ASP Podcast #13: Author, Hank Lentfer: Stories of Connection
Hank and Richard Nelson. photo: Liz McKenzie
Richard Nelson: Wainwright, Alaska
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A conversation with Hank Lentfer
Barry Lopez & the importance of story
A childhood memory from the Arctic & reflecting on our times now
Building a home in Gustavus and considering Sandhill Cranes
“Raven’s Witness: Friendship with naturalist & author Richard Nelson
Nels’ time in the Arctic with the Inupiaq
Nels’ time with the Koyukon; interconnectedness
Writing and Island Years
Hank and Nels’ collaboration with sound recording
A shattered and healed deer bone
Barry Lopez: Isumataq
ASP Episode #13
Podcast excerpt: Hank remembering Barry Lopez and the importance of storytelling.
“Barry dedicated his life to seeking out and giving voice to the stories that matter. And in recent conversations as the dire state of the world came into more and more focus, he shared that one of the greatest and growing challenges of storytellers is to properly acknowledge and describe the depth of the darkness in front of us: the rates of extinction, the challenges of climate, the tearing of social fabric. And then in the next breath evoke humanity's strength in a way that leaves people empowered and animated to keep going and not cave into the despair of the reality of where we find ourselves. So he was very keenly aware of this as a storyteller, as an artist, being true to both of those things—the hard place we find ourselves and animation of our greatest depths of our humanity.”
Raven’s Witness: The Alaska Life of Richard K. Nelson
Hank Lentfer, Mountaineers Books (USA, 2020)
Winner: Grand Prize: Banff Mountain Book Awards
This book makes me want to ponder over our connections with nature and the meaning of spirituality for each one of us. Such is the power of its quality of writing and the subject of the book, Richard K. Nelson. There can never be enough of books like this .A lifetime spent in wilderness must be written about, and celebrated, read by young people everywhere. For this universality alone, Raven’s Witness is deserving of a Grand Prize. Congratulations to Hank!
– Nandini Purandare, 2020 Book Competition Jury
Raven’s Witness is the Alaska book I’ve waited lifelong to read. Hank Lentfer’s gorgeous account of the evolution of Richard K. Nelson’s life and thought is a godsend. Half a century ago Nelson realized how wrong it was to send Native Alaskans our teachers when we should be begging theirs to teach us, and Lentfer describes the ways he came to live that realization. -- David James Duncan
“Richard Nelson arrived in the Arctic in pursuit of survival skills. Alaska taught him something else entirely.” ‘Raven’s Witness’ Review: Wisdom and Ecstasy, Review, Wall Street Journal
An anthropological saga, a literary gem about the legendary “Nels,” one of the most extraordinary naturalists of our time. -- Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown
Anyone who cares about the wilder corners of this Earth, and the indigenous people and animals that have successfully inhabited them, should know the work of Richard Nelson, a remarkable anthropologist and superb writer who died last year. A fine introduction to his life can be found in a new biography, ‘Raven’s Witness.' -- Bill McKibben ― The New Yorker's The Climate Crisis
I savored every page of this magical, beautifully-woven book – the story of one man’s apprenticeship to Alaska’s northern wisdom and wild joy. The final pages brought me to laughter and tears, inspired by Richard Nelson’s humility and respect. His great heart forever open – listening. -- Kim Heacox, author of The Only Kayak
Richard Nelson’s radio specials: Encounters North
Special thanks to Christian Arthur for his musical contributions.