1 comments about Diving Pioneers and Innovators.

1. For all those new divers (less than 10 years of activity) this book will really open their eyes to how sport diving, exploring and sharing the underwater world via images came about. Plus diving as a work activity and Bev Morgan's contribution helping commercial divers push the limits of that arena.
   
   If you started diving way back in 1969 like I did, the stories and interviews with names you will recognize make reading this a delight. I practically read it straight through in 3-4 days!
   
   Bret Gilliam may be a bit controversial, but he tells it like many already think including politics, business dealings and more of the underwater world.
   
   Buy it!

1 comments about The Ninth Circle: A Memoir of Life and Death in Antarctica, 1960-1962.

1. You don't notice it at first, but the plane on the cover of this book is on ski's, except that the tail ski has been knocked off and the tail of the plane is dragging on the snow. VX6, the Antartctic air squadron had an accident eight times that of the rest of Naval aviation in the rest of the world.
   
   This was the time of the Cold War, it was also the time of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in which the Vanguard rocket was going to launch the world's first satellite.
   
   This book talks about the authors experiences during (mostly) the 1960-62 time frame. It was different then. Now if you want to see the south pole just go on the net (www.cmdl.noaa.gov/obop/spo/livecamera.html) or do a search on "south pole camera." Quite a number of the authors friends and associates died in Antarctica. It was then, and still is a rather dangerous place.
   
   This is quite a tale of the search for scientific knowledge.

2 comments about The Legend Hunter (Softcover).

1. For those of us, old enough to remember the "I search for Adventure" TV series, this is a fascinating book. We finally find out the background and the detailed travails of a great explorer. The discovery of the ancient tomb in the Peruvian desert has remained a secret that his partner Batanero has already taken to his grave. It reads well and adenture after adventure keeps the reader's interest until the last page is turned. It is too bad that the films have not been preserved.



2. Memoirs of a real-life professional explorer---a sort of "Indiana Jones with a dash of Lara Croft" who abandoned an acting career highlighted by study at the Pasadena Playhouse to travel abroad filming exotic and dangerous locales, which he then fashioned into programs for early broadcast television and the lecture circuit. This volume focuses on Latin America of the 1950's and includes a varied cast of characters from a former driver for the German general Erwin Rommel to an intrepid female journalist of the time, one Barbara Holbrook who clearly left a strong impression on the author.

No comments about The Voyage of the Cap Pilar.

No comments about The Hernando de Soto Expedition: History, Historiography, and "Discovery" in the Southeast.

2 comments about The Kurt Diemberger Omnibus: Summits and Secrets : The Endless Knot : Spirits of the Air.

1. The author's awesome attainments in mountaineering: the only living man with two first ascents of 8,000-meter mountains, are matched by his boundless curiosity and his enthusiasm for every new experience. He is a man of high good humor, tenacity, and independence with remarkable communication skills.

   The autobiography is three books "Summits and Secrets" written as a young man, "The Endless Knot" takes up his ascent and harrowing descent of K2 in 1986 and the loss of his beloved partner, Julie Tullis who died there; and "Spirits of the Air" written in middle age.

   Though "Summits and Secrets" covers interesting material about Diemberger's childhood and early manhood, I found the translation to be stiff. I fault the translator because the other two books are so free flowing and at times lyrical. In these autobiographies, you get a sense of the complete man, not just his genius on the mountains. He loves to sing (he claims it helps him breathe better on the mountain), can and does swear thunderously in German when thwarted, has small vanities, and a never failing appreciation of the charms of the ladies. Unlike many of the climbing fraternity, he doesn't appear to have a double standard where women climbers are involved. He judges everyone on his or her merits. I became so attuned to his storytelling, I felt as if it was all directed to me personally, that he wanted me to be entertained and share his wonder and delight at all he had seen. I am glad to report that as of this date, Kurt is still going strong lecturing, climbing and doing camera work. The story ends at 1991, and I had to follow up to see how he has fared this last decade.

   The much-traveled Mr. Diemberger for some reason had never been in the United States until his 40th year. (Maybe because we cannot boast of any 8,000 meter peaks!) He was an enthusiastic tourist as is shown in the following excerpt from "Spirits of the Air." His awe and amazement during his helicopter flight through Grand Canyon is infectious:

   "I am staggered! Overwhelmed is no word for it! And anyway, there's no time to be overwhelmed when new sensations are continually bombarding you, shaking you, grabbing your attention, whetting your appetite for even more unexpected thrills. You are looking ahead, back, down, as gigantic buttresses sweep past, pillars and palaces of red rock, side valleys opening and closing, the terrific gorge agape below you--- You are flying through the biggest trough on earth. All the pictures I have ever seen of the Grand Canyon are forgotten. They are tiny facets, mosaic pieces, nothing more - I see that now. No human brain can comprehend this intricate labyrinth that is the Grand Canyon. It is a world!"

   Let Kurt take you on his journey. You will never regret it.




2. Of this omnibus I have read only The Endless Knot but am so impressed with it that I wanted to lodge a review. This account of climbing K2 during one of its hungriest years is rendered luminous by the simple, unaffected, honest and straightforward affection between Kurt and his working partner Julie. Kurt's "married to the mountain" prose and his personal honesty make this a genuine monument in the literature.

4 comments about Cold Burial: A True Story of Endurance and Disaster.

1. I first read about northern frontiersman Jack Hornby in McKay Jenkins's excellent "Bloody Falls of the Coppermine." Hornby was a guide to two missionaries who would later be killed in the far north by two Inuits. Hornby had vast knowledge of survival in the far north and even spoke the native language of the Inuit people. Alas, he was unreliable, irresponsible, and had the tendency to go off on his own. "Cold Burial" covers Hornby's final adventure where many of his personality flaws that made him not the best of guides led to his death. The saddest part is that he took two young men with him--including his 19-year old cousin.
   
   Hornby's cousin, Edgar Christian, had just recently finished schooling at Dover College with little distinction save for a swimming tournament (19). Edgar had a taste for adventure that was probably, in large part, inspired by tales of England's heroes like Robert Falcon Scott where tragedies created a "composite account of what made a man" and that "frozen lands [were] ideal theatres for trial and courage" (22). He worshiped his legendary cousin, Jack Hornby. Edgar having limited prospects, his parents consented in having Hornby take their son to the barren lands of the Northwest Territories.
   
   Edgar had high expectations of Jack and of the trip. Jack prided himself on his self-sufficiency and his young cousin believed he would acquire the same independence and "never be in need of a job if I want one" (92). Jack, however, was self-sufficient to the extreme. He never believed in taking much on a trip save for the barest of essentials and survived his many treks not through planning and organization but through stamina, intuition, and luck. During his 1926-7 trip to the Thelon River--though he was warned many times along the way against taking two young, inexperienced men with him with such limited supplies (Hornby also invited 27-year old Harold Adlard who, sadly, is often forgotten in the Hornby/Edgar saga)--his luck ran out.
   
   Clive Powell-Williams relies mostly on primary sources to tell this sad story: Harold's few letters home, Edgar's letters and diary entries, notes left on the trail, observations of those who met up with the three men on their way to the Barrens, and post-death writings of those who knew Hornby. He uses conjecture to fill in the gaps but he demonstrates plenty of knowledge on the types of conditions and animals they encountered and their techniques for survival.
   
   The last several chapters are the most intriguing, as well as heart-rending, as the men had to survive largely on animal skin and bone marrow while they slowly died from starvation. Then there is the final diary entry and letters of Edgar--the last survivor--left all alone in the cold, empty land knowing his death was imminent. The book continues with the discovery of the bodies and aftermath and ends with the unfortunate fate of former Hornby traveling partner Capt. James Critchell-Bullock. Included is a section of photos, photo of Edgar's last letters, and maps. I didn't find the maps useful as they did not include places with which I was familiar (i.e. Canada) to give the areas mapped a point of reference.



2. In 1926, the Barren Lands of the Canadian Northwest Territories were rightly regarded as an inhospitable region of appalling weather coupled with the threat of starvation, accident, and loneliness, a place where men (meaning Europeans) would be tested to the limit. Jack Hornsby, a troubled veteran of WWI, drifter, and adventurer, had been there, and liked it. He put together an expedition with Harold Adler and Edgar Christian, two young and inexperienced friends, with the intention of wintering north of the Great Slave Lake. They would hunt and trap to support themselves and pay for the expedition, and Hornsby would collect scientific data. Hornsby was knowledgeable about the region, but apparently was unable to organize effectively and failed to make basic preparations despite warnings. After many hardships and colossal mistakes in judgment, all three died. Mounties found their bodies, letters to parents, and the detailed diary kept by Christian, two years later. The author has used the diary and a number of surviving letters to reconstruct the adventurers' trip in great detail. Counterpoint to stories of survival under harsh conditions, but rather depressing. An absorbing read for anyone interested in arctic exploration, and a thought-provoking sidelight on Canadian history



3. In recent months there have been several books written about polar exploration, and their success indicates that the reading public seems to have a continuing fascination with these expeditions. This spring, the A and E cable network produced "Shackleton", a cold-country-frontier saga. In this tradition, Clive Powell-Williams has written "Cold Burial."

   This book is an engrossing page-turner and a quick read. You will be caught up in the tale of 18 year old Edgar Christian and his mother's double-cousin, Jack Hornby, an experienced Canadian-Northwest Territories outdoorsman. Experienced he may be, but seasoned he is not. Impulsive, improvident, and arrogant to boot, he takes his cousin on what will be their first and final adventure together. Having relied heavily upon luck and upon the help of natives, Jack finds his luck has run out. He does try to spare his young cousin, but events proceed inevitably
   to a tragic end. Powell-Williams relies upon the diaries of young Edgar to put together a chilling story of their days in a climate hostile to human life. Female readers may be tempted to ask, "Why would they want to do that?" The only answer is the famous one, "Because it's there!" Apparently that insouciant reply makes sense to males; but to a mother, it rings hollow.




4. For anybody that has read and enjoyed some of the adventurer books released in the last few years (Into Thin Air, etc.), Cold Burial is a must.

   75 years ago, 3 British men set out on a journey up the Thelon River (in Northern Alberta) and into the Canadian Arctic. None of them made it back alive. When their bodies were discovered by the RCMP, the investigators also found a diary. This diary, written by the youngest member of the party (Edgar Christian, age 18) chronicled the shift from courageous optimism in the early days of the voyage, into hopeless abandon as the 3 men starved and froze to death.

   Clive Powell-Williams has taken this diary and researched the history behind the 3 adventurers. In Cold Burial, he tells the whole story; from their original meetings at school in Britain, to Edgar's last days, alone in the cabin.

   Cold Burial is a tremendously well-written account that will certainy rank with the top adventure/disaster books of all time. An extremely good read. Highly recommended.

No comments about Shackleton: Leadership Lessons From Antarctica.

1 comments about Soul Snatchers: A Quest for True Human Beings.

1. I finished this book in four days, and what a terrific journey the author takes us on. From the deserts of New Mexico, where he gets guidance from a 102-year-old Native American named Nino Cochise, to the Swamps of Florida, where he meets a most unusual evangelist and has encounters with things he cannot explain, to the wilds of Washington State, where he and his team experiment with a method known as "dowsing" to attempt to track the Forest Giants, Robert W. Morgan has had a life's journey most would be rather envious of. He has met with Native American elders, elderly cowboys who were around in the time of the Wild West, disbelieving skeptics, scientists and other luminaries, and over his life's journey, he has experienced unusual phenomenon, which may or may NOT be connected to the Forest Giant People (Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Omah-ah, Dsonoqua and many other variations of names for these unique beings). Morgan writes in a style of absolute comfort and a sense as if he is sharing private secrets around a campfire. The only rating I can give on this book is an 11 out of 10!!!!!! GET THIS BOOK!!!!!! It is available at Product Listing - and is terrific for Summer reading, or for curling up beside a roaring fire in colder weather.

2 comments about Sea Legs: Tales of a Woman Oceanographer.

1. I really didn't know what to expect when I picked up Kathleen Crane's memoirs of her experiences in graduate school at Scripps and her professional life. To many, it might seem that a book on oceanography is a bit too esoteric or "niche" to be of interest to the general public.

   But "Sea Legs" is a truly fascinating, deeply (no pun intended) interesting book. For the scientifically inclined, the detailed descriptions of Crane's work will be of great interest. But the general reader benefits the most from this book, as the reader accompanies Crane and her colleagues on numerous voyages of discovery to fascinating destinations. "Sea Legs" is well worth your time, and beleive me, it is a real page turner.




2. Sea Legs: Tales Of A Woman Oceanographer is the personal and inspiring story of Kathleen Crane, one of the first female oceanographers to earn her credentials at the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. From research on undersea volcanoes, to meeting and befriending Soviet Union scientists during the height of the cold war, Sea Legs is a memorable and informative autobiographical journey filled with a love of science, a respect for the sea, and the sheer joy of reaching out to embrace the world.