The Salmon Way

An Alaska State of Mind

192 pages
Publisher: Braided River
ISBN: 978-1-68051-238-0
Published: May 1, 2019

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Description

2020 Silver Independent Publisher Book Award in West–Pacific, Best Regional Non-Fiction
2019 Silver Nautilus Award in Animals & Nature
2019 Silver Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in Nature
Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Books of 2019

"Few who read this illuminating book or see the author’s awe-inspiring color photographs will fail to come away with a sense that this is a way of life well-worth preserving. A rich, compelling look at a thriving yet increasingly threatened natural resource and those who depend on it." -Kirkus Reviews

Long before it was the “oil state,” Alaska was the “salmon state”
Emphasizes that salmon protection is good for Alaska

Alaskans have deeply personal relationships with their salmon. These remarkable fish provide a fundamental source of food, livelihood, and identity, and connect generations and communities throughout the state. Yet while salmon are integral to the lives of many Alaskans, the habitat they need to thrive is increasingly at risk as communities and decision makers evaluate large-scale development proposals. The Salmon Way celebrates and explores the relationships between people and salmon in Alaska. Through story and images, author Amy Gulick shows us that people from wildly different backgrounds all value a salmon way of life.

In researching her new book, Amy spent time with individuals whose lives are inextricably linked with salmon. Commercial fishermen take her on as crew; Alaska Native families teach her the art of preserving fish and culture; and sport fishing guides show her where to cast her line as well as her mind. Each experience expands our understanding of the “salmon way” in Alaska. Learn more at www.thesalmonway.org

To learn more about Braided River and its mission: inspiring people to protect wild places through images and stories that change perspectives, please visit www.braidedriver.org

Contributors

Details

192 pages
Publisher: Braided River
ISBN: 978-1-68051-238-0
Published: May 1, 2019

Reviews

The Salmon Way is a breezy, enjoyable jaunt through the Alaska state of mind.... Gulick proves herself to be not just a fine craftswoman, but a varied one as well.
— David James, Anchorage Daily News
[A] fine photographic documentary.... [Gulick] devotes this book to photographs and interviews with commercial, subsistence, and sport fishermen in remote villages. The spirited folks who spent time with her all depend on salmon... [they value] the sense of wholeness and community that the fish bring to their lives.
— Laurence Marschall, Natural History
Alaska has been a salmon state since long before it became an oil state. A new book of stories and photographs by Amy Gulick, The Salmon Way: An Alaska State of Mind, celebrates the people across the state whose lives are entwined with salmon.... This book does a stunning and astute job documenting an essential aspect of what makes Alaska the complex homeplace that it is.
— Edible Alaska
The Salmon Way: An Alaska State of Mind presents salmon as the lingua franca of all Alaskans.... By spending time with commercial fishermen, biologists, seafood processors, Native subsistence fishers, sport fishing guides, and brown bears catching spawning salmon, Gulick gained a deep understanding of how this species shapes Alaskan lives.
— Alaska Magazine
The salmon way, as described by Amy Gulick in her beautiful The Salmon Way: An Alaska State of Mind, is to return a gift with a gift.... Gulick writes knowledgeably of Alaskan ecology, the sustainability of the Alaska salmon fishery and efforts to assure its stability indefinitely, and Alaska Native culture.
— Matt Sutherland, Foreword Reviews
The Salmon Way: An Alaska State of Mind is a joyous, visually gorgeous book about a physically demanding way of life and the Alaskans who live it, love it, and are fiercely attached to it.
— Joel Connelly, SeattlePI
Few who read this illuminating book or see the author’s awe-inspiring color photographs will fail to come away with a sense that this is a way of life well-worth preserving. A rich, compelling look at a thriving yet increasingly threatened natural resource and those who depend on it.
— Kirkus Reviews (STARRED review)
The Salmon Way is both a work of natural history and a modern-day environmental parable, highly recommended especially for personal and public library collections.
— Midwest Book Review