Northwest Passages: Lynn Schooler

AIR DATE: Thursday, February 24th 2011
POSTED BY: EMILY HARRIS
Photo credit: Lynn Schooler

Lynn Schooler began his first book to remember his friend Michio Hoshino, an internationally renowned photographer who was killed by a grizzly. The Blue Bear starts this way:

I live on a boat in Juneau. As I write this, the ship's radio is muttering the weather forecast for the next three days. Outside, a cold wind pries at the windows and whispers down the stovepipe. It is December, a few days before the winter solstice, and a thin skim of green-and-black ice covers the surface of the harbor. It has been snowing for several days, and the droning voice on the radio warns of an impending gale that will bring strong winds, warmer air, and more rain.

Reading more, and his other works, I am struck by the enormous role weather plays in Alaskan life and Schooler's writing. Luckily, he's eloquent. Here's his record of winter, 2006-2007.

Winter just kept growing harder. Cold air flowing down from the glaciers pooled in the cove, and the temperature plummeted, falling so low that sawdust froze into a fist-sized knot around the spindle of the table saw, preventing me from raising or lowering the blade. Storm after storm sailed in from the gulf, until by Christmas nearly twenty feet of snow had fallen. It was the worst winter in Juneau's recorded history, and by January the land had begun to starve. Deer, driven from the forests, died by the dozen on the beaches. A hungry wolf took my neighbor's dog.

At that time, Schooler was struggling — building a home by hand to shelter a marriage he worried was falling apart. He caught a glimpse of himself in a shop window and wondered who the old coot looking out at him might be. To find out, he set off on a solo trip across a remote piece of the Alaskan coast. He recounts that journey — into the wilderness and the human heart — in his memoir Walking Home.

Schooler's life became tied to Alaska when he was a teenager, when his family moved there from West Texas. His dad was chasing the oil boom. One January he put the family's belongings in a reconfigured oil field truck and drove north. The trip to took a month and brought Schooler into a brand new world. Later, scoliosis set him apart from other teenagers. His internal retreat drew him to the woods. 

In addition to chronicling his personal experiences in the wilderness, Schooler wrote a fascinating history of a nearly forgotten, Civil War battle that happened in Alaskan waters three months after the South's official surrender. The Confederate warship Shenandoah sank two dozen New England whalers working the Pacific, and the course of history changed.

Last year Schooler published his first novel, Heartbroke Bay, set in goldrush Alaska. He is also an award-winning photographer and still sometimes works as a wilderness guide.

Have you spent any time in Alaska? Have you read any of Schooler's work? What books about people's interactions with the wild stick with you?

Tagged as: alaska · books · lynn schooler · northwest passages · writing

Photo credit: Lynn Schooler

i love  books  about  nature  except  if  sarah  palin  writes  them

DFUND —

Alaska  is a  grand  wilderness  where  the  real  frontiier  spirit  still  survives (unlike   Oregon)>.    the  best  show  I have  ever  seen  on  OPB  was  about  a  man  who  lived  by  himself  in  the  Alaska  wilderness >.  it  had   great  themes  of  self  reliance  and  indivudual  effort >.  I  wish  OPB  had  other  such  programs.  OPB  usually  airs  this  program  during  the  times  they  are  seeking  contributions.

DFUND —

Hi Lynn! I love your writing! The blend of history, reflection, and your  real life journey are captivating and beautiful. I tend to read mostly non-fiction. I would add to a list of favorite authors about the NW: John McFee's "Coming Into the Country", The history series of Central/E. OR, "Thunder Over the Ochoco", by Gale Ontko, various books by Barry Lopez, as well as William Sullivan's work on OR. The book "Don Coyote" and "Honey in the Horn" are other gems. Thanks for your work! Composer/guitarist- Cam Newton-3rd generation Oregon Native.

camnewton —

I've read both of Lynn's books, recomendations from Claire Wallace (he knows her well).  I'm a bit of a photographer myself, and absolutely loved all of his stories in the Blue Bear about guiding Michio and others in some horrible conditions on the inside passage and just making it clear of a bubble netting feeding of humpback whales.  Lynn really ads some good history to the setting and allows you to visulize yourself exactly where he was.

alphonse20 —

Though millions of words have been written about Alaska, BLUE BEAR is a real stand out.  I lived in Alaska (the Interior) in the 80s...and go back (to Southeast) at least once a year.   BLUE BEAR captures the place, and the kind of people you find there, remarkably.

It's right there on my Alaskan favorites shelf, beside another book from Juneau - Sheila Nickerson's DISAPPEARANCE: A MAP. 

chuckinportland —

Michio's ultimate trust in life and that things would work out, ultimately ended in his death. He was crazy to sleep outside when there were repeated warning signs of a crazy bear.

alphonse20 —

Mr. Schooler is one, of what it seems to be thousands of writers, whom have or try to tell stories about Alaska. However, he is correct.....almost correct about the tidal forces of Alaska which really extend for almost a thousand miles from Juneau through British Columbia to Olympia, Washington.  As senior pilot for the Alaska Marine Highway System for 29 years, I know these waters first hand.  The inside passage to Alaska from Seattle are some of the most challenging hydraulic forces on the planet.  In short, these waters are perhaps the one of the most exciting and scenic places in the world. As your guest knows, Alaska makes an impact on a person's life......forever!

RAOUL —

Not too gushy please.

robertbeal —

I had not heard of that civil war battle.

The poems of Robert Service are fun:

http://www.potw.org/archive/potw22.html

Jack London wrote some books, and the early flying stories are extraordinary, of Wiley Post, Carl Ben Eielson, and Will Rogers.

Tom D Ford —

Though I've been to Alaska numerous times, I don't think anyone can grasp the place quickly.  A wonderful story of one who stayed for decades is the book by the man who built his own cabin in the boonies in the '60s, lived in it by himself for 30 or 40 years, and photographed / wrote about what he experienced.  He also filmed his cabin-building project by himself, back when movie cameras were wind-up affairs using real film.

The story, including much of that camera work, is retold from time to time during OPB-TV pledge drives.  Wish I remembered the author's name, but doubtless someone will be able to plug in that information here.  It's a great book, enriched with wonderful photography by the author as well as interesting observations--on both Alaska and philosophy--by the cabin builder / photographer / philosopher.

pkollas —

It was Dick Proenneke, "Alone in the Wilderness"

freeny —

I lived in/around Fairbanks for 31 years before my recent relocation to Portland.  I can attest to the sense of mystery, grandeur and vast  space which Lynn describes.  I arrived in the 1970s to work on the Alaska pipeline.  It was early fall; the rainy season having subsided and before the cold set in.  A time of year when the aurora becomes visible at night, the skies are clear and cobalt by day, the mountaintops have their first couple of snow dustings, the valleys appear to stretch into forever, the birch and alder are just beginning to turn golden, and the air is pure and fresh.  There is a palpable spirit of timelessness.  It was there that I was literally imprinted on Alaska.  It will always be in my heart.

Aurora54 —

I remember meeting Lyn the first year I moved to Alaska in 1993 at the Alaska Bar in Juneau. You remined me that I was a "Cheechako" to the great land, and you were grumpy toward me-I suppose in protection of Alaska from the Outside. I lived in Alaska exploring the beauty of this special place for 13 years so I think my Cheechako state has lessened.

The blue bears are a wonder and it would frustrate me when I would hear hunters discussing how they wanted kill these magical creatures.

I look forward reading your book.

pattitag —

"Cheechako"

If I recall correctly you became a "sourdough" at two years. I became one around 1958 or so.

Tom D Ford —

The question is: Does he have all of this history in his head whilst walking or did all the history come in whilst researching for the book?

alphonse20 —

Reading Blue Blear gave a whole new dimension to our feeling for Alaska. Yet another great discovery there! We cruised to Alaska two summers ago in a 40 foot sailboat and back south last summer, offshore this time because our engine was kaput!   The Last Shot was great as well.   Now we are putting Lynn Schooner's other two books on our on board library but saving them for our sail north this summer.   

Will Lynn Schooner be at the Fisher Poets Gathering this weekend in Astoria?

Carol McCreary —

I'm skeptical of comments like "it's all been done before, just copy the style and anyone can write" - 

I'm not going to put much stock in with someone who can't put their own sweat, work and mind-power into their writing when i can get that same facile commentary on TV and the moo-vees - in other words, ersatz and voyeuristic writing is seldom if ever enlightening - it can't be because it is not willing to really probe the edges, it just goes for the gooey, twinkie-like center, and a very temporary satisfaction -

forgotten before the last page

- familiar territory in a familiar light - hardly novel, eh?

one man's journey is the smallest of journeys- good for him maybe, but if that is all there is of the reader's journey too, especially when the reader didn't actually take that journey, that life is lacking - romancing the book

disappointing interview, disappointing interviewee

sure, not everything is great literature, so at least this guy seems to have the humility to admit he's derivative - 

Iolo —

Lynn -- We met you 20 odd year ago when you took my husband and I out in your boat to drop us off (along with our kayaks) to go on a 10 day kayaking trip.  We still remember how helpful you were and how atuned you were to nature (and especially how good you were at spotting whales!)  It doesn't surprise me that you have written a book about your encounters with the wildernness in Alaska bringing it to life for others.

We look forward to reading your book.

magpie —

There is a great 1922 movie, Nanook of the North, which is a silent documentary of the life of an eskimo and his family, and is considered the first example of a documentary movie and which set the bar for how to do documentaries. I very highly recommend it.

Tom D Ford —

Comments are now closed.



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