Posts Tagged ‘Franklin expedition’
Confusing poor John Franklin with conquistador Hernan Cortes
The 2014 discovery of Erebus increased interest in the Arctic, where climate change is more in evidence than anywhere else, while inciting commentary that has sometimes gone over the top. “What the Franklin Expedition glorified,” Roy Scranton wrote recently in The Nation, “was the war of Man—white men—against Nature. Franklin was indeed a tragic figure,…
Read MoreExplorer John Rae lives! Still going strong at age 202. . .
In Stromness, Orkney, the John Rae Society will unveil a plaque this afternoon (Sept. 30) at the Hall of Clestrain on the occasion of Rae’s 202nd birthday. Born in 1813, yes! the explorer lives on. Awarded by Historic Scotland, the National Commemorative Plaque recognizes Rae for having solved the two great mysteries of 19th-century Arctic…
Read MoreWhen will Franklin searchers discover that dead body on Erebus?
The next step in searching the Erebus, according to Parks Canada’s chief underwater archaeologist, is “to start exploring the inside in more depth, because that is where 97% of the artifacts are, where all the information that is going to tell us what happened is going to be.” Quoted in the digital magazine Tabaret, based…
Read MoreNext time out, divers will probably find human remains on the Erebus
What happens next with the Erebus? I’ve been thinking about this because tonight will find me just north of Toronto, speaking to roughly 120 women about Searching for Franklin: The Lost Ships, the Discoveries, and the Woman Who Created a Legend. The occasion is the celebratory May Dinner of the Aurora/Newmarket branch of the Canadian…
Read MoreSearching for Franklin leads Our Hero to University Women
Originally, I had planned to give a talk entitled Nothing is More Fun Than Chasing the New History. But then came the finding of the Erebus. And participating in the documentary called Franklin’s Lost Ships. And people saying, well, this latest discovery is fun. But what does it mean? Why does it matter? So I’ve…
Read MoreOur Hero goes public on Franklin, the Scots, and the Irish
The hue and cry is deafening. Where can we see Our Hero? Where is he appearing next? Last night, Ken entertained the Canadian chapter of The Explorers Club. He talked about Chasing John Franklin into the Northwest Passage. You missed that? Not to worry. On the evening of March 4, Ken will give a presentation…
Read MoreNew edition sheds light on explorer who discovered the Fate of Franklin
Hats off to the folks at Touchwood Editions. They’re launching this new edition of John Rae’s Arctic Correspondence on the same day, September 30, as Rae is to be welcomed into Westminster Abbey. Yes, these are author’s copies. I contributed a Foreword to this edition. While you can pick up a used copy of the…
Read MoreHow Lady Franklin led Charles Dickens to disgrace himself
In Lady Franklin’s Revenge, I devote 130 pages to showing not only how Lady Franklin orchestrated the search for Sir John Franklin, but how she manipulated public opinion after explorer John Rae returned with the first news of the fate of her husband’s expedition. In this excerpt, we find her getting Charles Dickens involved. .…
Read MoreArctic explorer heading for University of Calgary
A big shout-out to folks at the University of Calgary. On short notice, they have found a superb venue for my August 30 presentation on John Rae, the Arctic explorer who discovered the fate of the Franklin expedition. Originally, we had intended to use the Calgary Central Library, but flood damage precluded that. Nothing daunted,…
Read MoreReturn to Rae Strait
In August 1854, during a single prodigious Arctic expedition, the Scottish Orcadian superman John Rae solved the two great mysteries of 19th-century Arctic exploration. First, beating his way overland with his two hardiest men, an Inuk and an Ojibway, he discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage, the only channel navigable by the sailing…
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