The Last Speaker of Bear: My Encounters in the North

In this collection of short essays, nature writer, poet, and mycologist Millman (Goodbye, Ice: Arctic Poems; At the End of the World: A True Story of Murder in the Arctic) recounts various adventures experienced during his years of Arctic travel. From sampling psychotropic mushrooms in Siberia to attending a séance in Iceland, Millman’s curiosity about Indigenous traditions and Arctic history led him to sample foods, such as ptarmigan (small bird) droppings, risk the wrath of a mother grizzly, and tour the remnants of the world’s northernmost baseball field. Whether gathering lore from Inuit elders or describing the pristine beauty of a crater lake, the author relates his encounters with good humor and obvious affection. Though many of the essays are amusing, such as his run-in with “Viking” marauders on a remote Icelandic island, climate change and its deleterious effects on landscapes, wildlife, and livelihoods are a common theme of his observations, and his anticipatory mourning for an Arctic close to vanishing forever serves as a potent reminder of the present reality.