WE BETTER GET GOING,” ALVIN WILLIAMS SAID “Daylight’s burning.” A dozen of us stood with shovels and axes on a snow-covered knoll on the south side of the Kobuk River, five miles below the Inupiaq village of Ambler. Weathered wooden crosses rose through the drifts; before us, a rectangle of cleared ground. My companions had known Clarence Wood all their lives. I, the oldest and sole naluagmiu—white man—had known him four decades, as my traveling partner and friend. Most of…
I was sitting with several photographers on the Katmai Coast on an early June day in 2015, waiting for a big male brown bear to wander closer. Someone said, “There’s a wolf coming up behind us!” And sure enough, up trotted this young male, to within ten feet of me. His eyes had a very familiar look to them; reminded me of a certain black wolf I knew, you know? Maybe it was because I was closest; but he gazed…
Newly arrived in our web store: Romeo Refrigerator Magnets High quality reproduction 4.25×5.5 inch size $5.00 with free postage
Friday, January 13, 2017 at the Mendenhall Visitor Center Special thanks to Jos Bakker of Juneau who recorded this and gave permission for its use. Romeo the black wolf from Jos Bakker on Vimeo.
Spent a quiet half hour near this gorgeous male grizzly in early October, just a few feet off the Alaska Highway near Kluane Lake. I’d just driven hundreds of miles through the first snow of the season, heading south from Fairbanks to Haines There was a tremendous wind ripping whitecaps across the lake, and this bear was peacefully browsing on berries and starchy roots. He was fully aware of me but calm and almost sociable.
Took this shot from my yard in Ambler, AK this past September. Just a few spectacular moments out of a night that was lit by faint to moderate auroral displays. Reminds me of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” with all that swirling motion. If you look closely, you can see the Kobuk River glinting in the middle distance.
Many people are familiar with the name Nick Jans. For more than 25 years he’s written about his experiences in various parts of the state for Alaska Magazine. From those essays and other experiences, he’s published 12 books. A recent work A Wolf Called Romeo captured a slot on the New York Times Best Seller list. A long time back, I interviewed Jans when he came out with his first book, The Last Light Breaking. It described and celebrated his…
So here Sherrie, dogs, and I are, on the summer solstice, the one-month anniversary of moving to Haines—more precisely, to a gravel lane off Chilkat Lake road, just after mile 26 on the Haines Highway, about 10 miles shy of the Canadian border. Our five-acre homestead perches on a knoll a half mile off the Klaheni River—a post-and-beam horse barn with a small but pleasant cabin-like apartment upstairs, and a 450-square-foot yurt (a semi-permanent, wood-framed, circular tent) 200 yards down…
At last, after seven years of living the story of Romeo the wolf, and another three years of writing and interviews and research and review and seemingly endless edits and re-writes and revisions, A Wolf Called Romeo is complete, and being shipped to bookstores across the country. The first-print hardcover edition, which I held in my hands for the first time a couple of weeks ago, looks gorgeous. I know you’d expect me to say so, but really, I’ve seldom…
It’s about a month ago, at my pal Vic Walker’s house in Juneau, celebrating a return to Alaska, reuniting with good friends, a new book coming out, and whatever else comes along. At the moment captured in the photo, taken by Vic, my wife Sherrie is receiving yet another object lesson reminding her what she married. At least it’s the other end of the horse—this time, anyhow. In the background, looking somewhat and understandably perplexed, Vic’s gorgeous daughter Evie, a…
Nick Jans
HC 60 Box 2628
Haines, AK 99827
njans@gci.net
“Beautifully written, A Wolf Called Romeo is a thoughtful and moving story about one of nature’s most evocative animals. Be forewarned: I read it cover to cover in one sitting late into the night. The author owes me a good night’s sleep; but it was well worth it.”
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