Walking Home A Traveler in the Alaskan Wilderness, a Journey into the Human Heart

by Schooler, Lynn

• ISBN13: 9781608194643
• ISBN10: 1608194647
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-10
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

Lynn Schooler had recently lost a dear friend and felt his marriage slipping away from him when he set out on a journeyfirst by boat, then on footinto the Alaskan wilderness to clear his head. Schooler's solo expedition is filled with the awe and the danger of being on one's own in the wild, battered by the elements and even, for two harrowing days, becoming the terrified quarry of a grizzly bear. But this formidable, lonely landscape is also rich with human storiesof trappers, explorers, marooned sailors, and hermits, as well as the myths of the region's Tlingit Indians. Recounting his journey, Schooler creates a conversation between the human and the natural, the past and the present, to investigateon a remote and uninhabited shorewhat it means not only to be part of nature's wild web, but also a member of a human community in the flow of history.

Author Biography

Lynn Schooler is the critically acclaimed author of The Blue Bear and The Last Shot. He has lived in Alaska for almost forty years, working as a commercial fisherman, shipwright, wilderness guide, and award-winning wildlife photographer.

Table of Contents

“A rich account of a man’s solo adventure into the wilderness, and what he learned about that place and himself.”—Kirkus

“Schooler reclaims the state’s true wilderness aesthetic in his chronicle of a solo trip along the southeast coastal region. He infuses his personal story with astute observations about the area’s history…Schooler shares his hiking experiences in a style reminiscent of Richard Nelson and Barry Lopez. It is in the artful blend of the intimate and the historical that Schooler’s prose truly sings, and his resistance to hyperbole should appeal to fans of natural history. Schooler is the real deal and he proves it on every gorgeous page.”—Booklist