cover image Sch-Koviashuvik

Sch-Koviashuvik

Sam Wright. Random House (NY), $17.95 (214pp) ISBN 978-0-87156-688-1

For two decades, biologist Wright and his wife Billie made their home 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in the Brooks Range of Alaska. This memoir contains vignettes of life in the wilderness, occasional visits to the ``Lower 48'' (and one to the British Museum) and observations on the natural world interspersed with philosophical reflections. Wright uses a technique of repetition that is more irritating than useful to the reader, i.e., ``Being helpful usually makes things worse. Nearly always it is anything but helpful to be helpful without being asked. Yes, it is.'' But there are engaging stories about wildlife; especially, one about a family of terns and another about a journey to plant spruce seedlings beyond timberline. Though he was opposed to the Alaska pipeline, Wright became a counselor for the workers. He notes that they had security, but not freedom; to him, freedom is responsibility. He examines the myths that guide our lives and calls for a renewal of faith--toward Koviashuvik , an Eskimo word meaning time-and-place-of-joy in the present moment. (Apr.)