Steller's Orchid

Tom McGuire came to Alaska with two college friends. Fifty years later he still hasn’t found reason to leave. He has worked as a salmon fisherman, carpenter, and North Slope oilfield worker. He and his wife have raised four children in a house they built on the banks of the Chilkoot River. Grizzly bears are frequent visitors. Tom has also paddled thousands of miles down (and up) northern rivers. He has published a book 99 Days on the Yukon, that describes a summerlong trip with legendary canoeist Charlie Wolf.

"I learned more about life in the Aleutians 100 years ago from Tom McGuire's page turner Steller’s Orchid than I did from a decade living in Alaska. In the course of drawing us in to the quest of John Lars, a young orchid seeker, McGuire subtly reveals how we arrived at the Alaska of today.. This adventurous, unforgettably original and so human saga has more than a few moments of erudite ad poetic narrative. Steller’s Orchid teaches us how and  why commoditized  plants have been transported around the world to comprise the modern agricultural landscape. McGuire’s narrative culminates in an exciting climax set in one of the most remote spots on the planet, a fitting end to a book that is as much about the nature of life and love as orchid hunting and ambition." —Doug Fine, author Farewell, My Subaru and Too High to Fail"Steller's Orchid most definitely deserves a spot among the best of contemporary Alaska fiction. It’s a perfect example of literature that can entertain while also teaching about place, history and the human heart." —Nancy Lord of Anchorage Daily News