Call Of The Klondike

Call Of The Klondike

Juvenile non fiction
One evening at supper David Meisner was given an offer he
couldn't refuse. A friend, Kim Richardson, had a treasure trove of
primary source materials that had been passed down in his family.
Richardson felt they held a compelling story and was looking for an
writer to bring it to life. Meisner was his man.
The story was about a real live gold rush adventure. Meisner
decided it needed authenticity. "How could I write about the
adventures and hardships of the Klondike gold rush while sitting in
the comfort of my home in the lower forty-eight states? Although I
couldn't travel back in time, I could try to trace the steps of the
stampeders to gain a deeper appreciation for what they faced in the
rugged settings of Alaska and the Yukon."
The man picked a winning strategy. Call Of The Klondike: A True
Gold Rush Adventure is the closest you'll get to time travel. You'll
get caught up in the quest Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond embarked
on in 1897. They were in Seattle when groups of miners bearing loads
of gold arrived, quickly becoming the talk of the town. Scads of
people including the mayor dropped everything to head for the new
promised land. The chums were part of that throng. According to
Bond, "We caught the fever and decided to go. Everybody seemed to be
catching it."
Lucky for us Pearce and Bond were prolific journal/letter
writers in a situation where most guys would not have made time to set
pen to very scarce paper. Lucky also that ancestors knew enough to
not throw out the resulting probably far from elegant papers. We can
learn intimately what they encountered throughout their trip,
experiencing their moments of joy ("Last night while looking up at the
stars rolled snugly up in my sleeping bag I saw the grand Northern
lights shooting up from a semicircle above the mountain...It made me
feel we were nearer the presence of our Maker than I have ever been
before...") and despair ("No one can realize the hardships one has to
undergo on a trip of this kind. The elements themselves seem to have
a prejudice against us, and pouring rain has done all it can to make
the trip almost impassible.") and everything in between. Period
photographs gleaned from museums give this volume an almost scrapbook
appearance. It is a wonderful find for kids and parents who enjoy old
time adventures and authentic glimpses of the past.
On a personal note: I was very lucky this year. For my Christmas
present Katie took me to a live production of Grease, my all time
favorite musical, up to the university. It was the total cat's pajamas!
A great big shout out goes out to the cast and crew who brought the
production to life so beautifully.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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