir of place. Proceeds from sales of this book will benefit the Alaska Wilderness League in its ongoing efforts to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.