Above the Arctic Circle

CASEY RESSLER

Frontiersman Valley Life editor

A local bookstore owner has reprinted a classic Alaska story about the exploits of James A. Carroll, an Alaska pioneer and adventurer.

"Above the Arctic Circle" is Carroll's journal of life spent in Alaska from 1911 to 1922, when his family was based in Fort Yukon and lived off the land of an Alaska few can comprehend. Alaskana Books owner Lorie Kirker reprinted the journal because of how personal the story seems, she said.

"I really like the idea of how important his family was," Kirker said. "How his wife would go trapping with him from Fort Yukon to Crow Flats. It's written like it's no big deal, but it was 50 below, they were out of food and the children were hungry.

"He never boasted about his accomplishments, and his writing made it so real. You could really put yourself in the stories through his writing," Kirker said. "He makes you feel like you are there with him."

Carroll's original journal was called, "The First Ten Years - Memoirs of a Fort Yukon Trapper 1911-1922."

Kirker had been trying to get a copy of the journal for a long time, but she wasn't the only one searching, she found out.

"I'd get several calls at the store for the book, so I started researching it and found out there was a long list of people who wanted it, and copies were pretty rare," Kirker said

She kept looking for it, and finally, she found a copy. Of course, it was a bit more expensive than picking up the latest bestseller - she had to pay $125 for a copy of the book.

"I read it right away and was immediately impressed. It is such a good story. I knew right away that I wanted to reprint it," she said.

Kirker teamed with Cheryl Homme, a Palmer woman who has written several books and has researched others, and has been working on the book for two years, although she said it was on a part-time basis.

"I've talked to so many people in Fort Yukon, and about a quarter of them are Carrolls," Kirker said. "They really wanted the book to be updated and reprinted. They were very willing."

Kirker and Homme updated the family history, added 35 photographs to the story and made sure everything else was current. Homme researched the memoir through the University of Alaska Anchorage, at Loussac Library, in Juneau and through other avenues.

The book is available at Alaskana Books, at Cook Inlet Books and through a Wizard Works catalog. Kirker said she is hoping to get copies at Fireside Books in Palmer and Annabel's Books in Wasilla.

"We've had lots of interest in it already. A lot of people were looking for the original book, and now they can get a copy of the story," Kirker said.