Yukon
Alone
is much more than the story of the famous Yukon Quest sled dog race.
This new book by a roving reporter for the Los Angeles Times is an absorbing mix of
exciting sports reporting, vivid character portrayal, and a fascinating exploration of the
Far North at the end of the 20th century.
Whether you are interested in long-distance
sled dog racing or simply enjoy a tension-filled adventure story with more than its share
of thrills and spills, you will enjoy this narrative. The book is filled with rugged
individuals, tough dogs and the extraordinary frigid landscape on the route from
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to Fairbanks, Alaska. Along the way are brief excursions into
issues of animal rights and sled dog racing, insiders and outsiders in the North, and much
more. But award-winning writer John Balzar never strays far from the meat of the book, the
demanding days on the Yukon Quest trail during the 1998 race.
The Mushers, the Characters
Looming large in the book are the mushers,
seen not only through their Quest trail experiences, but also through pithy portraits of
their personal lives and thoughts, at least for those who were willing to talk with John.
Some did, some did not. Now in the year 2000, we can enjoy these portrayals from a fresh
perspective after the running of this year’s Quest.
Click here for the full review of Yukon Alone
AUTHOR: John Balzar is
today a roving reporter for the Los Angeles Times, living in the Pacific Northwest. He has
spent more than 10 years in the Far North, experiencing life as a whaler with Eskimos, a
boatman for a wilderness guide and as a veterinary assistant and press aide for the Yukon
Quest. He has won the Scripps-Howard Foundation Prize for human interest writing and
portrayal of adventure. PUBLISHER: Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1999.
Click here to order Yukon Alone online
The Training and Racing Journals
of Roland and Louise Lombard
by Nancy Cowan | Click to
order this book
Roland "Doc"
Lombard is one of the great sled dog racers of the 20th century, having competed
both in his home territory, the New England region, and on the famous race trails of
Alaska, with Siberian and Alaskan huskies. This volume provides rare insights on the
training and racing he and his wife Louise did. It is a unique combination of
elements, making it a valuable volume for the bookshelf of any serious musher or lover of
sled dog history and lore, including Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute fanciers.
Author Nancy Cowan has been writing aspects
of sled dog history -- especially in her home region of New England -- for some years now,
this being her fifth sled dog book. In that process, she has made available to dog lovers
and mushers a wealth of resources hidden away in boxes of photographs or diaries or, in
this case, the training journals of one of the 20th century's most famous mushers, Doc
Lombard, and his wife Weezie.
Click here for the full review of the Lombard Journals
Gold Rush Dogs
By Claire Rudolf Murphy & Jane G. Haigh | Click
to order this book
New out this
year 2001 is "Gold Rush Dogs," a very nicely done paperback book that
is a must for the library of every musher and every fancier of the sled dog breeds such as
Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes.
The volume is filled with the
tales of the famous sled dogs of Alaska’s snowy trails. There’s Baldy of Nome,
one of the famous lead dogs in Nome’s long-distance races; Siberian Huskies Togo and
Balto, two of the canine heroes of the famous humanitarian Serum Run in 1925; and Nero, a
St. Bernard in the Klondike. Yet the book is more than dogs; it is also the incredible
story of the men who went questing for gold in the frozen Northland.
Wonderful historic photos
illustrate this volume which sled dog lovers and working dog lovers alike will enjoy.
Siberian Huskies fanciers will appreciate the big photo of Leonhard Seppala's victorious
1917 All-Alaska team, for example, while Alaskan Malamute lovers will appreciate the photo
of Muk, a "pure malamute" belonging to Hudson Stuck, the Episcopal archdeacon of
the Yukon who traveled thousands of miles by sled dog team in his ministry.
Click
here to order Gold Rush Dogs online
I had the pleasure of meeting Pam Flowers -- and her
sled dogs -- during my trip to Alaska in August 2001. She is a small,
quiet-spoken woman -- with an incredible iron will. She and 8 Alaskan huskies traveled
across the top of the world from Barrow, Alaska, to Repulse Bay, Canada, in the early 1990s, setting a number
of records in the process.
This new book -- for young people and
adults alike -- introduces you to lead dog Douggie and his seven teammates, and narrates
many of their hair-raising adventures in the frigid north. You will often find yourself
holding your breath, wondering how Pam and her huskies will find a way to reach safety --
again! And you will discover Pam's indomitable spirit and quest to succeed, no
matter the odds, a message she takes today to school children all over North America.
Click
here to order Alone Across the Arctic online
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