Northerners: Alaskans Yesterday and Today - Paperback

Alaska's people enchant tourists and armchair travelers as utterly as that state's wildlife and scenery do. Its cultures, subcultures, and individuals have long fascinated Michael Engelhard, a former resident, outdoor educator, and wilderness guide. His witty, intelligent voice here profiles a river ranger, a bear-dog trainer, a pathfinder, a con man, smoke jumpers, Orthodox nuns, and Denali's shuttle-bus drivers, among other characters. Through him, we meet artists, activists, naturalists, crafters, hobbyists, seasonal workers, and adventurers. Their pursuits bond all these to the land, as is true for many Alaskans.

Grounded, trenchant, lustrous with tell-tale details, the 59 chapters of Northerners bracket pre-territorial days to the present. They illustrate this writer's belief that the mindset of Alaskans essentially never changed. You will get to know them by their passions and occupations, by the goals, grit, and ease that let them thrive boldly outside of boxes.

Michael Engelhard became a cultural anthropologist at the University of Alaska. He is the author of the award-winning memoir Arctic Traverse and has called Fairbanks, Nome, and Cordova "home." His writing has also appeared in dozens of magazines, with 160 articles in Alaska alone. Ever since his teenage years, he felt drawn to the formidable, faraway North.