The Blue Bear, by Lynn Schooler

Reviewed by Julie Falkner

What a privilege to travel through one of the last truly wild places of the world – Alaska – in search of a rare and elusive animal! “The Blue Bear” is the story of a multi-year and often frustrating search for the wary creature known as the blue or glacier bear, of which perhaps fewer than one hundred exist. It is a search that eventually proves successful, and the author tells us this on page 9 to emphasise that it is the search itself that counts rather than its ultimate outcome. For this book is also the story of a friendship engendered by the shared search – six years of comradeship with a gentle, gifted, and generous man, the wildlife photographer Michio Hoshino.

The author, Lynn Schooler, is a wilderness guide and prize-winning photographer who has lived in Alaska for more than thirty years. He has both a great sensitivity to natural beauty and a wonderful appreciation of the friendship unexpectedly offered by Michio. His book is partly a memoir, partly a nature study covering topics ranging from the spine-studded devil’s club plant to the age of Alaska, and partly a plea for the preservation of the inhospitable, sometimes terrifying, always awe-inspiring Alaskan environment.

Usually the different goals gel readily, but there is the occasional clash: I was slightly irritated when Schooler interrupted his narration of a life-changing tragedy to discuss, quite literally, the weather. However, the overall result is a remarkable book, the deserving winner of the French “30 Millions d’Amis” prize for animal-focused literature.

The text is enhanced with a few carefully chosen photos, the most impressive being John Hyde’s inspiring photo of a glacier bear. I found myself turning back to it frequently to admire the beautiful blue-grey sheen of the rare creature’s fur.

Given its semi-didactic role, the book would have benefitted from an index, but this is a minor quibble. “The Blue Bear” is a most impressive literary debut: the story of an intense nature-filled life; a tribute to a treasured friendship; and a highly readable introduction to the intriguing natural world of Alaska.

Buy The Blue Bear at Amazon.ca:
The Blue Bear, by Lynn Schooler

Buy The Blue Bear at Amazon.co.uk:
The Blue Bear, by Lynn Schooler