Friday, July 30, 2010


THE ALASKAN by Robert Lund -- PART 1

The paperback edition of The Alaskan by Robert Lund on the right above was still in print and available when I first came to Alaska in 1971. It soon went out of print. I read it with fascination while on Adak Island in the Aleutians. It's one of the reasons I became interested in Seward. I believe it's a neglected, underrated novel that depicts an uncanny accurate view of what it was like in small coastal town like Seward during the depression. It also is an accurate portrayal of the kind of person who came to Alaska during the depression to start a new life and reinvent himself.

Over the years, I've collected quite a bit of information about this book and the author who wrote it -- Robert Lund. In the 1970's, I met Robert Lund's brother who lived in Anchorage. He told me with certainty that The Alaskan is extremely autobiographical, that his brother actually lived through much of what he wrote.

Keep posted here. I'll be adding much more information about this excellent, neglected novel and the man who wrote it.

2011 SEWARD LIBRARY BOOK TALK


WELCOME TO THE 2011
SEWARD COMMUNITY LIBRARY BOOK TALK

Our theme this year is

ALASKA: THE REAL VS. THE IMAGINED

We'll be reading the following books in this order:

THE ALASKAN by Robert Lund
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011

NORTH TO THE FUTURE by Dermot Cole
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011

ORDINARY WOLVES by Seth Kantner
Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011

RAISING OURSELVES by Velma Wallis
Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011

TISHA by Anne Purdy (as told to Robert Specht)
Thursday, March 3, 2011

Book talks will take place in the basement of the Seward Community on the dates listed above from 6:30 until about 8:30 or so.