North to the Night: A Year in the Arctic IceIn June 1994 Alvah Simon and his wife, Diana, set off in their 36-foot sailboat, the Roger Henry, to explore the hauntingly beautiful world of icebergs, tundra, and fjords lying within one of the Earth's most remote regions -- the Arctic Circle. North to the Night recounts this remarkable, death-defying voyage, which proved to be as much a spiritual journey as an oceanic one. Despite the careful preparation and ingenuity that had seen the Simons through a series of ordeals four months into their journey, Alvah and Diana found themselves trapped in Tay Bay, 100 miles from the nearest settlement. When Diana's father then fell terminally ill, she made the wrenching choice to be with him in New Zealand, boarding the last rescue helicopter of the season and leaving Alvah to survive the long polar night alone with his cat, Halifax. Faced with screaming blizzards, perpetual darkness, and aching loneliness, Alvah learned that more dangerous than the beasts prowling outside the boat were the demons within. Forced to confront the awakening of his spiritual self, he emerged five months later a transformed man. His powerful, triumphant story combines the lyrical excursions of Barry Lopez with the suspense of Into Thin Air to explore the hypnotic draw of our planet's most dangerous beauties. |
