Hello Alaska history fans, let’s check out Call of the Wild!
It’s been a busy few months for us, which is why my blog posts have been sporadic. As many of you know, our 4-year-old grandson, Toben, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2016. He began aggressive treatments in September – they finished the end of April with the cancer in remission. He will be on chemo treatments at home with occasional clinic visits for the next two to three years, but the prognosis is good that he will fully recover and be cancer free. He will be starting kindergarten this fall just like a normal little boy.
While in California helping Toben and his family this winter, I read The Call of the Wild by Jack London for the first time. It’s the story of a big dog named Buck who is dognapped from his comfortable home in California and sent north to be a work/sled dog during the Klondike gold rush.
What a great story! I just knew that Alaska history fans would love it, too, so I decided to publish it under the Aunt Phil umbrella (the work is in the public domain). I also researched a bit and found about a dozen short stories that London wrote at the beginning of his career that appeared in The Overland Monthly magazine in 1899-1900. I included these stories, also set in the Klondike gold rush era, in the new book, as well. And I wrote a short biography about the prolific fiction writer at the end of the book.
Anyone who enjoys Jack London stories, dogs and the Klondike gold rush era will love this new book titled The Call of the Wild and Other Northland Stories. It’s now available at my Website for $19.95 plus shipping. To order your autographed book, Click Here
As I let you know a month or so ago, I’ve also been working on curriculum for the Aunt Phil’s Trunk Alaska history series. All student workbooks and teacher guides for Volumes One through Four are finished. Volume Five workbooks are about 60 percent complete as of today.
Frontier Charter Schools here in Anchorage really liked the prototype we showed them. In fact, the response was “we will enthusiastically promote Aunt Phil’s Trunk for Alaska studies.” I’ll let you know when they are printed and available for home school and charter school use.
More good news on the home front – upon my return to Anchorage, the local CBS affiliate KTVA Channel 11 Daybreak show has added “Alaska Story Time with Aunt Phil” back into their weekly lineup. The first 2017 episode, featuring the Aleutian Campaign to retake Attu and Kiska from the Japanese in May 1943, aired last Friday. To watch that segment, Click Here
That’s all the news for now. I will try to be better about blogging regularly now that we are back in Alaska and not so worried about the health of a little boy. Thank you for being fans of Alaska’s history, and I hope you have an incredible June.
Laurel
