Green Alaska: Dreams from the Far Coast

by Nancy Lord

Describes the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition, revisits places where the expedition stopped, and compares Alaska past and present

Genres: Nonfiction, Natural History

170 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

Reviews

[Bryr Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never have I filled my margins with so many angry words. This book drips with condescension and smug superiority. Poor John Burroughs.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the 1899 expedition along the Alaska coast (all the way to Siberia) financed and organized by the railroad baron Edward Harriman. Quite a menagerie of persons participated in the adventure, giving a variety of perspectives, in addition to the author's modern perspective as she traces part of the route. The most interesting is the difference between Eastern naturalist writer John Burroughs and rugged adventurous proponent of wildness John Muir. John Muir would clearly prefer to be scaling a mountain or exploring a glacier than drinking champaign on the ship or robbing totem poles. And John Burroughs is more at home in the nature found in a hedgerow rather than in wild rugged Alaska. Muir plays the trickster, coaxing sea-sick Burroughs to continue on through the Bering Sea when he would rather stay behind on a nice grassy island, and encouraging Harriman and his team of hunters to cross a glacier in search of bears. Muir seems to be the only one who is aware of the exploitation of nature and of native peoples which is bringing both to ruin, or at least the only one who has the courage to speak of it in defiance of their industrialist host. Two favorite quotes:
John Muir: "Why, I am richer than Harriman. I have all the money I want and he hasn't."
John Burroughs, upon seeing the light of the setting sun illuminate the snow covered mountains rising out of the sea: "The solid earth became spiritual and transcendent."

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book before and after a trip to southeast Alaska. Nancy Lord really captured some of the things I experienced in my time there.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixing the history of the Harriman Alaskan Expedition with some modern travel. She visits and writes about right where I am currently living!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son told me about Nancy Lord and since he lived in Alaska I found it really interesting to read. And if you want an interesting Master thesis to read on the subject, I can put you on to that too

[Jeff Rennicke]

A fascinating look at John Burroughs,an all-too-often overlooked figure in American nature writing.

[Skip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Every once and awhile you stumble onto a book, that for you, turns into an instant classic! From Alaska's Writer Laureate, Nancy Lord delights and captivates in a series of short essays retracing the remarkable Harriman expedition of Alaska. Railroad tycoon Edward Harriman, owner of the Union Pacific Railroad, has enough money to do whatever he wants, and in the summer of 1899, he wants to travel the coast of Alaska on a large steamship he has refitted into a luxury cruise-liner. His guests read like a Who's - Who of American elite and he has assembled an all-star list of scientist, naturalist, and photographers to discover and catalog their findings. The author loosely retraces their sea route and wonders with talented poetic writing if the the voyagers really understood and grasped the magic that unfolded before them. Lyric in its prose, penetrating with its depth, "Green Alaska" is a hidden gem!