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

by Jay Hammond (Author) "IT SEEMED TO BE a stupid way to die-healthy, uninjured, driving a team of dogs just miles from home..." (more)
Key Phrases: lousy governor, rat governor, dividend program, Permanent Fund, Bristol Bay, Bill Egan (more...)

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

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: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #637,035 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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 Amusing story of the bush pilot who became Governor, November 1, 1997

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

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.