Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Rowing To Latitude
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Rowing To Latitude [Paperback]

J Fredston (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 16.50
Price: CDN$ 13.55 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details
You Save: CDN$ 2.95 (18%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Usually ships within 2 to 5 weeks.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback CDN $13.55   -- --

Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

In this lyrical look at rowing some of the world's most isolated and pristine coasts, Fredston focuses as much on her personal experience and her relationship with her husband, Doug Fesler, as she does on their actual journeys. The two avalanche experts, researchers and rescue trainers canoe the Arctic and sub-Arctic coastlines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Sweden for three months out of each year. They travel together but in separate canoes: an apt metaphor for their marriage. An avid rower since childhood, Fredston ultimately landed in Alaska, drawn by its possibility and wildness. There she met Fesler, the state's leading avalanche authority. They worked and rowed together, and eventually fell in love. Fredston ably describes both the big picture the coastline, encounters with polar bears, the high-stakes game of second-guessing storms and tides and the details of their travels. Her description of the physical act of rowing is rapturous, even sensual: "Sculling is the closest I'll ever come to being a ballerina, to creating visual music." Fredston seems less at ease relating her mother's battle with cancer, near the book's end. Still, the book soars. "Wilderness rowing is far more than sport to me; it has been a conduit to know and trust myself," Fredston explains. "It is my way of being, of thinking, of seeing. In the process, rowing has evolved from something I do to some way that I am. Figuratively and literally I have spent years rowing to latitude." A must-read for armchair travelers, as well as a close and loving look at an intimate relationship.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Growing up in a house on the waters of Long Island, Fredston started rowing at the age of ten, when she got her first rowboat. She and her husband, Doug Fesler, are avalanche experts and codirectors of the Alaska Mountain Safety Center, but during the summer months they explore the desolate reaches of the North, traveling under their own power in oceangoing skulls and kayaks. This is the story of their 20,000-mile water journeys through Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. The pair sees the world pass by in reverse as they row, backwards, down remote rivers and along barren, rugged shorelines. They travel along many of the same routes that Jonathan Waterman detailed in Arctic Crossing (LJ 4/15/01), but Fredston focuses more on the trip and only respectfully mentions contacts with the indigenous people and their culture. Like Waterman, the couple encounters fierce storms, ever-present mosquitoes, and abundant wildlife, but Fredston maintains that it is worth facing all this adversity in order to see and experience the natural beauty of the North. Enjoyable and well written, this first book is sure to be popular in public libraries. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
WHEN I WAS TEN, my family moved to a house at water's edge in Larchmont, a well-heeled town on Long Island Sound north of New York City. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, honest narrative about life experiences, Feb 4 2004
By 
Suzanna Johnson (Auburn, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rowing To Latitude (Paperback)
I was truly sad to finish this book. Jill is very honest about her adventures and about the frustrating and life changing times she has had in the wilderness. Even if the reader is not an outdoorsperson, he or she will enjoy the vivid descriptions of the arctic communities, the relationship between Jill and husband Doug, the struggles Jill faces in life including her mother's battle with cancer and much more. Thank you Jill for writing such a beautiful book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, Adventurous, Real, Sep 21 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Rowing To Latitude (Paperback)
I just finished reading this book. I stopped part way through, because it was so good, I didn't want to finish it yet. Now, I'm going to name it as the book of the month when I host my book club next. This book is so fresh, so in-your-marrow real, so insightful, adventurous, and breathtakingly descriptive, it defies easy categorization. Ms. Fredston is a fantastic writer, and after hearing her words for the last 286 pages in my head, I sincerely would consider it a tremendous privilege and honor to meet her in person. She has sent me on a search for the woman in me who is so wise, so calm in the face of crisis, so adaptable, so loving, and so passionate about life and living it. I know I have emerged from this reading with a sincere desire to make my life what it is I desire, instead of waiting for "someday". I am thrilled to have her voice added to the voices of other women, so few, who lead us boldly into our dreams, fears, and wildest adventures. You must read this book, and if you have a daughter in high school or college, give her one as well.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


4.0 out of 5 stars A great read, April 12 2003
By 
Carmen Rowland (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rowing To Latitude (Paperback)
When a non-fiction book reads like a fiction book, I know I'm in for a great treat. That is, I find myself looking for little breaks during the day when I natch a page or two to read this book, I know that I have a winner. This is also written by a women who has learned a little bit about life in her winter job as a avalanche expert in Alaska, and she brings this understanding to her passion of rowing in the polar regions. It is Jill's descriptions that are a delight to the mind because they are so well written. Although, I have never seen as ice berg or an ice field, I feel that I have some greater appreciation of the beauty and harm (yes,harm) that they are capable of doing in a split second. I remember the words of some great sage, that said that getting there is what travel is all about, versus vacation when you take a jet and lay in a lounger by the pool.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 32 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars 
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews











Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject




















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Amazon.ca Privacy Statement Amazon.ca Shipping Information Amazon.ca Returns & Exchanges