Regular readers of Sue Henry's books will doubtless want to read Beneath the Ashes, if only to keep up with the activities of the protaganist, Jessie Arnold. But be warned, this is not up to her usual standards. Like earlier books, the best thing about Ashes is the descriptions of Alaska and sled dog racing but, while the description of the process of training young dogs is interesting, on the whole there less of this type of material than usual. In her other books, Henry's typical plot device is "spot the loonie", that is, figure out which of these seemingly normal people is actually a homicidal nut case. She has real problems figuring out how to deal with the situation in this book where the question is: "which of these nut cases is the killer?" As a result, by the time all is revealed you really don't care very much.

Spring is the time of year that Jessie Arnold uses to train her young sled dogs for the coming season. After a long spate of rain, Jessie goes to Oscar's Other Place to unwind with her friends. Later that night the place is burned down and a body found in the ruins. An old friend asks Jessie to shelter her and hide her from an abusive spouse, so she does. This friend, Ann Holman, was suspected of setting a fire that killed two small children ten years before. The arson investigator is sure that Ann is involved in this case also, and will do anything to prove it.

This mystery was very enjoyable. I loved the setting and the main character's unusual occupation, training and racing sled dogs. I missed the Alex Jensen character at first, but soon forgot about him in the excitement of the plot. This is a fastmoving story with lots of twists and turns.

The call from old friend Anne Holman came out of nowhere since kennel owner and dog trainer Jessie Arnold had not heard from her in years. A frantic Anne told Jessie she was coming to Alaska to spend a few days. That night, a fire rages at Oscar's Other Place killing someone.

Upon seeing Anne at the Anchorage Airport, she looks anorexic and so different that Jessie fails to recognize her. The scars and visible bruises inform Jessie that Anne is an abuse victim who apparently is running away from her husband Greg. Soon the fires begin in earnest including Jessie's house with the canine trainer inside. Jessie begins to wonder if Annie is a victim or a culprit causing arson and death.

BENEATH THE ASHES is an exciting Alaskan mystery that focuses on the relationship between Anne and Jessie. The story line grips the reader as the audience wonders whether Anne is a lunatic or the prey of some unknown assailant. Though different from her usual superb Sue Henry mysteries, fans of the series and regional tales will find great joy from this excellent tale.

Harriet Klausner

From the title, one would think this a type of travel journal, a panorama of episodes along the way, a sequence of stations between the starting off point and the destination. Instead, the overall weight of the book is given to glaciers, their descriptions, their influence on the landscape, their geological record, the discovery of new glaciers, and other characteristics of these moving rivers of ice. While Muir offers descriptive powers unequaled among authors on nature, never repeating himself though constantly repeating his subject, the sheer repetition tends to bog the work down. Two whole pages might contribute to our view of a particular glacier, and suddenly Muir reports that he's finished a 200-mile leg of his journey on foot. He tells us when he's climbed a glacier, and along the way we've missed an entire week. Time and space almost have no medium in this publication, utterly lost when gazing upon a glacier. For nature lovers who will never go to Alaska, the descriptions in this book make the ranges and glaciers come alive in print, but as a dramatic journey, a travelogue, or a field manual for the Alaskan bush, this book forms only a vague shadow.

Nature is a beautiful and highly complicated phenomena of this world. Many have sought to understand it and capture its essence in writing. The nature writings of John Muir succeed in capturing the beauty of nature as well as the scientific aspect. I have to be honest, I wasn't that enthused about reading a book about science. I expected Muir's book to be identical to a science textbook, definitely not my idea of enjoyment. However, his book was actually full of detailed descriptions and creative uses of similes, metaphors, and analogies. In fact, it completely changed my perception of a scientific novel.

In his book, "Travels in Alaska", Muir brings alive the magnificence of the vast expanses of unexplored Alaskan territory. His prose reveals his enthusiasm for nature, and he weaves clear and distinct pictures through his words. Muir's writing is very personal. His favorable feelings toward the land are very apparent, and reading the book is like reading his diary or journal. He avoids using scientific jargon that would confuse and frustrate the average reader; his words are easily understood.

Muir also uses very detailed descriptions throughout "Travels in Alaska". Although at times his painstaking description is a plus, at others, he seems to take it a little too far. Numerous times throughout the book, Muir spent a paragraph or two talking about something slightly insignificant. He would go off on a tangent of enthusiasm for something as simple as a sunrise or the rain. While his careful observances make the book enjoyable, the sometimes excessive detail tends to detract from the point he was trying to make. The description also reveals that his heart and soul was in his research; this became very evident upon reading the long and thoughtful descriptions.

"Travels in Alaska" can be appreciated by a wide audience. Muir shines light upon the Alaskan territory, and he is detailed in his account of the many people he meets. Anyone could read the book and find enjoyment learning about Alaska when it was for the most part unsettled. Muir shares with the readers his keen insight upon the various Indian tribes that lived in Alaska. At one point in the book, he gives a very detailed description of one tribe's feasting and dancing. His observances capture exactly what he saw and the feelings these observances evoked in him.

John Muir's writing is of high quality. He incorporates beautiful and creative similes, metaphors, and analogies. His prose is very poetic, which makes it an enjoyable read. For example, Muir says that "when we contemplate the world as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty." His work is also very organized. The book is divided into 3 sections, or parts of his trip, as well as separate chapters devoted to specific subjects. Muir spends one chapter describing his trip to Puget Sound, another on Wrangell Island, etc. The book follows a specific format that ensures that everything is easily followed and understood.

Truthfully, I was impressed with the writing, and the fact that it was nothing like a textbook. It incorporated the literary aspect so well, that the book held my interest whereas a textbook would not have. I had the wrong impression of a scientific novel, and I urge anyone unfamiliar with the genre, to give "Travels in Alaska" a fair try. It may just change your mind about scientific writing.

I confess up front, it's been a few years since I read Muir's Travels in Alaska. Yet significant aspects I remember well. Given Muir's exuberance for life and almost everything he encounters in his travels, one almost looses view of Muir the botanist and geologist. But not quite. Here we find the author contemplating the activity of glaciers and documenting the flora of southeast Alaska. Muir (who tended strongly toward vegetarianism) gleefully entertaining himself by foiling duck hunters. Baffling the locals by happily wandering out into major storms.
The book is a journal of Muir's 1879, 1880, and 1890 trips (he wouldn't mind if we called them adventures) to SE Alaska's glaciers, rivers, and temperate rain forests. He died while preparing this volume for publication.
I remind myself, and anyone reading this, that Muir isn't for every reader. And, as other reviewers have stated, this may not be the volume in which to introduce oneself to the one-of-a-kind John Muir. One reviewer doesn't think that Muir is entirely credible in these accounts. I won't say whether or not this is wrong, but I tend to a different view. For some of us -- and certainly for Muir -- wilderness is a medicine, a spiritual tonic, so to speak. For the individual effected in this way, physical impediments and frailties rather dissolve away when he is alone in wildness. I once heard Graham Mackintosh (author of Into a Desert Place) speak of this. In all of his travels alone in the desert, he doesn't recall having ever been sick. This may not sound credible to some, but I strongly suspect it is true.
If you like Muir's writings, read this book. If you like the stuff of Best Sellers, perhaps you should look elsewhere.

I didn't find this book nearly as good as the previous books, something was definitely missing. I miss the Alex Jensen mysteries which started the series. Hope she brings him back soon.

This is the latest in the Sue Henry Alaskan Mystery Series. In this one Jessie is finally rebuilding her cabin, which was devastated 2 books ago. She has a group of people who are helping her make this go much quicker than the first one. But, things come to a screeching halt as soon as a dead body is found on her property as part of the excavation. This leads to the mystery of who this person is and how they got there. Then there is also something that is found on the body that might tie the skeleton to another unsolved murder.

As part of this story you will again see some of the characters from the past books. You will feel for Jessie as she and 2 others crash into a glacier (not telling who) and one of them dies. You will also be taken on a wild emotional ride at the climax.

Sue Henry continues to paint a wonderful picture in my mind about this part of Alaska and what things are not taken for granted that the rest of us do. As usual there is just a little bit about sled dog racing in this one. I hope there is more in the next.

I have just recently read this book and found it good. The only problem was i suspected who did it from the start. There was also one other thing that bothered me. In the story it said Becker started talking about the girl he was dating, but in Murder On The Iditarod Trail there was something about the wedding-ring status of Cas and Becker. I don't know if i missed something about if he got divorced or Henry forgot about that. I also do like that someone more permanent in Jessie life though I would have liked to see Alex and Jessie back together. I also would like to see in Alex in her next book like one about things in Idaho.

This book ranks up there with Bob Marshall's exploration of the Brooks Range, in my opinion. Sure, there's some parts that need literary polish, but at the core this is an adventure story written by the adventurer. There's not many of those around any more. We're all too busy doing what "Mother Culture" is telling us to do, so we can only dream of doing what the author has done.

I wish the author would do an updated edition with deeper treatment of the feelings and thoughts that he experienced during his adventure. They have to be fascinating!!

DON'T BUY THIS BOOK --- UNLESS --- You want a real life adventure that demonstrates expert survival skills.The ability to navigate a canoe in the ocean, battling the adverse conditions of changing winds,fog and waves. Traveling alone over 300 miles in 45 days with no replenishment of supplies. His writing technique reveals that of a typical outdoorsman being plain spoken and to the point. A laymans knowledge of the perils that exist traveling the Alaskan coast is necessary for a reader to appreciate this book. There are not many who would survive this adventure. Experience unorthodox attempts to counteract loneliness and frustration in accomplishing his goals.

If you are looking for a TRUE adventure story about someone who actually fights for his life on a daily basis and records his experiences,then you will enjoy this book.How many people do you know in this modern era of technology who battle mother nature and explore areas of the world where there are no other people? If you are looking for perfect linguistics and punctuation, then this book is not for you. The auther does not seem to be the type of person who sits in a college and studies the perfect usage of the English language. He is putting his life on the line and wondering how he will survive. I doubt that there are many people today who would rough it in this way. Most people are too lazy and have too many modern conveniences. It is good to know that there is still this type of rare courageous individual in the world today.

While the themes K. deals with in this novel are interesting and important (the vanishing of wilderness; pollution; the morally corrupting impact of capitalism and American mainstream entertainment in particular; the possibility of catastrophic environmental change in our lifetimes), much of this novel reads like a screenplay.

This distracts from K.'s ideas and from the creation of atmosphere....which K. can do so well. It's a shame to have Alaska's wilderness pushed so far to the background (and Australia, which Kesey has visited, dismissed rapidly and superficially early in the book). This is especially so as the human interactions are fairly predictable, as are even the most eccentric of the characters, and as the plot leans heavily on natural events and wild animals, especially near the somewhat frenzied ending.

Compared to earlier works, including the shorter, better focused pieces in Demon Box, Sailor Song is frustrating: on the one hand too short (spookily powerful descriptions of wilderness are cut off, interesting ideas such as the psychic life of indigenous people are only hinted at) and too long (we're given a lot of detail that leads us absolutely nowhere). Has Kesey been let down by his editors?

I read 8 other reviews of this book, and I am still buying it, for the second time. I was captivated by the issues, characters, and story line that was depressingly promissing. Hope. I do agree that all could have been wrapped up differently in the end. It was too quick and well empty. But it is not the joy of the top of the mountain that has us climb. It is the climb. Enjoy the ride! Enjoy Sailors Song.

Up front: I'm a long-time fan of Ken's -- including the videos, the CDs, and his classic periodical SPIT IN THE OCEAN. I liked SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION a lot better as a book than a film. So that's where I'm coming from...

SAILOR SONG is superb, remarkable and unmatched in contemporary literature. Ken's grasp of the human condition is extraordinary: man/woman, inter-family, small town, international, global, you name it and Ken's got it in SAILOR SONG. It's an easier read than NOTION, but not as clearcut as NEST.

So many posts here question the ending; not me. I trust Ken ended this the way he saw fit, like the master he was. Life doesn't end cleanly, even though it begins with promise and evolves with careful plot. I don't think any other writer has addressed the scenario of the poles shifting, so while this isn't quite an "end of the world" tale, surely it's clear why Ken dubbed this his science fiction novel.

The characters are unforgettable, and yes the novel reads like a screenplay because it is so extraordinarily vividly written. There are plot twists and curlicues galore -- that's the skill and scope of Kesey coming across. SAILOR SONG, like his other novels, is brimming with quotable phrases and passages that ache for outboarding and inclusion in BARTLETT'S BOOK OF QUOTATIONS. He's that good.

The scenario overall is unforgettable, and the pace is so beguiling that despite the novel's length; when it was over my ONLY regret was that there wasn't more superb literature to keep me riveted. If you are anxious to be engaged, challenged and rewarded by a book time and again, savor SAILOR SONG to the last drop. There ain't no dregs here, just sweet wonderful language coming from a mind without equal. Ken's passing last November was a loss without measure, but we readers are blessed with these words. Enjoy!

I must say I am stunned by the reviews here on Amazon. I have read all of Sue Henry's mysteries and consider them competent, quick reads but nothing out of the ordinary. I don't in general recommend them to anyone and Henry never springs to mind as a personal favorite mystery writer. I find her writing a bit clumsy, the plotting and description a bit plodding and boring. In fact, the books inspire skimming.

Yes, I like the characters. Yes, I love the whole idea of dog sled racing and the Alaskan setting. This makes the series worthwhile, the hook which draws me in. But I find the whole series rather hackneyed, to be honest. The glowing joy I am reading startles me. Yes, by all means read these and enjoy the Alaskan setting and mystery, but this isn't phenomenal mystery writing at its finest by any means.

At the same time Dana Stabenow is getting far more lukewarm reviews from readers and I find her infinitely superior in characterization, plotting and style. Stabenow's writing glows and her books are the sort that are hard to put down. They are moving and resonant- evocative and yet full of the bite one wants in a good mystery. They do not read like anyone else's novels, which is more than I can say for Henry. Stabenow has a distinct voice and Henry has a novel setting which is almost a gimmick along the lines of tea shop and cat mysteries.

I have read all Henry's mysteries, I will continue to buy and read them. They are decent enough for what they are- quick, light entertainment but not particularly engaging or profound.
Stabenow on the other hand is not only good mystery reading but good writing- someone who can tell a story clearly and beautifully without resorting to the nonsensical, fireworks tricks so much of Modern Literary Fiction has made so common rendering prize winning modern fiction useless as far as enjoyable reading is concerned.

After a couple of earlier books which were not up to Sue Henry's usual standards, she provides a strong entry for the Alaskan Mystery series with her book, Dead North. Jessie is distressed by the destruction of her cabin by fire, as described in the previous book, Beneath the Ashes. While waiting for her cabin to be rebuilt, Jessie is living in a tent which lacks many of the comforts of home. Fortunately a friend has purchased a Winnebago and needs someone to drive it to Alaska for him. Jessie agrees to do so and she departs on what she thinks will be an adventure and a good sight-seeing trip. She meets Maxie, a compatible older woman and they strike up a friendship as they travel north through several RV parks. At the same time, Jessie meets Patrick, a young man with a troubled past who is very secretive about his life yet who appeals to the two women for help. They agree to bring him along with them, but trouble seems to follow them, and they begin to debate the wisdom of taking Patrick under their wing. As usual, this book contains wonderful descriptions of the breath-taking Alaskan and Canadian scenery and some pretty suspenseful chase scenes.

This is the first Sue Henry mystery that I have ever read, thinking that the idea of the dog sled races wouldn't be all that interesting. While this novel doesn't primarily use that aspect of the characters life to forward the plot, I have been really impressed by the author's writing style and attention to detail.
Her sense of environment and character is entracing, and completely draws you into the story. She develops all of the necessary characters really well, an unlike other mystery series, doesn't simply overlook or skip over secondary characters lives. It's quite refreshing.
She builds up an environment of tension quite well, and makes the reader want to know what is going to happen next. I highly recommend this book.

When I was in college, one of my dear friends became paralyzed after a mountain climbing accident. It was a shocking experience because I was very unfamiliar with the sport at the time. I suppose my friend's accident spurred my curiosity but I believe that my early interest in the sport was initiated by fear and wonder. I am fascinated by the mountains that attract those individuals who feel compelled to conquer them. The entire sport enthralls and repells me. I seek to understand it but abhor the senseless loss when something goes wrong and claims the lives of these magnificent men and women, leaving in their wake their loved ones and friends to forever try and rationalize their death.

While those of you felt this book lacked accountability and content, I lack the experience in mountain climbing to be so critical of the stories projected by the author. I was able to experience through my imagination what it must have felt like to live through these mountaineering challenges. I feel no need to ask too many questions in respect to faults, for I know so very little about the sport. I simply held the stories in my mind, reflected on their enormity and danger, and appreciated the skills of rescuers and the drive of certain people to climb to the highest mountain and breathe the thinest of air.

For that, I enjoyed this book. Quite simply, I appreciated reading the stories with my feet planted firmly on my floor.

This book is made up of stories where "what's the worst that can happen?" does. The first, an Alaskan mountaineering epic, leaves the reader amazed that the lone survivor made it; the second, about Scott Fischer on K2, leaves the reader amazed at Fischer's having survived as long as he did; and the third, Potterfield's own story, spawned much heated discussion and controversy among climbers. Clearly, Potterfield fell because he lost his grip on the rock, but why did he fall to the end of the rope? Did his belayer drop him...? That would certainly explain why he doesn't analyze the accident in more detail. In any case, the last story is the best, not only because it explodes those dearly-held beliefs in fainting before impact, but because it gives a detailed chronicle of a difficult high-angle rescue. Unfortunately, Potterfield does not write very well, but I suspect most readers will hardly notice.

Because I know I will never attempt to climb a high altitiude mountain, I find myself browsing the mountaineering section of my favorite bookstore. This time I found a book that hit the nerve in my body which is so wanting of adventure, triumph and heartbreak, but only vicariously. The book, In The Zone, tells us about the all consuming desire to reach an almost unreachable goal- the top of the mountain. K2 is the second highest point on earth and the most deadly. The story is told about two men waiting and attempting for weeks to reach the summit. Why? For purely selfish reasons. Perhaps to prove to themselves that they CAN do it (even if one of them did dislocate his shoulder and was seriously compromised), or just to say they were there. In the Denali range, on a mountain called Foraker, three friends start off for what seems to be your basic quickie- 3-4 day mountain climb by 3 strong experienced climbers. It ends in tragedy. There are two other stories in this book. One is about the author himself. The mountains are not sanctuaries, those you carry on your back in the form of a tent and a few other articles of food and clothing. The mountains are a big, challenging death trap, unless one is very lucky. As a surgical RN at a busy Northwest trauma hospital, I'm intimately familiar, and rather callous, to some horribly injured bodies. Having read the stories of these expiditions I find it incredible that people sometimes survive in the face of blinding windstorms, snowstorms, freezing cold, burning sun and on and on. Most of all, these folks are an inspiration to celebrate life. A must read for those who seek adventure

I cruised Alaska this summer and took a facinating tour of the Skagway Red Light district. After the tour, I wanted to learn more, thusly I hit a bookstore and found this book. I was thrilled to find it, as I recognized several of the names (Klondike Kate, PeaHull Annie, etc) and was looking forward to finding out more. The book promised not to leave out any "lusty and licentious parts". That couldn't be more wrong.

I found out more information about the men of the Kondike and their wenching habits, than the actual women themselves. In this case, my wonderfully guided tour gave me more information about how the women actually conducted their business (lots of interesting info about their personal hygene that are no where to be found in this book. what kind of book on prostitution doesn't talk about birth control methods and their ways of preventing VD? VD is barely brought up).

If I wanted to read about the men of the Klondike, I could pick up any random book in the Klondike History section of any bookstore. The women are often the ones forgotten about, and deserve better treatement in the annuls of history, most especially in a book supposedly about those women. If you want some good information on this type of history, go up to Alaska and take any one of the amazing Red Light District tours. Don't waste your money on this book.

I bought this book at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks bookstore. My dad, Class of '51 at UAF (we were there for his 50th reunion), had told me some stories about "The Line" and he had had his first job with the gold mining operations, so I was curious. There's not a lot of gory detail here. It's about people and places, but it's quite a colorful history. Though never officially legal, prostitution was tolerated and it flourished in Alaska for more than 50 years. And some very famous characters pop up, like Wyatt Earp and the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Definitely worth the time.

In the boomtowns of the Alaska-Yukon stampedes, where gold dust was common currency, the rarest commodity was an attractive woman, and her company could be costly. Author Lael Morgan takes you into the heart of the gold rush. Authentic, humorous and sympathetic. B/W photos.

As interesting as this book is, it cannot be considered the definitive work on the controversial Cook. Bradford Washburn is one of the most important names in American mountaineering. His photographs rival Ansel Adams. However, in publishing this book at 91, with a co-author, he seems to have failed to source his material. Robert M. Bryce published several years ago an exhaustive treatment of Cook and his claims. He consulted Washburn, who wrote him a note warmly congratulating Bryce on his work when the book was published. However, when this book was published, which lacks footnotes, Washburn failed to credit Bryce in any way. This was a complete error, as his co-author admitted; he submitted a bibiography that identifies Bryce as a source. But when reached by the Washington Post, and asked to explain the omission of Bryce's book, Washburn told the Post, "I don't know Bryce" and "to the best of my knowledge I've never laid eyes on his book. But you've got to remember you're dealing with a 91-year-old guy here." The sad fact is that Washburn is probably telling the truth based on his present memory, but that memory is just not very good. Washburn's coauthor admits that he "naturally" drew facts and sequences from Bryce's book, since it was both the most comprehensive and the most recent biography of Cook. The entire controversy is well covered in a February 4. 2002 article in the Washington Post. Apparently the omission of any mention of Bryce was due to someone who lives at Washburn's retirement home retyping the bibliography.

There is no doubt that Washburn drew on a vast amount of his own research for this book, although how much he wrote and how much was written by his coauthor is not clear. It is also clear that he reached his conclusion concerning Cook's false claim to have climbed Mount McKinley long before Bryce started his work. This is not a case of deliberate plagarism, and it not clear that Bryce's text was copied. However, it is unfortunate, that such a distinguished career ends on this note.

Nevertheless, if you are really interested in this subject, and Cook is very interesting, you need to read Bryce's book. He has footnoted his sources, discussed the matter at greater detail and his conclusion seems irrefutable.

Pete did a wonderful job in this book, Cook clearly was a fraud. No more question in my mind. Hope Pete gets in touch with us soon, its been far to long. Great Work! Ron & Anita

Washburn is a thorough detective who leaves no doubt Cook was a fraud. His photography from airplanes, and the illustrations show the true scale of the mountains, peaks, glaciers, etc. surrounding McKinley. This makes it easy to understand why his companions back at camp immediately recognized Cook's claim as a lie. They knew he could not have covered all that distance, climbed that mother of all mountains, and then come back in so few days.

What fascinates me is how Cook got the public to believe it by working the media. His magazine stories and photos, books, lectures, all created the illusion that he had done something spectacular. But he had not! He only went camping ...

Washburn is a remarkable individual, a fine writer, and a photographer on a par with Ansel Adams. This work is a masterpiece from a mountaineering genius. It is too bad he had nothing more than Cook to use as a foil.

By the way - the publisher made a serious mistake using the smallest type font used for body text I have ever seen in a book. One could increase font size several points and still have generous margins. What were they thinking? This is tiny text! A flaw I'll try to overlook from this magnificent end to the Cook debate.

As a 50 year resident of Ketchikan, I was curious how a "tree hugger" would portray the fight for the Tongass--known in these parts as the fight for a reasonable standard of living. Ms. Durbin quotes environmental organizer Donald Ross on page 172: "It doesn't take much, when you're a congressman from Kansas and you've never heard of the Tongass, to get you to vote for trees." When all is said and done, that was the tactic of the environmentalists. On page 246, she says, "Most who did [find job after the Sitka mill closed] were forced to make do with a lower standard of living than they had become accustomed to on pulp mill wages." How easily she dismisses the plight of those who live in the Tongass. There's a lot Ms. Durbin doesn't mention like the fact that only the wealthy and refugees from the 60's can afford to experience up close & personal the pristine beauty of the nation's First Park. The environmentalists have won. Sierra Club, kiss my ax!

I have lived in the Tongass,, The Tongass is being sold out to the tour package industry,, this industry is no different than any other. The people who live here through its most harsh winters are being dictated to by feel good (my Disney Land) visitors. Many wonderful Alaskan familys have been displaced because of this myth.

Journalist Kathie Durbin has written one of the finest investigative works that I have read. I'm a lawyer with biology and chemistry degrees and I find the extensive endnotes, legal references and her penchant to seek out and cite primary sources refreshing.

There is nothing here that supports any label of the author, save that of professional. This work has disturbed me for years. I have become more active in the fight to preserve the ONLY temperate rain forest left in North America because of her clear and concise use of well-supported facts.

The most disturbing fact not in the book is that the lumber industry is now nothing but a byproduct of the pulp industry.

Ms. Durbin shows us how Salmon spawning grounds destroyed out of greed and carelessness by logging right up to the spawning streams and destroying the shade that the Salmon's Redd's require, and by the disposal of low pH waste into bays and estuaries and by the effects of runoff from clearcuts (damaging sub-arctic land and water: a fragile environment, indeed).

There is no room to debate the facts...only the policy. Calling this work or its author names simply illustrates the old adage: if you can't win on the facts attack the fact-finder.

Read this book. ANWAR may be the cause celeb today, but the damage to the Tongass is going on NOW.