Canada's Forgotten Arctic Hero: George Rice and the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition 1881-1884

by Jim Lotz

This is the terrific true adventure of an unjustly forgotten Cape Bretoner, Canada's first photographer of the High Arctic. George Rice emerged as a leader on an American Arctic expedition and died a hero
searching for food for his starving comrades. This gripping and painful story is told through George Rice's previously unpublished diaries. Packed with humour, pathos, and magnificent description, this book is a powerful historic and literary event, masterfully presented by Jim Lotz who, seventy-five years later on Operation Hazen, served in the footsteps of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition.

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

After fulfilling his national service in the Royal Air Force, Jim Lotz graduated from Manchester University in 1952 and worked for a British trading company in Nigeria. In Kano, during a riot, he rescued a man from a mob and received an award for bravery. He emigrated to Canada in 1954 and enrolled at McGill University where he received his Master of Science and landed a summer job at Mcill's Subarctic Research Laboratory in Knob Lake, Quebec. He spent five summers as a meteorological and glaciological observer and wrote about it years later in The Best Journey in the World.

In 1959 he met Pat Wicks, they married and had two daughters.

In 1964 Jim enrolled in the PhD program in geography at the University of British Columbia but left after a year and took a position as assistant director of the Canadian Research Centre for Anthropology at St. Paul's University.

In 1973 he and his wife moved to Halifax where they spent the rest of their lives. Hale and irrepressible to the last, he welcomed visitors, seated in his favorite chair below a scene of Dawson in winter and surrounded by books.

Reviews

[Esther]

The editor of Breton Books presented me with a copy of this book when she learned I was headed into the Arctic. What a good read for crossing the Labrador Sea! One could only imagine what hardships those explorers endured two centuries ago, trying to survive three years in this harsh environment. George Rice, a photographer, emerged as a leader in their struggle.