The Coldman Cometh

Bob Durr; R.A. Durr

ISBN 10: 0312311796 / ISBN 13: 9780312311797

Published by Macmillan, 2004

About this Item

Bob Durr's first book about his adventures in Alaska was published in 1999 (Down in Bristol Bay: High Tides, Hangovers, and Harrowing Experiences on Alaska's Last Frontier). In a sense, that book was prelude to this, because while it touched upon his reasons for undertaking the risky business of 'proving up' as a commercial salmon fisherman, it didn't delve deeply into the underlying reasons why he wanted, ultimately, to leave the civilized world altogether. The Coldman Cometh tells the whole story--the 'family saga'--of how and why Bob, who was a tenured full professor of English at Syracuse University, resigned in 1968 from his comfortable position and with his wife and four kids journeyed north into the Alaska bush. It's a tale of adventure, of perils, hardships, trials, and triumphs involving close encounters with bears, charging moose, stormy waters, and--probably most dangerous of all--the severe subzero temperatures the Durrs came to call the 'Coldman,' he of the deadly embrace. The story of those tough, thrilling early years of settling in is told in vivid detail and living color, and with a good deal of humor as well. 'What is life for?' Bob asks. 'To be safe and a little fat and own nice things? What about the Great Mystery, and what about the wolves?'The Coldman Cometh is not only a memoir of an adventurous quest but an in-depth report of a radical experiment in alternative living. It's a beautiful--and harrowing--account of dropping out of the mainstream: of the smell of pine pitch and roar of a bull moose and the 'whys' of the fabulous journey. Ultimately, it's a commentary on society that can only be given by a writer who has so nearly left it. Bob Durr's first book about his adventures in Alaska was published in 1999 (Down in Bristol Bay: High Tides, Hangovers, and Harrowing Experiences on Alaska's Last Frontier). In a sense, that book was prelude to this, because while it touched upon his reasons for undertaking the risky business of 'proving up' as a commercial salmon fisherman, it didn't delve deeply into the underlying reasons why he wanted, ultimately, to leave the civilized world altogether. The Coldman Cometh tells the whole story--the 'family saga'--of how and why Bob, who was a tenured full professor of English at Syracuse University, resigned in 1968 from his comfortable position and with his wife and four kids journeyed north into the Alaska bush. It's a tale of adventure, of perils, hardships, trials, and triumphs involving close encounters with bears, charging moose, stormy waters, and--probably most dangerous of all--the severe subzero temperatures the Durrs came to call the 'Coldman,' he of the deadly embrace. The story of those tough, thrilling early years of settling in is told in vivid detail and living color, and with a good deal of humor as well. 'What is life for?' Bob asks. 'To be safe and a little fat and own nice things? What about the Great Mystery, and what about the wolves?'The Coldman Cometh is not only a memoir of an adventurous quest but an in-depth report of a radical experiment in alternative living. It's a beautiful--and harrowing--account of dropping out of the mainstream: of the smell of pine pitch and roar of a bull moose and the 'whys' of the fabulous journey. Ultimately, it's a commentary on society that can only be given by a writer who has so nearly left it.

Seller Inventory # 9780312311797

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Coldman Cometh
• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312311796
• ISBN 13: 9780312311797
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

A memoir of the author's thirty-five-year stint away from mainstream America recounts how he resigned a professorship at Syracuse University to live in near-total isolation in the Alaska wilderness with his family, where they survived using kerosene lamps, an outhouse, and virtually no modern technology. 10,000 first printing.

About the Author

Bob Durr was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and earned a B.A. cum laude with Honors in English from Hofstra College, an M.A. from the University of Connecticut on a teaching fellowship, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, where he was awarded the prestigious Gustav Bissing Scholarship. He still lives on the little lake ten miles by trail north of the town of Talkeetna, Alaska.