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Captain Mac: The Life of Donald Baxter MacMillan, Arctic Explorer
Winner of the 2010 National Outdoor Book Award for Children's Literature
From 1908 until 1954, Donald Baxter MacMillan spent nearly 50 years exploring the Arcticlonger than anyone else. Growing up near the ocean, and orphaned by 12, MacMillan forged an adventurous life. Mary Morton Cowan focuses on the vital role MacMillan played in Robert Peary's 1908 09 North Pole Expedition, as well as his relationships with explorers Peary, Matthew Henson, and Richard Byrd. She follows his long and distinguished career, including daring adventures, contributions to environmental science and to the cultural understanding of eastern Arctic natives. Working closely with the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College, Cowan showcases many MacMillan documents and archival photographs, many MacMillan's own.
- GenresBiography
208 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2010
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9 people want to read
About the author
Mary Morton Cowan
13 books1 followerAward-winning author, Mary Morton Cowan, writes for young readers. She is a native of Maine and a graduate of Bates College, where she concentrated her studies in English and Music. In addition to books, nearly 100 of her articles, stories and activities have been published in children’s magazines, and several have been reprinted in textbooks and anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 4, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. The author's extensive research into the Mac's life and experiences brought the Arctic into real life for me. It is particularly valuable during our current times of climate change so significant that we are losing the Arctic's ice shield, which is bound to increase climate disruption and political boundary and economy struggles. In addition, the author made clear how beloved Mac was, how important he was to his students, and illustrates so clearly the values he held. While it may be designed for the 11-year-old grandson I bought it for, I'm very glad to have read it first; now we can book-club-discuss it together!
December 5, 2018
Learned a lot about Donald MacMillan in this one! Thanks for bringing his endeavors to readers.
October 16, 2010
Author Mary Morton Cowan visits the life of veteran Arctic explorer, anthropologist, scientist, and Naval officer Donald Baxter MacMillan in this fast-paced biography that would be ideal for either school reports or pleasure reading.
Although I have read several books as well as seen films and documentaries about Shackleton and his Antarctic explorations, this was my first book about exploring the Arctic. When I read about great explorers like MacMillan or others, I am always struck by what seems to me the existence of an "explorer gene,"people whose personalities make them never content with a quiet life at home, but always craving the excitement of exploring dangerous places. Some of us, on the other hand, prefer to curl up and read about such adventures!
Born in 1874, MacMillan seemed to come into the world with the urge for adventure--his father was a sea captain, and he dreamed from an early age of a life at sea. He was especially fascinated with tales told by sailors he met of the wonders of the massive icebergs in the Arctic, and the quest to find the North Pole, and also devoured any books he could find about the Arctic. When he was orphaned at 11 years old, MacMillan did not abandon his dreams, working hard in high school and eventually enrolling at Bowdoin College (which then cost an enormous fee of $200 a year!) Money was a constant struggle, since he had to pay his own way. How was he ever going to get to the Arctic?
By chance MacMillan meets Robert Peary, the famous Arctic explorer, and tells him of his dreams of traveling to the Arctic, and a few years later, MacMillan, now a young teacher, was invited to join Peary's team. This was the first of more than twenty-five expeditions he took part in to the Arctic--eighteen of these as captain of his own custom-built ship, Bowdoin--over a fifty year period. There would have undoubtedly been even more had two world wars not intervened, making exploration impossible during those periods. Among his many accomplishments was pioneering the use of radio and aircraft in the Arctic, as well as writing a dictionary of the native language and contributing greatly to the cultural understanding of the native people of the area. Moreover, MacMillan lectured extensively, acquainting Americans around the country with Northern peoples' cultures through the movies and photos he took on his many expedition.
This well-researched and handsomely illustrated biography relies extensively on primary sources, including MacMillan's many journals, books, writings, and personal photographs. The author keeps the narrative exciting by including lots of fascinating anecdotes, such as encounters with walrus herds or how MacMillan brought an orphaned baby polar bear into the lodge as a pet (until the polar bear quickly grew too big, and was released). The book features numerous appendices, among them highlights of MacMillan's expeditions, major awards and recognition, an author's note about how she witnessed MacMillan setting off for one of his expeditions as a young girl, a selected bibliography on MacMillan, and additional resources for young people on Arctic exploration, including on-line sources.
Although I have read several books as well as seen films and documentaries about Shackleton and his Antarctic explorations, this was my first book about exploring the Arctic. When I read about great explorers like MacMillan or others, I am always struck by what seems to me the existence of an "explorer gene,"people whose personalities make them never content with a quiet life at home, but always craving the excitement of exploring dangerous places. Some of us, on the other hand, prefer to curl up and read about such adventures!
Born in 1874, MacMillan seemed to come into the world with the urge for adventure--his father was a sea captain, and he dreamed from an early age of a life at sea. He was especially fascinated with tales told by sailors he met of the wonders of the massive icebergs in the Arctic, and the quest to find the North Pole, and also devoured any books he could find about the Arctic. When he was orphaned at 11 years old, MacMillan did not abandon his dreams, working hard in high school and eventually enrolling at Bowdoin College (which then cost an enormous fee of $200 a year!) Money was a constant struggle, since he had to pay his own way. How was he ever going to get to the Arctic?
By chance MacMillan meets Robert Peary, the famous Arctic explorer, and tells him of his dreams of traveling to the Arctic, and a few years later, MacMillan, now a young teacher, was invited to join Peary's team. This was the first of more than twenty-five expeditions he took part in to the Arctic--eighteen of these as captain of his own custom-built ship, Bowdoin--over a fifty year period. There would have undoubtedly been even more had two world wars not intervened, making exploration impossible during those periods. Among his many accomplishments was pioneering the use of radio and aircraft in the Arctic, as well as writing a dictionary of the native language and contributing greatly to the cultural understanding of the native people of the area. Moreover, MacMillan lectured extensively, acquainting Americans around the country with Northern peoples' cultures through the movies and photos he took on his many expedition.
This well-researched and handsomely illustrated biography relies extensively on primary sources, including MacMillan's many journals, books, writings, and personal photographs. The author keeps the narrative exciting by including lots of fascinating anecdotes, such as encounters with walrus herds or how MacMillan brought an orphaned baby polar bear into the lodge as a pet (until the polar bear quickly grew too big, and was released). The book features numerous appendices, among them highlights of MacMillan's expeditions, major awards and recognition, an author's note about how she witnessed MacMillan setting off for one of his expeditions as a young girl, a selected bibliography on MacMillan, and additional resources for young people on Arctic exploration, including on-line sources.
May 26, 2017
In my own backyard and I didn't realize his impact.
October 11, 2010
Dreaming of setting off into the unknown? Of braving the elements and the great open wilderness? So did Donald MascMillan, and his travels into the heart of the arctic did as much to open up this last frontier as his more famous friends and colleagues Robert peary and Matthew Hanson.From an orphasn boy in Maine to the first expedition to reach the North pole, this is the survival story of one of the men to conquer the arctic.
December 29, 2011
Interesting look at an Arctic explorer's life. I hadn't ever heard of him before, and it turns out he was pretty important in the history of Arctic exploration.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews