Tales of Alaska's Bushrat Governor: The Extraordinary Autobiography of Jay Hammond, Wilderness Guide and Reluctant Politician [Paperback]

Jay Hammond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

A former Marine fighter pilot, Jay Hammond heads north to Alaska after World War II. He becomes a trapper, bush pilot, fisherman, guide, wolf hunter, poet, environmentalist, and finally a reluctant politician who endears himself to Alaska's people by telling them the unvarnished and sometimes unwelcome truth about the state of affairs in their oil-boom state. They punish him by electing him governor!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1946 Hammond, a Methodist minister's son from New York State and a Marine pilot during WW II, realized his dream of moving to Alaska. Once there he had many jobs, including trapping, fishing, guiding, flying and working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He also served six years in the House beginning in 1959, the advent of statehood, then six more in the Senate. Hammond was elected governor in 1974 in an upset victory over the favored candidate who was backed by the press and the unions; in 1978 he was reelected, campaigning for a balance between industrial growth and preservation of the environment. While Hammond's political career is interesting, the main appeal of his autobiography is his portrait of his adopted state and its residents. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

To Alaskans, the word bush means the heart of their state and bush rat a true Alaskan like Hammond, who has been a fighter pilot, trapper, fisherman, guide, farmhand, amateur boxer, homesteader, and artist Rockwell Kent's neighbor. Hammond has survived the adventures a bush rat should, into which he launches us immediately: "It seemed to be a stupid way to die--healthy, uninjured, driving a team of dogs just miles from home. . . . Suddenly, with a rolling report, like rifle fire, the shelf of ice underneath us pitched into the river." He fills the book with such anecdotes, which may have you thinking he's only the kind of good ol' bush rat who nicknames his high-school buddy Robert Nichols "Rubber Nipples." But he was elected to Alaska's first state legislature and to the governorship during the tumultuous 1970s and 1980s. Yet he vends little insight into the politics of the pipeline years, mostly just more snappy yarns and lines like his observation that state representative Clem Tillon ("RepTillion") "works at cultivating the image of a simple rustic"--unlike Hammond, who does it effortlessly. Roland Wulbert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Epicenter Press (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945397437
• ISBN-13: 978-0945397434
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great story, interesting life....., August 24, 2004

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of Alaska's Bushrat Governor: The Extraordinary Autobiography of Jay Hammond, Wilderness Guide and Reluctant Politician (Paperback)

This autobiography written by former Alaska governor, Jay Hammond proves to be a superbly entertaining book about his life - both personal and political. Hammond writes in a very easy going style as if he was sitting right next to you talking about his life story.

As a politican, Hammond reflects a classical Alaskan character. Conservative with liberal bias. I found some of his accounts as our governor to be quite interesting. Especially how he dealt with the pipeline and the Permanent Fund. His personal life also reflects a great deal of adventures as he made his way to Alaska. He must have been very lucky to survived all these plane clashes!!

Can't go wrong reading this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting man during an interesting time in Alaska's history, May 17, 2011

By 

Lisa Kearns "Mom of Four" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tales of Alaska's Bushrat Governor: The Extraordinary Autobiography of Jay Hammond, Wilderness Guide and Reluctant Politician (Paperback)

I just finished this biography and really enjoyed it. I knew who Jay Hammond was since his name pops up in almost every Alaska book I read. What I didn't know is that he had a great sense of humor and must have been a hoot as a friend and neighbor.

I enjoyed reading about his childhood, his Air Force service during WWII, his marriage(s) and kids, and the many jobs he had on his way to Governor. I do wish he had talked more about his experiences building his cabin and fishing, hunting, trapping and being outdoors. The political stuff took over half of the book, and got a little boring in parts.

But, I did enjoy the whole book and was glad for the index in the back so I could go back and re-read parts. I learned quite a bit about the fight between factions over the oil pipeline and homesteading and native issues. He was a nice mix between conservative and liberal, conservationist and developer, although those qualities meant some portion of the populace was mad at him at any given time.

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing story of the bush pilot who became Governor, November 1, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of Alaska's Bushrat Governor: The Extraordinary Autobiography of Jay Hammond, Wilderness Guide and Reluctant Politician (Paperback)

This is an autobiography of a fascinating Alaskan who, among other things, was also a US Marine, a bush pilot, a fisherman and Governor of the State. Jay has a clever, self-deprecating and iconoclastic view of Alaska and Alaska politics. He was truly a unique cross of being a conservative with paradoxically strong liberal stances on the environment and "development" in general. Jay was governor during one of the most polarized times in Alaska's history so you can be sure he had his detractors as well as his loyalists. The book is fortunately not all about his tenure as Governor; his earlier years as a trapper and guide were equally interesting to this reviewer. This book is an easy read and will leave you smiling. If only we could all have such a rich life.