Jim Rearden's Alaska: Fifty Years of Frontier Adventure

by Jim Rearden

For half a century, Jim Rearden has fulfilled a dream-traveling throughout the Far North in search of interesting people, places, and events and writing about them. In Jim Rearden's Alaska , this longtime former outdoors editor for Alaska magazine has combined twenty-two previously published pieces into a single collection. Articles are interspersed with fresh personal insights into a changing Alaska and are illustrated by many of the black-and-white photographs that appeared with the original articles. Rearden shares his favorite stories of early sourdoughs who challenged Alaska's wilderness in the 1920s and '30s; of encounters with wolves, wolverines, and huge brown bears; of the Alaska Scouts who played a key role in the brutal Aleutian Campaign of World War II; of lighthearted and hair-raising adventures of Alaska's early bush pilots; of narrow escapes from death on Mount McKinley and in the Gulf of Alaska; and of a humorous look at Hollywood's attempt to make a "genuine Alaskan" film. "These articles represent my ideal Alaska," Rearden says.

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[John Randolph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was read slowly between other books. It's a collection of magazine articles and short stories collected for 50 years of interviewing interesting characters throughout the great state of Alaska. Anyone who appreciates stories of survival and living off the land will get something out of these stories.

[Natalie Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating stories from the Alaska wilderness! You’ll glean tidbits of history, inspiration from harrowing stories of survival, and an appreciation for the wildlife and beauty of the vast and varied land of Alaska.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent book, but he is moslty just writing down what other perople told him, so not so much a writer as a transcriber, but great stories!