An Arctic Epic of Family and Fortune

About the Book

The protagonists of An Arctic Epic of Fame and Family Failure are the still controversial anthropologist-explorer, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and his self-described, “indispensable man,” Storker Storkerson from Norway. The energy and daring of these men fuel this rare history set in the early twentieth century on the Arctic coast of Alaska and Canada. Together, the dynamic duo met the so-called, “Blond Eskimos,” fathered children by native women while finding the last new lands of the Americas and establishing a reindeer enterprise with the company that became Canada - the Hudson’s Bay Company. During his rise to international fame, Stefansson included Storkerson in his journey but Storkerson’s misdirection of his newly found fame resulted in catastrophic consequences for himself and his family.

About the Author

As an Arctic anthropologist, researcher and writer Jette Elsebeth Ashlee, Ph.D. brings her considerable circumpolar experience to bear in An Arctic Epic of Fame and Family Failure. She lives and works in Williams Lake, British Columbia.