5 comments about Walk with Me Through Alaska.

1. By:JOSEPH ROBERTIA
   Peninsula Clarion news
   
   
   Charley Dunn, a Soldotna resident for 42 years, has experienced a lot since first coming north as a wide-eyed young man in 1966, and if a person could earn a college degree for storytelling, he would hold a Ph.D. for his gift of gab.
   
   "I have been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work, hunt, fish and explore in Alaska," he said.
   
   He said he has always enjoyed sharing tales of these experiences with others, but recently decided to take his storytelling a step further.
   
   "I'd tell a story and people would say, 'You should write this down,' so I finally just did it," he said.
   
   Dunn put together 25 to 30 of his more interesting, exciting and dangerous stories and sent the manuscript to two publishers, and immediately got offers from both. He decided to work with PublishAmercia a traditional publishing company whose primary goal is promoting the works of new, previously undiscovered writers and on Oct. 25, his 125-page book, "Walk With Me Through Alaska," was released.
   
   "People aren't going to believe some of the stories in the book, but they're all true," Dunn said.
   
   They take place all over the state, and Dunn said he did his best to make readers feel transported to the scene of these stories.
   
   "The areas where they occurred will be explained in detail so that you feel like you are with me in a walk across Alaska. I have included pictures so that you will be able to see the things I have seen. It is my sincerest hope that you will have the same sense of awe and inspiration that I have had about Alaska," he said.
   
   He begins the book by detailing how he came to Alaska to work as an oil field service laborer, and what was in town when he arrived.
   
   "There were no malls, fast food restaurants or large grocery stores. It was mostly dirt roads and just a few service stations without convenience stores," he said.
   
   After a few stories about working for Shell Oil Company, Sante Fe Drilling Company and Coastal Drilling Company, Dunn moves into detailing what he did in his off-time.
   
   Most of the stories are "pretty serious stories of adventure," Dunn said. There are tales of moose hunts up on Tustumena Lake, sheep hunts through the rugged mountains near Seward, and bear hunts on Kodiak where Dunn almost became the hunted instead of the hunter.
   
   There are also fishing accounts describing the heyday of king salmon fishing on the Kenai River and a story about guided halibut fishing out of Seward that is almost too good to believe, according to Dunn.
   
   "We had taken out two elderly women and an elderly man from Seattle, and their nephews from Anchorage. Between them they had caught eight halibut that when we got back weighed in at 1,068 pounds for the eight of them," he said.
   
   This meant the average weight of each fish was 133.5 pounds.
   
   "They got about 855 pounds of fillets," Dunn said, and explains in the book that at that time, halibut was selling for around $11 a pound back in Seattle, which meant the tourists had roughly $9,400 worth of delicious flatfish meat.
   
   Dunn said while there are numerous adventures stories in the book, there are also a handful of humorous tales and a few accounts that are just plain extraordinary, such as when Dunn and a friend saw an unidentified flying object up on the Little Killey River, and another time when he found an original copy of the "Call of the Wild" that was signed "To Hattie from Jack London" in a cabin on Tustumena Lake.
   
   "It would be worth a million dollars now, but we left it because it didn't belong to us," he said.
   
   As to who might enjoy reading Dunn's new book, he said there's something in it for everyone from the cheechako to the sourdough.
   
   "I think it would appeal to anybody who's interested in Alaska and the goings-on up here," he said.
   
   Asked if he thinks he will write another book now that he knows the process, he said you can count on it.
   
   "This book is by no means everything. I've lived a life some will only dream about, and I've lived to tell about it, and I'm planning on having more adventures in Alaska," he said.
   
   To learn more about Dunn's book, or to learn how to order a copy, visit his Web site at [...]
   
   Joseph Robertia



2. We are so thankful that our dad took the time to write a book about his life adventures. These are exciting, unbelievable stories that make you want to take on the world. God has been so good to keep and preserve this man all the days of his life and this book is just the begining of the fun exploits and encounters that the family has been blessed to hear stories about through the years. Anyone who likes outdoor adventure will enjoy this book. Alaska is unlike any other place you will ever experience.



3. I enjoyed every minute of this book. A very interesting quick read. I learned a little more about the state I live in and also found no problem following and understanding the author's life events. Those of us that live in Alaska have such diverse experiences due to our jobs, location, living conditions, weather, and natural events. I found myself feeling that I was there, watching as every event unfolded. This can be a harsh life in Alaska and this man chose to live it to it's fullest! Can't wait for the "rest of the stories!" Another book maybe???? Thanks for some of the tips on what to do and "NOT" to do while hunting or being out in this wonderful wilderness.
   
   Pat Ligenza - Anchor Point, Alaska



4. I have lived on the Kenai Penninsula for 32 years. I've worked many night shifts with Charlie Dunn and shared many stories with him. All the events in this book are true in fact I lived many events that are simular.
   This book explains events that several people have lived which is common to the life in Alaska. The adventure never ends. Ifyou want to know what living in Alaska is like, this is the book for you.
   
   Dan Winters



5. This is a really interesting book that is true to life.
   The author did a good job of portraying his life in Alaska.
   If you have plans to visit Alaska, this is a good book to read first.

1 comments about Sitka Man.

1. Al Brookman Sr. does an excellent job of recalling his past in vivid detail. Each reader will experience his eccentric lifestyle as a commercial fisherman in Alaska along with his many seasonal jobs in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers who enjoy true-life adventure stories will delight in Brookman's hunting adventures, "great fish" stories and WWII recollections. If you have ever spoken to an elderly person about their life and times, and enjoyed the conversation, this book is for you. Though Brookman may repeat stories is irrelevant, each recount is as enjoyable as the first. A short, easy to understand and charming text you could read with a grandparent or grandchild and enjoy twice as much.

No comments about The Palliser Expedition (Western Canadian Classics).

1 comments about The World of Gerard Mercator: The Mapmaker Who Revolutionized Geography.

1. The history of maps seems to be an understudied element of history. Yet it had political, economical and religous ramifications and influences.
   
   If you stand in a classroom and look at a map chances are you are looking at a map of which its basic ideas were theorized by Gerard Mercator, a Flemmish born mapmaker who spend most of his life in Duisburg.
   
   In the first chapters we read about his predecessors and influences that made him into the most important cartographer up to this day. It's a book about his personal life, his political life, his economical life and also his religious life.
   
   By challenging some of the basic ideas of the Church, based in part on the ancient Greek Ptolemy, his maps could be seen as heretic. He was jailed for a while but got away with it. He keeps working on new maps, but is constantly haunted by a question: how to draw a 2D map of a spherical 3D world. He eventually came to some conclusion by shortening the lines nearer to the poles; this was both a better way of representation than before, but nowadays somewhat seen as eurocentric, since it makes Europe seem bigger than it really was.
   
   This book is great. Written in simple language so everyone will enjoy it. The author has taken great care into mentioning the political and religious reasonings on mapmaking and also why certain maps look like they do. It's a great book for any lover of ancient maps.

1 comments about Searching for Fannie Quigley: A Wilderness Life in the Shadow of Mount McKinley.

1. As someone who doesn't live in Alaska and has no knowledge of the Gold Rush, I found "Searching for Fannie Quigley" to be a fascinating book. Jane Haigh manages to combine Fannie's personal story with historical background in a very readable way. I enjoyed the way the author interweaves her own account of "searching for Fannie" including driving around the Nebraskan homesteads where Fannie was born and searching for papers documenting Fannie's two marriages, numerous gold mine claims, and other information. The numerous photographs and maps greatly enhance the value of the book. I would recommend this biography to anyone who would enjoy reading about a remarkable pioneer woman and gaining an insight into an interesting slice of Alaskan history.

2 comments about Homestead, A Memoir.

1. This is such a great story about two incredibly determined people! What these two went through to build their dream house is truly remarkable! Not only is Jane a fantastic writer, she's a very down to earth, kind person. I couldn't put this book down and I would recommend it to anyone!



2. This was a very engrossing book of what you have to do to build your own place in the middle of nowhere. These people were very brave to do the things they did. I am not a fan of flying which they learned to do and of big rattlesnakes or black widow spiders. The driveway would be enough for me to never go back. Jane is an excellent writer and I have enjoyed her other books also. She really enjoys the west and writes well of it and the people who have lived here. I live in the Willamette Valley where it is "civilized" and not as wild as it is in central and eastern Oregon. I love to visit these places but head on home to Eugene. Thank you Jane for doing these wonderful books. I am waiting inpatiently for the next one.

No comments about WINGS AROUND THE WORLD: The Exhilarating Story of one Woman's Epic Flight from the North Pole to Antarctica.

3 comments about Adventures and Challenges: Real Life Stories by Girls and Young Women.

1. This book shares several inspirational stories from girls and young women who used adventure to challenge themselves beyond their prceived limits. The stories they tell are stories that come from the heart. They share how their challenges, physical, emotional or spiritual, touched and gave them more confidence to take on more challenges. They learned "they can do it" with the right attitude and desire to succeed.

   The young women featured in this book can be an inspiration for many young readers. Young people are capable of making a difference in their lives as well as the lives of others. This is demonstrated in this book.

   The book ends with a sequential listing of significant accomplishments women have made througout history. This provides a nice reminder that women have been accomplishing amazing things for hundreds of years, and will continue to as we strengthen their character and confidence. This is an enjoyable book for women of all ages to read.




2. This collection gives the reader an ear to the authentic voices of young women who confronted their personal and socially-imprinted limitations in a wide range of circumstances. While nature often provides the backdrop and circumstances of challenge, the stories are really about struggles with teamwork and inner demons. A very good collection, and what I hope is an increasingly important "genre", from persons deserving praise, guidance, mentoring, and finally, gratitude for setting down their stories.



3. Aventures and Challenges: Real Life Stories by Girls and Young Women is a great book! Very inspirational! The stories in the book make you want to just get up and make your own adventures. There was one story that really stood out to me, Solo by Frieghter to South America by Nellie Kelly. While traveling with people she didn't know, she conquered her fear of being alone and saw things that most people might never see. This book helps you conquer any fear that you might have about making your own adventure by helping you plan your own adventure step by step. This book is also unique because it gives you a timeline of what women have accomplished throughout the years. Adventures and Challenges is great for all ages!

No comments about Voyage To The End Of The World: With Tales From The Great Ice Barrier.

No comments about Our Little House in the Arctic.