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RACE TO THE POLAR SEA
The Heroic Adventures and Romantic Obsessions of Elisha Kent Kane.
HarperCollins Canada / Counterpoint Press U.S. 2008
Race to the Polar Sea tells the true story of a remarkable American explorer who went in search of an Open Polar Sea at the top of the world, hoping to rescue survivors from the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin. In the 1850s, after sailing farther north than anyone else, Elisha Kent Kane got trapped in the pack ice off Greenland. Having discovered "the American route to the North Pole," he forged a unique, life-saving alliance with the Inuit. Over two years, he battled starvation, disease and a near mutiny before abandoning ship to lead an astounding escape in sleds and small boats. McGoogan celebrated its publication by sailing in Kane Basin with Adventure Canada, which inspired a travel article
. . . inspired a video as well as an interview and a travel article
Reviewers respond:
“A terrifically accessible account of this wide-eyed, extraordinarily intrepid adventurer's thrilling and chilling exploits.”
“A terrifically accessible account of this wide-eyed, extraordinarily intrepid adventurer's thrilling and chilling exploits.”
Kirkus Reviews
“McGoogan's readable biography ensures Kane's place in the pantheon of
polar explorers. Highly recommended.”
Library Journal Review – Starred
“McGoogan's fascinating biography focuses on a neglected figure from the early era of polar exploration. . . .With his access to previously unknown Kane logbooks, McGoogan makes an impressive case for the bravery and importance of the explorer who first identified the Greenland ice sheet.”
Publisher’s Weekly
Question and Answer from TNB
(A self-interview . . .March 13, 2010)
Question and Answer from TNB
(A self-interview . . .March 13, 2010)
Race to the Polar Sea tells the story of a forgotten explorer?
Elisha Kent Kane was once the most famous man in America. In 1853, he
sailed out of New York City as the leader of an Arctic expedition. He was
searching for that hapless, long-lost British explorer Sir John Franklin—and
for an Open Polar Sea at the top of the world.
So what happened?
He ended up spending two horrific winters farther north than any
explorer before him: cold, dark, scurvy, rats, starvation, amputations, deaths,
mutinous rebellion – you get the idea. Eventually, he led the most spectacular
escape in Arctic history. When he got back to the U.S., The New York
Times devoted an entire front page to his adventure. He should be
known as the Shackleton of the North.
Yet nobody knows his name?
Kane came from an old Philadelphia family. Secretly, he married an
entrancing “spirit-rapper” named Maggie Fox. She was famous throughout the
northeast. Knock, knock, knock. Spirits, can you hear me? Eventually,
Maggie died in poverty—and for this, Kane has been wrongly blamed. In Race
to the Polar Sea, I show that he acted honourably, but was betrayed by his
brother and best friend.
What makes the book relevant today?
Righting an historical wrong is always relevant. But also we’ve got
global warming. You’ve seen the headlines. The retreat of the polar
ice cap has put the Arctic on front pages around the world. Kane was the most
literate of all northern explorers. And he left such a vivid word-picture of
the Arctic that it constitutes a singular touchstone. Not long ago, I was
sailing in the Northwest Passage where Kane struggled with pack ice and massive
icebergs . . . and we encountered nothing but open water!
You can read about that recent voyage here.
And you found a long-lost journal?
The second half of Kane’s journal about his final expedition is the most
important document in Kane studies. For decades, scholars have been searching
for the first half. Almost by chance, I found it: Kane’s handwritten, 376-page
logbook. That private journal, missing for 150 years, sheds new light on the
explorer’s entire life. I write about finding it in the prologue to the book.
You’ve written other books about Arctic exploration.
This one makes four. The best-known of the others is Fatal
Passage, which won an American Christopher Award as “a work of artistic
excellence that affirms the highest values of the human spirit.” It also won
several literary prizes in Canada, and was turned into an award-winning
docudrama that aired on BBC and History Channel. I do a cameo as a rugged,
wind-blown historian. The other two titles areLady Franklin’s Revenge and Ancient
Mariner.
You’ve also written novels?
Only one of them still has legs: Visions of Kerouac: Satori
Magic Edition. It’s billed as A Novel of the Beat Generation, the
Nineteen-Sixties, Psychedelic San Francisco, Deviltry On The Road, Dharma
Bums in the Rockies, the Jungian Self, Drink, Drugs, the French Connection, and
the Quest for Great Walking Sainthood, Revised and Introduced by the
Author. You can read all about it right here.