In the closing months of the Great War during the autumn of 1918, an artist and his 9 year-old son turned their backs on "civilization" and spent about 6 months on a remote island in Alaska. The father painted and read Homer while the son chased foxes and ran around in the snow exploring the island. It's a beautiful little book that captures the mood of the time and place. It reminded me of going with my father to a fishing camp in Canada years ago (the camp we went to was built in the 1920s). By this time the recent improvements of the small marine outboard motor, and the airplane, made it possible for more people to travel the waterways of the northern wilderness without mounting a long expedition and so began a new tourist industry of which Kent was among the first wave.

The book is illustrated by Kent including a Robert Louis Stevenson-like map of the island and surrounding areas with hand written notes, it's evocative of adventure. It's a real place that is easily found just outside Seward on Google Maps. I listened to the book read by David Wales of LibriVox and it's also freely available on Internet Archive. ( )

This is a recounting of a tranquil fall and winter spent on a remote Alaskan island in 1918-19. The party consisted of a father and his 9 year old son, both named Rockwell Kent. Not much happens, but they are just so happy fending for themselves during their wilderness stay that it makes for a pleasant read. Although Kent's art in this book is generally not as strong as it is in other works like N by E, some of the illustrations give the book an enchanted feel, particularly the fabulously detailed map of their island in the front and back endpapers. The overall mood conveyed by the book is one of peace, likely a rare and precious gift in those years: "It was for us life as it should be, serene and wholesome; love - but no hate, faith without disillusionment, the absolute for the toiling hands of man and his soaring spirit." ( )

One of my all-time favorites, artist Kent and his son spent the most incredible year of their lives wintering on Fox Island. His take on life in the Seward area during this adventurous period of our development is a rare glimpse into what heaven surely looks like. ( )