Fox Island Stories: The Good Life at a Small-Time Alaskan Lodge

by Susan D. Holen Roebuck

An illustrated memoir of the good life at a small-time wilderness lodge. In a young man staked a land claim on Fox Island, near Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. Beginning in the early s, he, the author, and a curmudgeonly carpenter built and ran Fox Island Lodge for seven eventful years. This is the same island that inspired Rockwell Kents classic, Wilderness (New England Press, first published in ). Susan Roebuck writes of passion and particularity...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0922127069
• ISBN13: 9780922127061
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Paisley Publishing (TN)
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A "kid" grows up

Susan Roebuck was just a "little girl" when she first flew off to Alaska to live in a land of freedom and open spaces. In the years since that first journey she has matured into an author of some remarkable insight. Reading this book made me feel as if I were actually there in the boat and on the island enjoying the pleasures and trials of such an enchanting and challenging adventure.I still wish I could go, but the visit, as portrayed in her recounting, was ALMOST as good as being there in person.

Fox Island Stories

Ms. Roebuck's first book is an work of shimmering descriptions and ruminative reflections. Her attention to detail, paticularly her own musings ("I wondered abt things all day, every day. . ."), leads the reader through her several journeys between Alaska and New Mexico. "Made discontent by the onus of planning for life's stages," Ms. Roebuck creates for herself a pack-up-and-go sensibility that few women, especially, have allowed themselves to realize. While it is easy to be swept away by the events and the landscapes of FOX ISLAND STORIES, the reader is equally likely to be bolstered by Ms. Roebuck's unique search for wisdom. This is the story of one woman's gentle stalwartness, substantial bravura, and almost unwitting invincibility. It's a 'must-read' for our daughters.

An inviting and captivating transport to a wilder land

Fox Island Stories is Susan D. Roebuck's entertaining memoir and anecdotal stories of life in a rustic wilderness lodge on an Alaskan island and characterized by a rugged outdoor beauty. From encounters with wildlife, to the unceasing toil of hard work required to survive, to welcoming a variety of visitors and seeing the splendor of nature itself, Fox Island Stories is an inviting and captivating transport to a wilder land and the people who called it home. Also highly recommended are Susan Roebuck's coloring book for children age 4 through 8, Arctic Animal Babies: Pictures To Color (0922127042,[$]).