Jim Rearden passed away recently. Jim was many things, including one of the most prolific authors of Alaskan works ever. Jim's book "Shadows on the Koyukuk" told Sidney Huntington's life story, as well as the story of the Koyukon Athabaskan peoples. Jim's book "Alaska's Wolf Man" about Frank Glaser is another classic about another classic Alaskan character. Jim wrote many books, literally thousands of magazine articles, plus he was a biologist, a pilot, a University professor, and a commercial fisherman. He served on the Board of Fish and Game and on the Board of Game. All in all, a classic Alaskan. His son, Mike is a Cessna 180 owner, living in Homer. Here is Jim's obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/new...&pid=184225908

I highly recommend anyone pick up some of Jim's books and learn more about Alaska and Alaskans.

RIP Jim,

MTV

Sorry to hear this. My favorite Alaskan author.

Hadn't heard Jim had gone west. Defiantly a prolific writer and a true Alaskan... He is sitting up there eating squaw candy (smoked salmon strips) with Sidney .... Got pictures of Sidney at fish camp on the Yukon on one of these dam thumb drives Got to get all them organized one of these days

Back in the early 60s, Jim was an editor for Outdoor Life Magazine. He was the one who broke the story that a group of cattlemen on Kodiak had equipped a Super Cub with a rifle and their pilot was shooting brown bears from the air. That article in Outdoor Life essentially put an end to that program because of the hue and cry of the hunters who read the story. There were rumors that the "rifle" mounted on the Super Cub was actually a machine gun. When investigators came to look over the operation, the gun was noted as an M-1 Garand, semi automatic.

Some years later, I got to know and fly with the pilot of that operation. He played it pretty close to the vest, but he did answer a few questions. I asked him about how many bears he thought he'd shot during that operation. He said he only kept track one summer and that during that summer, he'd verified 44 dead bears.

I asked him about the rifle, and he smiled. Said originally, they'd experimented with a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), a 30-06 caliber automatic weapon. He said when the article hit Outdoor Life, he came out to the plane one day and the BAR had been replaced with an M-1.

The gun was mounted above the skylight on pylons, with an electric key on the stick for a trigger. He had a sliding door in the skylight to he could change magazines in flight. Carried a box of loaded magazines in the back seat.

Thanks to Jim Rearden, that little operation got shut down.

MTV

Get a copy of "Sam O. White, Alaskan" by Rearden. Sam was an absolutely incredible man. What Sam did and the good character of the man is incredible. Sam is a man who was very modest and doesn't get near the recognition he deserves.

Kurt

My boss knew Jim Reardon and Sam White and I had the privilege of meeting them separately in Fairbanks. Fly on the wall (me) took it all in. Both were different pioneers by today's standards and learned by going and doing.

Sam's L-5 (I was told was his) sat at Bachner's Aircraft at Phillips Field in the early '70's. Was in rough shape then disappeared. Quite a bush plane back then. His favorite moose pasture lake in the SW Yukon Flats is still there.

Gary

Jim Rearden did a great job chronicling the lives of people who constitute Alaska's greatest resource: Alaskans.

Tom Wardleigh told me a story once about Frank Glaser, the subject of "Alaska's Wolf Man". They both worked for the US Fish & Wildlife SErvice in the early 50s.....Glaser hunting wolves, and Wardleigh flying and maintaining the Aircraft Division's planes.

At one point, Tom was told to fly a Widgeon to Fairbanks, pick up Glaser and fly him wherever he wanted to go. Tom said he'd never been north of the Alaska Range at that point in his career. So, he did as instructed, and Frank wanted to go to Kaktovik, on Barter Island, just off the north slope of Alaska and work out of there hunting and poisoning wolves. So, they spent the night in Kaktovik.

Next morning, they got up and weather was very low coastal fog and visibility was pretty low to boot. But, in that part of the world, coastal fog often ends before you get to the Brooks Range, which will often be clear as a bell. So, off the went, the plan being to slither up one of the several rivers that drain the north slopes of the Brooks Range, in hopes that they'd find clear weather before they got to the mounta

Tom said it wasn't long before he was sweating bullets, with just a hundred or so ceiling and visibility below a mile. Glaser was apparently asleep in the right seat. This went on for a while, and finally Glaser turned to Tom and said "Sonny, stop worrying! If you've got to crash this thing, just crash her as gentle as you can, and we'll kill a caribou, make camp, eat a nice caribou steak, make some good caribou leggings from the hide and tomorrow we'll walk back to the coast and get us another airplane. But, stop worrying, there's nothing to worry about."

Tom said later he told that story to some folks who knew Glaser and they said that would be about what he'd do.

MTV

mtv wrote:Jim Rearden did a great job chronicling the lives of people who constitute Alaska's greatest resource: Alaskans.

Tom Wardleigh told me a story once about Frank Glaser, the subject of "Alaska's Wolf Man". They both worked for the US Fish & Wildlife SErvice in the early 50s.....Glaser hunting wolves, and Wardleigh flying and maintaining the Aircraft Division's planes.

At one point, Tom was told to fly a Widgeon to Fairbanks, pick up Glaser and fly him wherever he wanted to go. Tom said he'd never been north of the Alaska Range at that point in his career. So, he did as instructed, and Frank wanted to go to Kaktovik, on Barter Island, just off the north slope of Alaska and work out of there hunting and poisoning wolves. So, they spent the night in Kaktovik.

Next morning, they got up and weather was very low coastal fog and visibility was pretty low to boot. But, in that part of the world, coastal fog often ends before you get to the Brooks Range, which will often be clear as a bell. So, off the went, the plan being to slither up one of the several rivers that drain the north slopes of the Brooks Range, in hopes that they'd find clear weather before they got to the mounta

Tom said it wasn't long before he was sweating bullets, with just a hundred or so ceiling and visibility below a mile. Glaser was apparently asleep in the right seat. This went on for a while, and finally Glaser turned to Tom and said "Sonny, stop worrying! If you've got to crash this thing, just crash her as gentle as you can, and we'll kill a caribou, make camp, eat a nice caribou steak, make some good caribou leggings from the hide and tomorrow we'll walk back to the coast and get us another airplane. But, stop worrying, there's nothing to worry about."

Tom said later he told that story to some folks who knew Glaser and they said that would be about what he'd do.

MTV

Mike,

I was lucky to have Tom Wardleigh as a neighbor while I was growing up, his son was my age and we were friends. Tom had great stories, I never got tired of hearing them.

Kurt

Jim was a friend. He was the outdoor editor of Alaska Magazine for the five years I was the editor. E was smart, hard working, a great writer and photographer, and he loved flyinf. He balled up a PA 22/20, but didn't hurt anyone. Then he got a Kitfox on floats. Didn't fly it much, and as I remember, he called it quits not long after.

He walked the Homer Spit every day.

If you like WWII stories, get a copy of Castner"s Cutthroats. Fiction, but based on a little-known intelligence-special forces unit of hunting guides, bush pilots, native Alaskans, etc. Good stuff.