Posts Tagged ‘Dead Reckoning’
2017 Greatest Hits feature Scotland, Atwood, and the Arctic
Last day of the year, I find myself driven out of bed at 5 am to look back at 2017, and to say hey to readers who have been checking in here. We’re up over 20,000 views per month — a far cry from pop-culture blogging numbers, but I’ll take it. And I’ll defer to…
Read MoreBeechey Island whiteout inspires Dead Reckoning video
Scenes from September, voyaging Out of the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada. Day 8: Beechey Island For visiting Beechey Island, the best-known historical site in the Arctic, the day was perfect: cool and overcast. We went ashore in zodiacs and climbed the rocky, snow-swept slope to the graves of the first three sailors to die…
Read MoreArctic expert Kenn Harper sings the unsung in solidarity with Dead Reckoning heroes
Over at The Arctic Book Review, Kenn Harper begins by declaring that I have “produced yet another worthy northern book.” Harper, an Arctic historian and formerly Denmark’s honorary consul in Nunavut, continues: “Dead Reckoning sets out to tell, as its sub-title proclaims, “The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage.” The book is peopled with the…
Read MoreOur Hero sacrifices modesty to preserve insightful review in Cyberspace
Dead Reckoning offers lively account of Inuit contributions to discovery of Northwest Passage Review by Charlie Smith (Georgia Strait, Oct. 22, 2017) Charles Dickens is deservedly seen as the greatest novelist in Victorian England. The author of such masterpieces as David Copperfield and Great Expectations was also an influential social activist, campaigning for various reforms,…
Read MoreDead Reckoning hailed as transformative masterpiece
By Dave Obee Victoria Times-Colonist Oct. 15, 2017 Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage By Ken McGoogan HarperCollins, 438 pp., $33.99 The Arctic is not the place it used to be; climate change is taking care of that. It is still a challenging part of Canada, but warmer weather and the relative…
Read MoreDead Reckoning inspires first-ever book launch at Beechey Island
First came the book launch at Beechey Island. We were sailing through the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada when, thanks to a myriad of volunteers, the party just erupted. OK, we didn’t party ON the island, site of the graves of the first three men to die on the 1845 Franklin expedition. That would have…
Read MoreHere’s why we’re excited to visit the site of Franklin’s found Erebus
Parks Canada divers will resume exploring Erebus a few days from now, around the time we reach the site with Adventure Canada. That’s the word on the street. Thanks to Parks Canada, we will have a live feed that will enable us to witness discoveries as they happen. Why is this exciting? Well, I offer…
Read MoreSailing Out of the Northwest Passage launches Dead Reckoning
More Dead Reckoning events are in the works. But at this point, Our Hero is sailing with Adventure Canada Out of the Northwest Passage from Sept. 7 to 23. After that, the confirmed schedule looks like this: Sept. 27: Toronto: Ben McNally Oct. 1: Stratford Writers’ Festival Oct. 14, 15: Calgary Wordfest Oct. 17: Victoria:…
Read MoreAdvance readers discover ‘a brilliant reclaiming of history’
The advance readers are encouraging. Bob Rae writes: “Finally! A page-turning book about Arctic exploration that puts the heroism and leadership of indigenous people at the centre of the story.” Ronald Wright calls it “a lively and gripping tale of heroism, folly and icy death . . . by highlighting the role of the Inuit,…
Read MoreThis Canadian moment symbolizes achievement & reconciliation
Here I stand on King William Island in August, 1999. Matheson Point. Behind me is Rae Strait. Three of us were about to cross that strait — Louie Kamookak, Cameron Treleaven, and I — to see if we could find a cairn built in 1854 on Canada’s Arctic coast. We were bent on honoring the…
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