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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I had just turned twenty-two and Phil was only a year older when we set forth into the arctic wilds. It was a time for testing ourselves and discovering our own strengths. In truth, I would never have envisioned such an undertaking nor had the tools to do it without my mother. There were, of course, others whose names I have forgotten that provided guidance and support along the way. I regret not paying closer attention, but at the time my need for independence blinded me to this greater community. With a few additions, I leave these acknowledgments as I wrote them in 1988.

Through their love and support, the following people helped create this book:

• My mother, Constance Helmericks, inspired and championed our adventure;

• Phil’s parents, Cliff and Marion Beisel, stood behind us with love while knowing not the journey;

• Chris Olson, who died before I was born, and the generous Gwich’in people of Venetie helped us stay alive.

• My sister, Ann Helmericks, and her first husband, Steve Boice, retrieved us from Alaska and provided a home for me while I wrote the first drafts.

• Friends who encouraged me in writing and rewriting: Charlotte Cardon, Sue Clemans, Terrel Miedaner, Celia Weber, and my beloved aunt, Janet Cutler.

• Jennie Vemich and John Earl amended my creative spelling in days before spell-checkers.

• Donald Sayner taught me illustration and welcomed me into his studio as I created these drawings.

• Dr. Douglas Camfield guided my early prose and went to bat for me when I wanted to use this book as an honor’s English thesis at the University of Arizona.

• My editor and first publisher, Barb Wieser, believed in me and worked to tighten my manuscript into a book.

• Doug Pfeiffer, Kathy Howard, Vicki Knapton, Angie Zbornik, and Michelle Blair helped revive the book for a new generation. Lindsay Wolter and writer Nan Leslie guided the process.

• My husband, Tom Irons, and our young son, Luke, stood unfailingly behind me, though the story wasn’t theirs.

• And of course, Phil Beisel, my youthful sweetheart, without whom this adventure and all that followed would never have happened.

Phil and Jeanie Beisel, 1975.