The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Many brave people have set off for Antarctica to explore its icy wonder, yet few are known to us with the easy familiarity of drunken celebrities. Yet their stories are so much more engaging. Odd, isn’t it? Who’s in charge of all this, our culture , history, daily ration of stories? I don’t have a chip on my shoulder about Famous People nor about Famous People We See in Museums and in bbc Documentaries, but I want to make it clear, no one makes it alone in Antarctica. Behind the heroes are legions of working-class men and women. Their marvelous stories of triumph in the face of adversity matter and should be much better represented in books, films, and museums. Remembering the stories of the hardworking seamen who made Antarctic exploration possible has been the singular pursuit of Baden Norris. Baden worked with me over the course of many years and shared his stories and his wit and keen insights into Antarctican histories. As well, many sailors of yore have made this book possible: James Paton and xxx * acknowledgments Frank Arthur Worsley, formidable explorers, recorded the days and nights of cold and ice that make books and films we enjoy today fact rather than armchair speculation. Both were keen observers of the natural world, and their diaries and letters bring to life an Antarctica we could not otherwise know. Worsley wrote books, and I recommend them to all who are interested in tales of the sea and exploration. He deserves to be elevated to a higher place in the pantheon of Antarctic and world heroes, for it was Worsley who masterminded and pulled off the greatest small boat journey known to us today. (Not to mention that in taking the time to tell the story well in all its vivid, salty, frozen detail, he shouts out to us from the grave that 1) stories matter more than, for instance, money, and 2) each day is an opportunity to show the world what you are made of.) I offer gratitude to my colleagues at the University of Iowa: Mary, Cecile, Judy, Ed, Tom, Eric, Courtenay, Meredith, Sarah, Heal, Marilyn, Jo Ann, Patricia, Blake, Andy, Sue, Will, Maria, David, Cathy, Faith, and Paul. At the Iowa Review and the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, where we toiled to make collections of essays and stories, I doff my cap to David, Hugh, Megan, Anthony, Abe, and Kevin, as well as to my students Barrett, Christine, Mike, Jesse, Derek, and Gabe. Lee at Creative Nonfiction selected my essay, “The Entire Earth and Sky,” for anthology publication as second-place winner in a national competition for best essay. Other than a poster contest in third grade, it is my only contest victory and I will long cherish the memory of his phone call. The poet and director of Iowa’s International Writing Program , Christopher Merrill, encouraged my Fulbright application and later sent me an email that said simply, “courage.” It came on a day when I felt little hope, and it made me stop feeling so forlorn about melting ice and simply write. Fulbright New Zealand gave me money, and Gateway acknowledgments * xxxi Antarctica at the University of Canterbury gave me a room to write. Both offered limitless patience as well as key enthusiasm for this project. At Fulbright, I thank Jenny, Laurie, and Mele, as well as the Fellows Judy, George, Emily, Haley, Chris, and Tim, in particular. At Gateway, I thank Michelle, Bryan, Luke, Suzanna, Alan, and Paul. Also in New Zealand, I thank Dave, Ana, Michael, Kerry, Roy, Maeve, Jack, Chris, Martin, and Stuart. At Antarctica New Zealand, I thank Lou Sanson for invaluable help. In San Francisco, where I completed the manuscript, I got key encouragement from Susan and Michael, Ron, Eric, John, Michael C., Jamie, and most important, Ed. Ladette, Kristen, Ann, Ray, and Sue at the University of Nebraska Press made the manuscript into a book, and they were always full of good cheer, insightful comments, and wit. I met Ladette at the Western Literature Association meeting , and she gave me her card and told me she would always be interested in reading. A terrific editor and humanist to whom I offer my unmitigated thanks. From my Greenpeace days on the high seas, I thank Jim, Bob, Maggi, Bernadette, Ray, Ken, and Peter for keeping us all alive with sea smarts...