Summary ( Amazon):
"In 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized a most unusual summer voyage to the wilds of Alaska: He converted a steamship into a luxury "floating university," populated by some of America's best and brightest scientists and writers, including the anti-capitalist eco-prophet John Muir. Those aboard encountered a land of immeasurable beauty and impending environmental calamity. More than a hundred years later, Alaska is still America's most sublime wilderness, both the lure that draws one million tourists annually on Inside Passage cruises and as a natural resources larder waiting to be raided. As ever, it remains a magnet for weirdos and dreamers.
Armed with Dramamine and an industrial-strength mosquito net, Mark Adams sets out to retrace the 1899 expedition. Traveling town to town by water, Adams ventures three thousand miles north through Wrangell, Juneau, and Glacier Bay, then continues west into the colder and stranger regions of the Aleutians and the Arctic Circle. Along the way, he encounters dozens of unusual characters (and a couple of very hungry bears) and investigates how lessons learned in 1899 might relate to Alaska's current struggles in adapting to the pressures of a changing climate and world."
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mark-adams/tip-of-the-iceberg/
Publisher Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-101-98510-6
(E.H. Harriman - Wikipedia)
PBS: "Harriman Expedition Retraced": https://www.pbs.org/harriman/1899/1899.html
and movie by Bullfrog Films: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/hmanhv.html.
and movie by Bullfrog Films: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/hmanhv.html.
Interviews:
Powell Books: https://www.powells.com/post/qa/powells-qa-mark-adams-author-of-tip-of-the-iceberg
Penguin Random House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJgWQOxaVPM
(alaskacollection.com)
"A pair of northeast looking photographs, both taken from the same location on the west shoreline of Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska showing the changes that have occurred to Muir Glacier during the 113 years between September 2, 1892 and August 11, 2005. The 1892 photograph shows the more than 100-meter (328-feet) high, more than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide tidewater terminus of the glacier with a face capped by angular séracs. Some icebergs, evidence of recent calving, can be seen floating in Muir Inlet. The mountain located right-of-center is Mount Wright. Mount Case is in the background. Note the absence of vegetation. (H. F. Reid photograph, muir1892_417, courtesy of National Snow and Ice Data Center). In the 2005 photograph, Muir Glacier is no longer visible, as it has retreated more than 50 kilometers (31 miles). During the interval between photographs, Muir Glacier ceased to have a tidewater terminus. Note the lack of floating ice and the abundant vegetation on many slopes throughout the photograph. (USGS Photograph by Bruce F. Molnia)."
Author's website: https://www.markadamsbooks.com/
Kim Heacox, "one of Alaska's best know writers": http://kimheacox.com/
Discussion Questions: (John and Heidi will be leading the discussion.)
1. What is your experience with and knowledge about Alaska?
2. Discuss the reasons that Harriman wanted to mount the expedition to Alaska in 1899. How did the invited participants who joined him reflect those reasons?
3. John Muir may be seen as a key contributor to this adventure. In what ways did he impact the trip? Discuss some of the wonderful stories about Muir in this book.
4. One of the author’s goals was to recreate the Harriman journey. To what extent did he accomplish this? What were some of the changes since Harriman, and also things that did not change?
5. John Muir even back in the late 1800s was observing glacier retreat in Alaska and found even some of the maps he was using showed that the glacial coastline had changed since the maps had been drawn 150 years before. How did this book affect your view of climate change and the relative roles of human impact versus nature?
6. How has resources extraction versus nature preservation shaped Alaska as we know it today, for example, gold mining, oil extraction, fishing, lumbering, trapping, national park/forest creation, etc.
7. How did the occupation by Europeans and Americans affect the native populations and their lifestyles? How has it changed even today compared to 100 years ago?
8. How did this book change or affect how you have experienced or perceived Alaska?
Tip of the Iceberg by Mark Adams
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Oleh
Ramazan AL
