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Stories I've Heard, Characters I've Met, & Lies We've Told in My 44 Alaskan Years
Ask anyone traveling through his neck of the Alaskan Bush—Tom Brion of Bentalit Lodge is a natural-born storyteller. An Off the Grid lodge owner in Fish Lakes, Alaska, Tom enthralls roomfuls of guests every year from the Lower 48 and around the world with tales of his adventures, foibles, and SNAFUs in 44 years living in the Alaskan wilderness. From his start as a Pennsylvania farmboy who ran off to join the United States Air Force, to his arrival in Alaska with less than a hundred dollars in his wallet and a growing family in his back seat, to his forty years as a Bush pilot and his accidental introduction to the fishing lodge business, to his multiple brushes with death, hardship, and questionable characters, Tom Brion has a story to cover it all.
A pioneer in sustainable homesteading and off-the-Grid living, Tom Brion built his first lodge in Alaska on five acres in the Lake Creek area, in 1979, and continues to this day building and working heavy machinery 60 miles from any road. Born in 1941, Tom has collected 74 years of humorous, heart-wrenching, and sometimes mind-blowing stories of traveling, hunting, and exploring the backcountry of Alaska in the pilot’s seat of a Vietnam-era Cessna Birddog. A biography in the form of short life stories, Tom Brion’s memoir takes us to a rural Bush life where people live off the land, drill their own wells, put out their own forest fires, and depend on their neighbors to pick up their mail.
Surrounded by nature, Tom continues to fly, plow, run his bulldozer, and wrangle his subsistence fishwheel up the river every year in the Skwentna area of Alaska, where temperatures in winter drop to 45 below zero and summers can see entire months without rain. Follow him in this (mostly) nonfiction anthology of (somewhat) true stories from the Last Frontier as he gives the straight scoop about bears, outhouses, farming, flooding, fishing, moose, guns, and aviation in the 49th State.
An avid hunter, outdoorsman, fisherman, and jack of all trades, Tom documents his life with photos and illustrations that detail an epic adventure from start to finish.
A pioneer in sustainable homesteading and off-the-Grid living, Tom Brion built his first lodge in Alaska on five acres in the Lake Creek area, in 1979, and continues to this day building and working heavy machinery 60 miles from any road. Born in 1941, Tom has collected 74 years of humorous, heart-wrenching, and sometimes mind-blowing stories of traveling, hunting, and exploring the backcountry of Alaska in the pilot’s seat of a Vietnam-era Cessna Birddog. A biography in the form of short life stories, Tom Brion’s memoir takes us to a rural Bush life where people live off the land, drill their own wells, put out their own forest fires, and depend on their neighbors to pick up their mail.
Surrounded by nature, Tom continues to fly, plow, run his bulldozer, and wrangle his subsistence fishwheel up the river every year in the Skwentna area of Alaska, where temperatures in winter drop to 45 below zero and summers can see entire months without rain. Follow him in this (mostly) nonfiction anthology of (somewhat) true stories from the Last Frontier as he gives the straight scoop about bears, outhouses, farming, flooding, fishing, moose, guns, and aviation in the 49th State.
An avid hunter, outdoorsman, fisherman, and jack of all trades, Tom documents his life with photos and illustrations that detail an epic adventure from start to finish.
233 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 2, 2016
137 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 12, 2020
Interesting, but pretty self-promoting. Inside look at an Alaskan man and his family and the lodge they built in the bush.
October 14, 2020
Tom Brion of Bentalit Lodge is a natural-born storyteller. An Off the Grid lodge owner in Fish Lakes, Alaska, Tom enthralls roomfuls of guests every year from the Lower 48 and around the world with tales of his adventures, foibles, and SNAFUs in 44 years living in the Alaskan wilderness. From his start as a Pennsylvania farmboy who ran off to join the United States Air Force, to his arrival in Alaska with less than a hundred dollars in his wallet and a growing family in his back seat, to his forty years as a Bush pilot and his accidental introduction to the fishing lodge business, to his multiple brushes with death, hardship, and questionable characters, Tom Brion has a story to cover it all.
A pioneer in sustainable homesteading and off-the-Grid living, Tom Brion built his first lodge in Alaska on five acres in the Lake Creek area, in 1979, and continues to this day building and working heavy machinery 60 miles from any road. Born in 1941, Tom has collected 74 years of humorous, heart-wrenching, and sometimes mind-blowing stories of traveling, hunting, and exploring the backcountry of Alaska in the pilot’s seat of a Vietnam-era Cessna Birddog. A biography in the form of short life stories, Tom Brion’s memoir takes us to a rural Bush life where people live off the land, drill their own wells, put out their own forest fires, and depend on their neighbors to pick up their mail.
Surrounded by nature, Tom continues to fly, plow, run his bulldozer, and wrangle his subsistence fishwheel up the river every year in the Skwentna area of Alaska, where temperatures in winter drop to 45 below zero and summers can see entire months without rain. Follow him in this (mostly) nonfiction anthology of (somewhat) true stories from the Last Frontier as he gives the straight scoop about bears, outhouses, farming, flooding, fishing, moose, guns, and aviation in the 49th State.
A pioneer in sustainable homesteading and off-the-Grid living, Tom Brion built his first lodge in Alaska on five acres in the Lake Creek area, in 1979, and continues to this day building and working heavy machinery 60 miles from any road. Born in 1941, Tom has collected 74 years of humorous, heart-wrenching, and sometimes mind-blowing stories of traveling, hunting, and exploring the backcountry of Alaska in the pilot’s seat of a Vietnam-era Cessna Birddog. A biography in the form of short life stories, Tom Brion’s memoir takes us to a rural Bush life where people live off the land, drill their own wells, put out their own forest fires, and depend on their neighbors to pick up their mail.
Surrounded by nature, Tom continues to fly, plow, run his bulldozer, and wrangle his subsistence fishwheel up the river every year in the Skwentna area of Alaska, where temperatures in winter drop to 45 below zero and summers can see entire months without rain. Follow him in this (mostly) nonfiction anthology of (somewhat) true stories from the Last Frontier as he gives the straight scoop about bears, outhouses, farming, flooding, fishing, moose, guns, and aviation in the 49th State.
March 11, 2022
Likable fella who has delusions of grandeur
Every story starts with Tom fighting a world filled with incompetents, liars, Libtards or foreigners and ends with Tom falling into . . . not a pile of dung but clover instead. Or should I say ‘clever’, because Tom outsmarts them all. The man spins a good yarn, but by the end of the book I simply tire of his steadfast, oft repeated proposition that the Alaska Bush pilot is the apex creature roaming this planet and Tom and his buddies represent the tip of that spear.
Note: Tom’s granddaughters carry on his storytelling tradition at the end of the book; wonderful addition and well worth the slog required to get to the final chapter.
Every story starts with Tom fighting a world filled with incompetents, liars, Libtards or foreigners and ends with Tom falling into . . . not a pile of dung but clover instead. Or should I say ‘clever’, because Tom outsmarts them all. The man spins a good yarn, but by the end of the book I simply tire of his steadfast, oft repeated proposition that the Alaska Bush pilot is the apex creature roaming this planet and Tom and his buddies represent the tip of that spear.
Note: Tom’s granddaughters carry on his storytelling tradition at the end of the book; wonderful addition and well worth the slog required to get to the final chapter.
December 4, 2025
A great yarn
This is a good read. It was mentioned in one of Anne Moore's books on moving to Alaska. However, the kindly old racketball-playing man she describes doesn't quite fit in with these rip-roaring yarns. I'm sure her description was correct but the man in this book is much more. He has hundreds of hair-raising adventures and lived to tell the tale. The book romper along and much of yhe aeroplane-related information was slightly above my head despite of an interest in aeroplanes.
His good ol' boy persona slightly grated on me but he obviously is good, kind person once you've got over the shooting and fishing!
Much of this book is very amusing and I can recommend the read.
This is a good read. It was mentioned in one of Anne Moore's books on moving to Alaska. However, the kindly old racketball-playing man she describes doesn't quite fit in with these rip-roaring yarns. I'm sure her description was correct but the man in this book is much more. He has hundreds of hair-raising adventures and lived to tell the tale. The book romper along and much of yhe aeroplane-related information was slightly above my head despite of an interest in aeroplanes.
His good ol' boy persona slightly grated on me but he obviously is good, kind person once you've got over the shooting and fishing!
Much of this book is very amusing and I can recommend the read.
November 8, 2020
Great storytelling!
I've visited SE Alaska five or six times and have about 1000hours in Bird dogs in Vietnam. His stories about flying Bird dogs really struck home. Some of his stories about STOL flying with pilots who've never done that sort of flying remind me of my flying Hello lurkers for Special Forces on my return from Vietnam. They will fly @ 30 knots or cruise @ 140.Pilots who've never flown close to trees at slow speeds usually get really nervous the first time they do, specially if they are use to flying big planes.
His stories about the bush really match up well with stories I've heard from other Alaskans. Recommended!
I've visited SE Alaska five or six times and have about 1000hours in Bird dogs in Vietnam. His stories about flying Bird dogs really struck home. Some of his stories about STOL flying with pilots who've never done that sort of flying remind me of my flying Hello lurkers for Special Forces on my return from Vietnam. They will fly @ 30 knots or cruise @ 140.Pilots who've never flown close to trees at slow speeds usually get really nervous the first time they do, specially if they are use to flying big planes.
His stories about the bush really match up well with stories I've heard from other Alaskans. Recommended!
October 8, 2021
This book is a biography in the form of short stories. Most of them a few paragraphs long. Stories that maybe your grandfather would tell you as a child.
These stories caused me to laugh out loud, gasp in horror, or just go "yes, that is the way it is". But some of them were very cringe worthy. Cringe worthy in ways that the author should really have not included them in his book. The stories were way disjointed and meandered around way to much for me. I wanted to give this book 4-5 stars. I really did. But when I found myself skimming way to often and even wanting to skip some of the stories I decided that it was just ok.
These stories caused me to laugh out loud, gasp in horror, or just go "yes, that is the way it is". But some of them were very cringe worthy. Cringe worthy in ways that the author should really have not included them in his book. The stories were way disjointed and meandered around way to much for me. I wanted to give this book 4-5 stars. I really did. But when I found myself skimming way to often and even wanting to skip some of the stories I decided that it was just ok.
November 16, 2018
Great stuff.
I don't spend a lot of time reading so long drawn out books are useless. The stories are not too long that you lose interest in any way but long enough that it's described clearly and with plenty of detail.
I don't spend a lot of time reading so long drawn out books are useless. The stories are not too long that you lose interest in any way but long enough that it's described clearly and with plenty of detail.
January 26, 2022
Oh My God
Just read it. Seriously. You won’t be disappointed. I laughed so hard I didn’t breathe in yet from the last one. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. And believe me, I’ve read “a few.”
Just read it. Seriously. You won’t be disappointed. I laughed so hard I didn’t breathe in yet from the last one. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. And believe me, I’ve read “a few.”
April 25, 2022
Excellent neration of Alaska living !
Interesting reading of Alaska wild.Tom's narrative was so vivid that as if you are there with him ! Great job! L
Interesting reading of Alaska wild.Tom's narrative was so vivid that as if you are there with him ! Great job! L
April 27, 2022
Some language
May 30, 2022
Surviving Alaska
A great book based on the author's life and friends and associates while living in Alaska. Being a Bush Pilot brings a whole new meaning to flying.
A great book based on the author's life and friends and associates while living in Alaska. Being a Bush Pilot brings a whole new meaning to flying.
February 18, 2018
4.5/5.0
The book was full of really fun/funny stories about life in Alaska. Very entertaining. 0.5 points off for the comments about people of a political spectrum. While entertaining, it was distracting and misleading.
Don't want to spoil it, so keeping the review short.
The book was full of really fun/funny stories about life in Alaska. Very entertaining. 0.5 points off for the comments about people of a political spectrum. While entertaining, it was distracting and misleading.
Don't want to spoil it, so keeping the review short.
March 14, 2016
Enjoyable
Reminded me a lot of the stories my grandpa used to tell, only with snakes instead of bears or moose. This was Arkansas, with wagons and trucks and floods. I really enjoyed this book and the the great stories and maybe some tall tales. Lol. Great adventure and I'm not moving to Alaska after all, when I retire. I want some heat. Thanks you for sharing your stories and characters with us.
Reminded me a lot of the stories my grandpa used to tell, only with snakes instead of bears or moose. This was Arkansas, with wagons and trucks and floods. I really enjoyed this book and the the great stories and maybe some tall tales. Lol. Great adventure and I'm not moving to Alaska after all, when I retire. I want some heat. Thanks you for sharing your stories and characters with us.
September 28, 2016
A 'hard to put down' read
For those of us stuck down in the Lower 48, true tales of what it takes to exist (and prosper) in the wilds of Alaska (are there any 'tame' areas up there?) , especially so when shared by Tom Brion, are fascinating! Fortunately, by his hand well told.
Reader: be prepared to sit for a while......you won't be able to put it down.....and he will leave you wishing for more!
For those of us stuck down in the Lower 48, true tales of what it takes to exist (and prosper) in the wilds of Alaska (are there any 'tame' areas up there?) , especially so when shared by Tom Brion, are fascinating! Fortunately, by his hand well told.
Reader: be prepared to sit for a while......you won't be able to put it down.....and he will leave you wishing for more!
September 9, 2016
Alaskan Stories
Very funny stories about Alaskan life! Author is very good at telling about his years in the Alaskan wilderness and has a great sense of humor!
Very funny stories about Alaskan life! Author is very good at telling about his years in the Alaskan wilderness and has a great sense of humor!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews