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The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship, Tragedy, and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness
 
 
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The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship, Tragedy, and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness [Hardcover]

Lynn Schooler (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)


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Book Description

May 7, 2002

With a body twisted by adolescent scoliosis and memories of the brutal death of a woman he loved, Lynn Schooler kept the world at arm's length, drifting through the wilds of Alaska as a commercial fisherman, outdoorsman, and wilderness guide. In 1990 Schooler met Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino and began a profound friendship forged by a love of adventure and cemented by their mutual obsession with finding the elusive glacier bear, an exceedingly rare creature, seldom seen and shrouded in legend. But it was only after Hoshino's tragic death from a bear attack that Schooler succeeded in photographing the animal -- and only then that he Was able to complete his journey and find new meaning in his own life.

Set amid the wild archipelagoes, glittering fjords, and dense primordial forests of Alaska's Glacier Coast, The Blue Bear is an unforgettable book that shines with purity and passion.



Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"People step into the [Alaskan] landscape and vanish without a trace," writes wildlife guide Lynn Schooler in this ode to the wild beauty of the Alaskan coast, an unusual friendship, and a mysterious bear with fur the color of "burnished metal." Schooler spent a decade searching for the elusive blue (or glacier) bear with Michio Hoshino, Japan's preeminent wildlife photographer. Hoshino was a gentle genius who would sit still for hours, his face swelling from mosquito bites, for the perfect photograph, and who had the same patience and consideration for a bruised heart like Schooler's. Schooler had lost all ability to trust, scarred first by the scorn of classmates for his twisted body and finally by the brutal murder of the woman he loved. But as a guide--both for wildlife photographers and for readers of this evocative and gracefully composed memoir--Schooler richly reveals the place that sustains him. He makes remarkable connections between whales and the complex workings of old-growth forests, between glaciers dropping 100-foot columns of ice into waiting fjords, and the breathing of the planet. Ultimately, though, it is Hoshino's death by a bear that finally enables Schooler to make peace with humanity and death. A quiet, profound gem. --Lesley Reed

From Publishers Weekly

The strength of this beautifully crafted memoir lies in its evocation of the overpowering Alaskan landscape and the thoughts it imposes on the author's agile and receptive mind, gradually opening his solitary heart to the grace of true friendship. As photographer and writer Schooler recounts, it's been his lifelong tendency to turn inward, ever since his "grandmother's hunchback gene put its weight on my shoulder... trying to hold me down even as my body grew taller." At 16, he fought his scoliosis by strapping on a steel body brace that extended from his chin to his hips, isolating him from other kids. It was a distance he chose to maintain when, two years later, he exchanged his brace for a backpack and departed for the lonely freedom of the countryside around his Alaskan home. Readers meet him as a middle-aged wilderness guide based in Juneau, emotionally battered by the brutal death of a woman he loved, yet still subsumed by the endlessly unfolding drama of wind, weather, predators and prey along the glaciered coast. On an auspicious chartered trip, Schooler leads renowned nature photographer Michio Hoshino to a circle of humpback whales that explode to the surface of a sun-flecked sea with brimming mouthfuls of herring. The Japanese man's simple questions and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world and to his guide slowly draw Schooler out. Over the next decade, the men's bond deepens as they decide to pursue the rare and elusive glacier, or "blue," bear in an archetypal journey whose meaning becomes apparent only after Schooler has suffered the loss of his friend. 8 pages of color photos.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Ecco; First edition. edition (May 7, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0066210852
  • ISBN-13: 978-0066210858
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was driving around, running errands on a hot June day, when I stumbled across a National Public Radio talk show on which Lynn Schooler was promoting this book. By the time it was over, I was at the nearest bookstore, sipping a cup of coffee and reading the first chapter of The Blue Bear.
Schooler is a natural-born story-teller and his knowledge and love of the Alaskan wilderness make every paragraph glow with authenticity.
Like most good books, the Blue Bear can be enjoyed and appreciated on many different levels: it's a wonderful adventure story, it captures the precious qualities of friendship and it encapsulates Schooler's life-affirming world view in a way that is powerful, but never preachy.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
It made me cry August 16, 2002
Format:Hardcover
This book had more impact on me than anything I've read in the past few years. I've never especially wanted to see Alaska (too cold) and never appreciated it as a special place, but Lynn Schooler's writing pulled me in to the land and its enchanting forms of life and interesting residents. I kept thinking how brave he was to write as he did about his demons and pains and the healing he painfully found, as elusive for most of us as the Blue Bear itself. I taught classic English literature for years, and I know powerful, gripping language when I see it. This is the real thing. If I could write to Schooler, I'd tell him how moving his book was. Read it right away, and slowly.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
The Blue Bear May 27, 2002
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book is true literature. The authors discriptions are very visual. I could not put the book down. It is more than just an adventure book. It is a story of true intimacy,personal discovery and tragedy. Schooler opens himself to the reader as if he is sharing his personal intermost secrets to his closest friend. It changed my life.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great writer. Amazing stories. Great observations.
Every so often you come across a writer whose stories come across so effortlessly, that it's like you are sitting down with an old friend you have known all your life. Read more
Published 3 months ago by windriver12
Great on many levels
A few weeks ago, I was forwarded a Facebook link to Lynn's page and daily photographs. I became interested in how he came to be where he was and so I picked up a copy of 'The Blue... Read more
Published 20 months ago by S. Smith
The Pictures
Lynn, I enjoyed the book. I have one question, why put the picture of the grizzly halfway into the story, with caption telling of Mishio's tragic end. Read more
Published on December 4, 2009 by B. Campione
The Blue Bear
Excellent book - well written, very descriptive & informative -
highly recommend it for the poignant story of friendship, self-
discovery & love of nature.
Published on November 11, 2009 by Sharon Martin
The Blue Bear
Lynn Schooler lived what can only be described as a solitary life. Haunted by bad memories, driven to be apart from society and piloting a small charter boat for competitive... Read more
Published on January 27, 2009 by Nino Brown
Not all that great a bear tale but....
The theme of this is really the author's life, both past and now as a small boat captain in Alaska's dramatically beautiful south coast. Read more
Published on April 1, 2007 by J. F. Leeper
A book to consider.
A slightly slow start, but please persevere, as this book has so much to offer. Set in Alaska, with glorious descriptions of this environment provided by Lynn during the search for... Read more
Published on November 10, 2006 by Patrick Stoddard
A Beautiful Book
The Blue Bear is a fantastic read! If you are at all interested in Alaska, nature, wildlife or friendship I am certain you will love this book.
Published on December 9, 2004 by K. Burrows
Beautiful book worth reading.
My only regret is that the book wasn't longer. Every page is full of descriptive prose and fascinating narrative. Read more
Published on May 13, 2004 by Prohaska
Elegant writing reveals love of wilderness
Elegiac is the perfect word to describe both the cadence and direction of this book: somber, straightforward, yet filled with joy. Read more
Published on March 10, 2004 by J. R. Takaki
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
I WAS BORN in 1954 on the edge of the Llano Estacado in West Texas, a desert so vast and featureless that the early Spanish explorers drove a line of stakes across this land to avoid losing their way. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
glacier bear, blue bear
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Frederick Sound, Admiralty Island, Russell Fjord, Johnstone Bay, Southeast Alaska, Chatham Straits, Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, Wilderness Swift, Icy Straits, Coast Guard, Funter Bay, Endicott Arm, Michio Hoshino, North America, Point Gardner, Stephens Passage, Geological Survey, Aleutian Islands, Holkham Bay, John Hyde, New World, North Pacific, United States, Yakutat Bay
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