Review by New York Times Review
Despite spending most of his adult life studying and photographing animals in the wildest parts of the Alaskan backcountry, Jans never expected that one day the backcountry would follow him to his own backyard. But there at the edges of suburban Juneau it does, in the form of a black wolf that steps out of the mist in the winter of 2003. Unlike the snarling villains of folklore, this stranger is no menace; in fact, the animal's desire to be near people seems driven by a loneliness that borders on desperation. With neighborhood dogs, he is playful to the point of courtliness, inspiring the author's wife to call him "Romeo." Wherever Romeo came from, it's obvious from the beginning that he is caught between his world and ours, as Jans observes, "a pariah cast upon our strange shore." As winter turns to spring and months turn into years, the wolf's constant presence in Juneau raises an important question: Should a wild predator live so close to humans, even if he's "friendly"? For Jans, the desire to understand Romeo is deeply personal, fueled by regrets about his own wolf-hunting past, which he writes about with unflinching honesty. The story is also a sort of collective reckoning, as he meditates on the evolution from wolf to dog and the persecution of wolves throughout the American frontier. Jans is an exceptional storyteller - no nature writer can top him in terms of sheer emotional force - and he frames even the smallest moment with haunting power. One afternoon, he falls asleep with his black Labrador near the mouth of a local river with Romeo nearby. "It was one of those still days when you could hear snowdrifts collapsing in hisses, the sun so dazzling off the white-crusted ice that we seemed suspended on a cloud, bathed in light radiating from below," Jans writes. "There we lay, three different species bound by a complex, often bitter history, taking simple comfort in the others' presence, the sun's warmth and the passing of another winter." BRONWEN DICKEY is writing a social history of pit bulls and their people.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 5, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Jans was walking with his wife and yellow Lab in the gathering twilight when a black wolf they'd spotted on the frozen lake came bounding up near them. Forty yards away, he stopped, but then the Lab broke free and approached the wolf. The result of this encounter was a wild wolf that became part of the author's life on the fringe of suburban Juneau, an animal not only tolerant of humans but also downright friendly to dogs. As he began to be known among the local dog owners, it became clear that Romeo truly was sociable playing with dogs of all types, putting up with pursuit by photographers, and interacting with all levels of clueless people. For six years, this friendly wolf graced the Juneau wilderness, accompanying people on hikes and interacting with their dogs. Woven through Romeo's story is the larger tale of humans and wolves, of close contact and fear, of wolves and dogs, and of an animal that lives both beyond and among us. As in Jans' previous works (The Grizzly Maze, 2006; The Glacier Wolf, 2009), the writing is both lyrical and factual, and through Jans' pen, we feel the crisp Alaska twilight and see the breeze ruffle Romeo's black coat.--Bent, Nancy Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Nature photographer and author Jans (The Grizzly Maze) reflects on a six-year relationship between the citizens of Juneau, Alaska, and an unusually friendly lone black wolf named Romeo. Jans recalls his early meetings with the wolf on Mendenhall Lake, including when it intercepted a tennis ball intended for Jans's Labrador. Romeo's popularity grew through press coverage and word-of-mouth; he became "the town's de facto mascot" and companion to innumerable local canines. Jans's story is marred by political strife caused by Alaska's "controversial wildlife management" practices, with off and on aerial gunning programs targeting wolves which the human residents, "infused by a free-thinking, old-Alaska egalitarianism," largely disapproved. Threats to Romeo's survival escalate after a couple near-violent incidents with area dogs forces the Fish and Game agency to consider removing the wolf. Hunters set up illegal traps and a dog was mistakenly, and brutally, killed. When Romeo disappears, outdoorsman Harry Robinson investigates, leading police to a pair of sadistic poachers. Jans explains pack hierarchy and the punishing wolf life cycle, "a Darwinian gauntlet that demanded constant adaptation and complex responses," and defends the animals as unfairly perceived to be a threat to humans. Insightful and philosophical, Jans probes the boundaries between wilderness and civilization and our responsibilities to the untamed creatures in our midst. Photos. Agent: Elizabeth Kaplan. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The sweet and cautionary tale of a wolf that liked to play with dogs.The story opens in the early winter of 2003, just north of Juneau, Alaska, near Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau-based journalist Jans was out skiing on the frozen lake by his house when his eye caught a track that wasnt laid down by a dog. Two days later, he and his dogs ran across the creature: a good-sized, black-haired wolf, easily double his biggest dog, a barrel-chested Lab. The wolf was imposing, to be sure, but as personality or genetics or the alignment of the stars would have it, it was also crazy for dogs. Jans is a fairly cool customer, and he is concerned about issues surrounding habituation and the conflict it can spawn for wild animals, but when he was caught in the beams of the wolfs amber eyes, a wild-edged thrill swelled in my chest. So tolerant was Romeoand yes, the author understands the cautions about naming a wild animal, but could this be a friendship?that he became a local celebrity, with all the inevitable polarizing that caused. Wolves, Jans explains, just strike the wrong note with many humans, a reminder that we do not sit alone atop the food chain. In neat slices of natural history, the author explores what we know about the history of wolves, though he also wheels about freely, including elements of memoir here, profiles of his neighbors there. The meat of the story, however, surrounds Romeo: his trails, which he tends with loving care; his masterful ability to decode intentions; the joy and fearmongering his playfulness brings; and the bum raps and rumors that he has to shoulder for every wolf in the region.An astute, deeply respectful encounter between man and wolf. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
