Jette Elsebeth Ashlee

An Arctic Epic of Family and Fortune: the Theories of Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Their Influence in Practice on Storker Storkerson and His Family Jette Elsebeth Ashlee

The protagonists of An Arctic Epic of Fame and Family Failure are the still controversial anthropologist-explorer, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and his self-described, "indispensable man," Storker Storkerson from Norway. The energy and daring of these men fuel this rare history set in the early twentieth century on the Arctic coast of Alaska and Canada. Together, the dynamic duo met the so-called, "Blond Eskimos," fathered children by native women while finding the last new lands of the Americas and establishing a reindeer enterprise with the company that became Canada - the Hudson's Bay Company. During his rise to international fame, Stefansson included Storkerson in his journey but Storkerson's misdirection of his newly found fame resulted in catastrophic consequences for himself and his family.