Jimmy Bluefeather By, Kim Heacox

This is an extraordinary read and is unlike any book I have ever read. Set in Alaska, its a quest, a spiritual journey of 95 year old, Keb Wisting, who is a member of the Tlingit-- indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Old Keb is part Norwegian, Tlingit, and the last of the cedar canoe carvers. The author lives in Southeast Alaska and spent time with Tlingit elders. He has many quotes stated in Tinglit language and has a Tlingit glossary at the end of the book.

The writing reads like poetry and I reread lines to savor the language and description.

Old Keb, "prodded the rain soaked earth with his alder walking cane. For a moment his own weathered hand caught his attention-the way his bones fitted to the wood. the wilderness between his fingers, the space where Bessie's hand use to be." Bessie was his late wife.

Keb is described as, "big ears, small bladder,bad teeth and having one good eye." His grandson Jimmy, "a prisoner of angr" was an exceptional basketball player; awaiting offers to play professionally, he hurt his knee in a logging accident. The accident was deemed suspicious, and was the result of jealousy and unrequited love, for Jimmy's girlfriend, Little Mac.

Old Keb feels the weight of death on him and realizes that his grandson needs to learn the value of life, beyond basketball. So they embark on a journey together after carving a cedar canoe. There are a litany of characters surrounding them, his daughter Ruby was a 'cliff nester, a risk taker, a big shot Princeton graduate and Professor and President of a environmental foundation, Jimmy's girlfriend, Little Mac, who is described as wearing a black beret, smart and empathetic. Keb's daughter, Gracie, who is Jimmy's mother, "could bend with a smile."

Its an epic journey, as Old Keb and Jimmy withstand the elements, politicians, bureaucrats, the media, well wishers, naysayers; who all have opinions and attempt to support or thwart the mission.
Its a raucous ride to Crystal Bay, which is the heartland of the Tlingit people.

As the story begins and ends, Old Keb states, "Used to be it was hard to live, and easy to die. Not anymore."