Distant Fires

Duluth to Hudson Bay

2008
Author:

Scott Anderson
Illustrations by Les C. Kouba

One canoe, two guys, three months, forty-five pounds of macaroni and cheese—a classic canoe trip story

Some of [Anderson’s] phrasing is very happy indeed: ‘the resting place of the rivers.’ I wish I had written that.

Eric Sevareid

Scott Anderson (1965–1999) was a true adventurer and coauthor of Unknown Rider and The Mosquito Book.

Les C. Kouba is a renowned wildlife artist.

Distant Fires is a voyage of discovery. Scott Anderson is an inquisitive traveler, and
when he sees something that piques his interest, he stops for a chat. He also has a marvelous eye for the natural world that surrounds him in his summerlong journey. He is
a natural-born writer.

Duluth News Tribune

Distant Fires, a true-life adventure, describes a 1,700-mile canoe trip from Duluth to York Factory on Hudson Bay. Anderson and a companion retraced the paddles taken by Eric Sevareid and a companion almost sixty years earlier. Their trials and tribulations, plus Anderson’s sense of humor, make the trip fun in book form. Pen-and-ink illustrations are by noted Minnesota wildlife artist Les Kouba.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Eric Sevareid and Walter Port would be proud of Distant Fires and the young men who lived the adventure. So would the beloved paddler Sigurd Olson. It belongs in your packsack, along with the maps.

Wisconsin Public Radio

The waves on Lake Superior nearly splattered them all over the cliffs, and mosquitoes almost ate them alive in the Boundary Waters. Halfway through the three-month trip, they buried their underwear. But who needs underwear when you’re 22 years old and living out the adventure of a boyhood dream?

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Anyone with the slightest streak of adventure will understand the challenge and relish Anderson’s telling.

Booklist

Some of [Anderson’s] phrasing is very happy indeed: ‘the resting place of the rivers.’ I wish I had written that.

Eric Sevareid