Advanced Search

University Relations 202 Eielson Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7520
(907)474-7581 Fax (907)474-6492
fynews@uaf.edu

Fairbanks, Alaska - The University of Alaska Press announces the release of three new books, each by a top-flight author in the field.

Secrets of Eskimo Skin Sewing is packed with clear, easy-to-understand instructions, drawings and photographs to lead readers of any skill level through the process of turning natural or man-made furs and hides into handsome, useful garments. Author Edna Wilder, one of the world's best-known practitioners and modernizers of traditional Eskimo skin sewing techniques, takes would-be skin sewers through the step-by-step work involved in constructing traditional items of clothing such as mukluks, parkas and mittens. The book also includes sewing instructions for belts, baby booties, a trapper-style fur cap and toys.

In Habitat Characteristics of Some Passerine Birds in Western North American Taiga, author Brina Kessel presents various features of taiga habitats that are associated with the presence (or absence) and the densities of some of the small land birds that live in the subarctic. This work integrates Kessel's many years of observation and study over much of Alaska, the final phase of which was an intensive two years of data collection in the upper basin of the Susitna River, central Alaska—data that constitute the core of this volume. Measured habitat variables from each study site provide data for analyzing specific habitat relationships of 15 bird species. In addition, this book contains descriptions and photographs of typical taiga habitats and color plates of the major species discussed. Scientists, land and wildlife managers, educators, conservationists, bird watchers and the general public will all find much of interest in this original work.

Volume No. 48 of Richard Pierce's Alaska History Series, Limestone Press, revisits a legendary, though ill-fated romance. Author Eve Iversen in The Romance of Nikolai Rezanov and Concepción Argüello. A Literary Legend and Its Effect on California History gets behind the mass of literature, sculpture, art and opera inspired by Rezanov's 1806 betrothal to the San Francisco commandant's 16-year-old daughter—and sets the record straight. Was the 46-year-old Russian diplomat sincere or merely playing with a young girl's heart while reconnoitering Spanish California and finagling foodstuffs for the starving garrison he left behind in Russian America at Sitka? Concepción vowed she would marry Rezanov or no one, but after he departed San Francisco, he never returned. Included in this work are excerpts from G.H. von Langsdorff's account of the visit to California and from letters written by Rezanov shortly before his death, indicating the Russian envoy's own view of the romance.

For more information, contact the University of Alaska Press, 1st Floor Gruening Building, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-6240, at (907) 474-5831 or toll free 1-888-AK-BOOKS.

-30-

CONTACT: Debbie Gonzalez, University of Alaska Press (907) 474-6389, or via email at: fypress@uaf.edu

UAF Home | Media Releases FY99 | UAF News & Events | UAF Search |

Send comments to the University Relations Office or call 907-474-7581.