Alaska Life

Critics applaud book by self-taught Alaska writer

Yet another book of far north nature writing might easily slip under the radar of Alaskans. But "Walking Home: A Traveler in the Alaskan Wilderness, a Journey into the Human Heart," by Juneau author Lynn Schooler, 56, has gained applause from important critics outside the state.

Even an Alaska reader, jaded by the genre, can be impressed by the fact that so fine a writer is self-taught. Schooler's path to international literary acclaim did not go through college courses or writers workshops.

The book's area of interest -- centered on Lituya Bay, southeast of Yakutat -- is exotically brutal and treacherous even by Alaska standards. The author's mix of personal thoughts with natural and human history strikes an exemplary balance of frank observations and haunting evocations.

British adventurer and writer Nicholar Crane, host of the BBC's "Coast" and "Great British Journeys" television series, shot off an e-mail after reading it. "It's a great book, Lynn. Intensely observed and cleverly paced," he wrote. "You've made European 'nature writing' look very tame indeed."

Crane called "Walking Home" "a nerve-jangling, eloquent read. The tension between nature at its most exquisite and most lethal makes this the story of our times. A remarkable book ... the best wilderness narrative I've read for a long time."

Similar enthusiasm is being voiced elsewhere:

"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)

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"Jettisoning the pontification and redundancy that can weigh down man-against-nature stories, Schooler's account boils over with adventure and exploration. Armchair adventurers will be captivated." (Publishers Weekly)

Born in Texas, Schooler moved with his family to Alaska in 1969. He graduated from Anchorage's East High School and went straight into construction and commercial fishing.

His serious literary self-education began when he tied up in Seward during the winter of his 19th year.

"I wasn't a very good fisherman," he confessed. "I didn't make much money, so I spent a lot of time at the library to stay warm. I read every book in the place. Later, when I moved to Juneau, they had five libraries. I was in hog heaven."

Adding wilderness guide and wildlife photographer to his resume, he did not consider himself a writer until his friend, Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino, was killed by a bear in 1996.

"I started to write a record of our trips, and it turned into a book," Schooler said.

That book, "The Blue Bear," drew positive reviews. Amazon picked it for its Editor's Choice in nature writing. The book sold well overseas and has been translated into 14 languages, winning France's Prix de Trente Million D'amis literary award.

His second book, "The Last Shot," about the Confederate navy's destruction of the Yankee whaling fleet in Alaska waters during the Civil War, was critically acclaimed by Smithsonian magazine. That was "a nice way of saying it was well done," Schooler lamented. "Only about 12 people actually bought it."

"Walking Home" has struck a chord with a bigger audience. It's been selected as a BBC "Book of the Week" and will be read on the radio this month.

Schooler said he'd been thinking about writing a book about Lituya Bay and the doomed expedition of French explorer La Parouse before he started the trek in 2007 that the book documents. But he wasn't sure how to give the tale "meaning for the average person."

"History is not something that happened," he said. "It's something that we're smack in the middle of, an active, vibrant, dynamic motion. We're not done with any of it."

His long, solo wilderness traverse of Southeast's shoreline, forests and glaciers put things into perspective for him.

"It was one of those periods in your life when you look back and see all the warp and weave of it," he said. "It's a book about seeing how we fit into the whole big stream of human experience."

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

By MIKE DUNHAM

mdunham@adn.com

Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham was a longtime ADN reporter, mainly writing about culture, arts and Alaska history. He worked in radio for 20 years before switching to print. He retired from the ADN in 2017.

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