A tale of ice and mien

Part Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott, essayist and NPR commentator Heather Lende introduces readers to life in the town of Haines, Alaska (90 miles north of Juneau), a hamlet so small there’s neither a stoplight nor a McDonald’s. Haines boasts a summer population of 2,400 (though many leave for the harsh winter months). Lende, who’s lived here for two decades and raised five children here, is the town’s obituary writer.

In addition to calling readers’ attention to the stunning natural beauty and exotic wildlife she encounters -- moose giving birth across the road from her house, seals stranded on local beaches, pods of whales cruising by, grizzlies and wolves dotting the landscape -- much of her narrative focuses on life and death.

She describes the tragic passing of a young man from town in a fishing-boat accident, a local father who almost perishes in an ice-skating debacle, friends who die when bush planes crash, and those who have lived long, satisfying lives and are ready at last to go into that dark night. “I know that love and life are all mixed up with loss and death, just like beautiful bubbles frozen in the lake,” she writes, subtly reminding readers to embrace each day, each opportunity, each life that touches our own and to note the beauty of it all.

-- Bernadette Murphy