Product Description

Far off the coast of mainland Alaska lie the remote Pribilof Islands - a fiercely isolated wilderness surrounded by a wild, rich sea. The largest island, St. Paul, is just fourteen miles long and eight wide. Despite its small size and relative self-enclosure, Sumner MacLeish lived and worked on the island, coming to love its rugged weather, abundant wildlife, and six hundred native Aleuts. Her spare, imagistic prose illuminates the unforgiving darkness and unimaginable beauty of this subarctic landscape, and the pieces in "Seven Words for Wind" relate her own experience with attentive, open curiosity that finds light, humor, and companionship where it might least be expected.

Product Details

• Published on: 2008-07-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .42 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From the Publisher
MacLeish explores beauty and conflict in Alaska's Pribilofs
"Aleuts have at least seven words for wind, most of which refer to strength..." So begins Sumner MacLeish's extraordinary account of life on Alaska's remote Pribilof Islands far out in the Bering Sea. Carved by fierce winds and sudden storms, the islands are the summer breeding grounds for hundreds of thousands of fur seals and seabirds ... are inhabited by wild reindeer and arctic foxes ... and are home to some 600 Aleuts, Alaska Natives striving to preserve their culture while making their way in the modern world. MacLeish's beautifully crafted prose invites us into a landscape and a culture like no other on earth. INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER magazine says: "Whether it be observations about the ubiquitous arctic fox that can steal your soul or the intense reality of the seal harvest, SEVEN WORDS FOR WIND allows us a brief glimpse of a unique world that is a removed as it is close to our everyday lives.... Reading SEVEN WORDS FOR WIND is akin to reading Thoreau's WALDEN for the first time." Sheila Nickerson, author of Disappearance: A Map and former Poet Laureate of Alaska, writes: "As if a gift-giving wind from a distant shore touched us, Sumner MacLeish's account of life on the Pribilofs graces us with illumination. The barometers of weather and emotion ride side by side in this spare and moving portrayal of an isolated home. Through solitude and search, through storm and stillness, MacLeish's landscape opens for us into a largeness of soul."

About the Author
Sumner MacLeish has worked as a reporter and photographer in New England, California, and Alaska, producing several documentaries for National Public Radio and commenting for Alaska Public Radio.