Fishcamp Life on an Alaskan Shore

With poetic cadence and magical tone, Lord writes of her life from June to August, days filled with the mending of nets, the muscle-wrenching labor of the catch, the exquisite pleasure of an improvised hot-tub, and the often subtle beauty of the inlet's flora and fauna.

Woven throughout Lord's adventures is the deeper history of the region's stories and legends of the native Denaiina people; anecdotes about past and current residents; descriptions of their neighbors, both human and animal, who like Lord and her partner, co-exist with fish.

Nancy Lord lives in Homer, Alaska. From her many years of commercial salmon fishing and, later, work as a naturalist and historian on adventure cruise ships, she’s explored in both fiction and nonfiction the myths and realities of life in the north.

Among her published books are three collections of short stories and five works of literary nonfiction, including the memoir Fishcamp, the cautionary Beluga Days, and the front-lines story of climate change, Early Warming. Lord was honored as Alaska Writer Laureate for 2008-10, a term during which she traveled throughout the state to promote Alaska writers, writing, and libraries.

A Few Words About Words

xi

Preface

xiii

Acknowledgments

xvii

PART I: Beginnings

Beach Time

3

(13)

The Weaving of the Web

16

(9)

Two Lakes

25

(12)

Putting Up Boat

37

(18)

PART II: More History of a Hard Place

A Crying Country

55

(17)

Under the Tides, Under the Moon

72

(16)

Staying Alive

88

(17)

PART III: Living by Fish, Surrounded by Water

First Fish

105

(9)

Creek Culture

114

(16)

A Day in the Life

130

(19)

Food Fish and the Fairness Question

149

(14)

PART IV: That Which Grows

Naming the Green

163

(15)

The Prettiest Tree

178

(10)

Thinking Like a Berry Bush

188

(15)

PART V: Animal Dreams

On Not Being Alone

203

(18)

The Beauty in the Beast

221

(15)

Beluga Days

236

(15)

Epilogue

251

(8)

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Fishcamp Life on an Alaskan Shore

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials