Studying up for Alaska Cruise

Someone in another thread raised a related issue... that the cruise lines have pretty much eliminated naturalists on board the seven day cruises (other than on Glacier Bay day) so the reward from "studying up" had become even more significant.

Princess still has them and so does Celebrity. Not sure of the others.

Glacier Bay has Park Rangers come onboard that is mandated by the Park Service.

bicker... right there with you about research and education in advance. It will make the trip that much richer. I've been to Alaska several times for work besides the cruise we did and am still researching this next cruise up there.

I attempted to read Michener's Alaska before our first Alaska cruise in 2007, but never got past the ice age in the first chapter

This was going to be my 1st suggestion. It is worth sticking to and reading to the end. Especially through the salmon packing days. For example learning about that would make visiting a place like DIPAC in Juneau a lot more meaningful.

Here is a useful web site for how to pronounce places and things in Alaska:

Alaska Pronunciation

Also Pac. NW Pronunciation Even includes how to pronounce Sequim . :D

if you are interested in Alaskan history and Europeans prior to belonging to the US...look for Russians in Alaska. Under the Russians, Sitka...then know as Arkangel was the capitol...Fascinating history. Another author to look at is Helen Hegener. She has written several histories about areas of Alaska....She can be found on Amazon. Look up the Alaska National Geographic store....It is near the RR in Anchorage and it is a wonderful source. They have a website and their book selection is amazing. There are books written specifically for the geology of Denali....You can find it all....:) have fun browsing....

This was going to be my 1st suggestion. It is worth sticking to and reading to the end.

Call me crazy but (knowing Michener didn't make up the science) I'm finding the first chapter to be quite interesting - a supplement to my planned "hard" reading.

Only because Michener's book couldn't be fact checked with witnesses about the ice age.

Do a query here on his book and you'll find it's not well respected as an accurate presentation of Alaskan history.

Historical fiction doesn't mean you can make up history.

Historical fiction, by its very nature, requires fabrication. Otherwise use of the term "fiction" is incorrect. Dramatic licence authorizes all manner of creativity excepting that for which can be demonstrably disproven.

Now 40 years old but still one of the best reads you'll ever have on Alaska, John McPhee's Coming Into the Country is phenomenal for getting a feel for the place. Highly, highly recommended.

Historical fiction, by its very nature, requires fabrication. Otherwise use of the term "fiction" is incorrect. Dramatic licence authorizes all manner of creativity excepting that for which can be demonstrably disproven.

Your original post mentioned grounding yourself and to achieve a greater understanding of Alaska and educational resources.

From Northen Aurora a couple of years ago:

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A few weeks ago I had a discussion with another Fairbanks resident about Michener's Alaska, and realized that the topic of this book hadn't been raised on this forum for several years.

While Michener fans always respond that they know that they are reading fiction, when a few historical facts are intertwined with fiction it is extremely difficult for many to determine what is accurate and what is not. It seems to be nearly impossible for some folks to erase what they have read. The number of historical inaccuracies is incredible in this book, and range from pre-European contact, the Russian era, the numerous gold rushes, the issues in the statehood movement and so on and so on.

This inability to forget what has been read rises several times each summer at the Wickersham House Museum in Fairbanks when someone visiting the museum declares that Judge Wickersham was a crooked judge. Each time this happens the source of the information is Michener's Alaska which includes a fictional account of the McKenzie - Noyes scandal in Nome. The visitor assumes that Wickersham was the judge. Of course they have no idea how many federal judges were in Alaska in 1901-1902 (the correct answer is 3), and in fact Wickersham was the federal judge who was sent to Nome after the scandal to handle the aftermath. Of course, these folks also believe that Nome is located on the Yukon River.

If would feel more charitable about the book if I thought that the book at least provided some sense of what we who actually live here experience. But alas, Michener can't even accurately depict what it feels like in the Interior of Alaska to experience -50F. Michener actually spent a few days in Eagle, Alaska (on the Yukon River), where the then-president of the Eagle Historical Society had to host him at her house, during a period of extreme cold. But when he describes the experience of extreme cold in the book he again writes total fiction (actually, the real experience probably wasn't dramatic enough for the book).

Essentially, I just don't understand how reading this book either enhances or prepares someone for a trip to Alaska.

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Mcphee's Coming into the Country is a great portrait (not always complimentary ) of Alaska during the pipeline boom when we had money shooting out of every orifice. It's not filed under fiction.

I did read over the description of McPhee's book. It doesn't sound like anything close to what I'd be interested in, seemingly far too focused on the modern era (post-European contact), on modern history, on modern culture, and on politics, but thanks for the recommendation.

I did read over the description of McPhee's book. It doesn't sound like anything close to what I'd be interested in, seemingly far too focused on the modern era (post-European contact), on modern history, on modern culture, and on politics, but thanks for the recommendation.

Look for resources regarding the Tlingit and Haida people and their folkways. This is one book I'm familiar with - https://www.amazon.com/Tlingit-Tales-Potlatch-Totem-Pole/dp/0879611537/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0879611537&pd_rd_r=1BHTBAT363WZ5VZVCJCQ&pd_rd_w=LHy1v&pd_rd_wg=cNK5K&psc=1&refRID=1BHTBAT363WZ5VZVCJCQ - but there are certainly numerous others.

Here's an account of John Muir's travels in SE Alaska, free if you have a Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Days-John-Samual-Young-ebook/dp/B004TS9LOU/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Finally, way, way outside your wish list, but a terrific read nonetheless, is The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon's novel set in an alternate history in which the State of Israel fails in 1948 and a Jewish homeland is carved out of Southeast Alaska, with Sitka as its capital (with 2 million people.) https://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel-P-S/dp/0007149832/ref=sr_1_1

Of course anything by Jack London is going to have connections with SE Alaska and the Klondike.

Hey bUU, here are some books of Alaska recommended by Alaskans.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/06/24/the-top-10-alaska-books-and-tons-more-to-add-to-your-reading-list/

There's an attached link to all the books that were submitted, some gloss some dross.

Good on you for your wanting knowledge of the state before arriving, other than where are the cheapest t-shirts.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/06/24/the-top-10-alaska-books-and-tons-more-to-add-to-your-reading-list/

 

Good on you for your wanting knowledge of the state before arriving, other than where are the cheapest t-shirts.

#4 on this list is an exceptional read. "Where the Sea Breaks its Back" About Vitus Bering and Georg Steller's trip from Russia to Alaska in 1741/42. They landed on Kayak Island that you may sail past.

It is, indeed, neat to see when folks express an interest in learning more about Alaska than just what you get from the cruise brochures.

One of the books I purchased was

The Alaska Cruise Handbook: A Mile-by-Mile Guide 2012 edition by Joe Upton

It's got some great descriptions of what you can see from the ship, traveling through the Inside Passage, and a nice fold-out map.

One of the books I purchased was

The Alaska Cruise Handbook: A Mile-by-Mile Guide 2012 edition by Joe Upton

It's got some great descriptions of what you can see from the ship, traveling through the Inside Passage, and a nice fold-out map.

We have this book too & my son, 8, can barely put it down. (He loves non-fiction.)

From the description of the excursion to which I was referring earlier:

... explore the rustic town of Caribou Crossing (Carcross). Snap a quick photo of the world's smallest desert, and enjoy the tales of the Klondike Gold rush provided by your guide throughout your journey.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Carcross,+YT/Caribou+Crossing+Trading+Post/@60.1800655,-134.7397634,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x51550bf452cd3023:0xbed32878aeaa519f!2m2!1d-134.7073506!2d60.1675851!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0xa8fbdc4a9095d894!2m2!1d-134.7026638!2d60.1948577!3e0

The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon's novel set in an alternate history

As a big Harry Turtledove Alt-Hist fan that just sounds slam dunk interesting. Going to have to see if I can get it on my Nook.

It is worth sticking to and reading to the end. Especially through the salmon packing days.

Past that point in the book it became noticeably less "worth reading".

Look for resources regarding the Tlingit and Haida people and their folkways. This is one book I'm familiar with - https://www.amazon.com/Tlingit-Tales-Potlatch-Totem-Pole/dp/0879611537/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0879611537&pd_rd_r=1BHTBAT363WZ5VZVCJCQ&pd_rd_w=LHy1v&pd_rd_wg=cNK5K&psc=1&refRID=1BHTBAT363WZ5VZVCJCQ - but there are certainly numerous others.

Here's an account of John Muir's travels in SE Alaska, free if you have a Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Days-John-Samual-Young-ebook/dp/B004TS9LOU/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Alaska-Biographical-Introduction-John-ebook/dp/B000FC271I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1484403581&sr=1-1&keywords=muir+alaska

I didn't find it readable. I'll try your recommendation next.

Somehow I tripped over this one:

The Nature of Southeast Alaska

by some combination of: Rita M. O'Clair, Robert H. Armstrong, Richard Carstensen. (I say some combination because there are 3 editions and I think the lead author is different on each one.)

3rd edition is available on Kindle but one of the reviews complained the color photos were gone, so I found and bought both the original and the 2nd ("revised") editions. I'm not sure what the reviewer was unhappy about, there are only a few photos, period, in 2 small sections of color pages. Nearly all thee illustrations are black-and-white line drawings, which I could NOT use to identify anything I was looking at in real life. While it seems to have been written for biologists, there is enough humor to keep it from being boring, and the author goes into a lot of depth on the effects of glaciation, the interaction of flora and fauna, the tremendous variety of habitats, and the unique ecostructure. I am about 1/3 of the way through and learning a lot. (And so far I can not find ANY differences between the 1st and 2nd editions.)

I am a big nerd, so I am loving this thread. I also find it fun to read/study up on a place before I visit. I second a lot of the recommendations already posted. I just ordered a book called A Wolf Called Romeo. It's a true story about a wolf who would come into Juneau and hang out with the local dogs and even interact with people. I read somewhere that the author comes on the ship when we are in Juneau, so I thought it would be a fun read.

By the way, Sequim88, I graduated from Sequim High School in 1988. Small world. =)

Here's my Alaska reading list (not all non-fiction)

The aforementioned A Wolf Called Romeo (see above)

The Alaska Cruise Handbook by Joe Upton

Alaska Days by John Muir

To Build a Fire and other stories by Jack London

Klondike Women by Melanie Mayer

Alaska by James Michener

Bad Blood by Dana Stabenow (most recent book in the Kate Shugak series. Stabenow's new book, Less Than A Treason, will be released on our sailing date, so I'm looking forward to reading that one on the ship.)

And, of course, I've read (out-loud because it's more fun) The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service.