Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription. April 18, 1945 - February 19, 2023. Recorded at their cabin in Alaska's remote Brooks Range, it layers historic footage, vivid ph Arctic Daughter: A Lifetime of Wilderness is the second documentary by Jean Aspen and Tom Irons. Your father was very jealous, Connie once said. Now I heard our son, Luke, saying those words to me. Anchorage Press 731 I St, Suite 102, Anchorage, AK 99501 | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | The ANCHORAGE PRESS is owned by Wick Communications. Most of this book was written at our cabin in the remote arctic wilderness, two logs at a time. Most widely held works about Jean Aspen Arctic daughter : a wilderness journey by Jean Aspen ( Book ); Arctic son by Jean Aspen ( Book ); Trusting the River by Jean Aspen ( Book ) By the time a third large problem emerges, it is time to back-paddle. Through the stained glass of our nearby kitchen door, a shaft of light spilled across the ground. Sleeping little, he worked to enclose the home he was building on forty acres of woodland. Ive been thinking about going into nursing. Above all, I am grateful to my husband, Tom Irons, for paddling with me across three magical decades. My father found work as a day laborer toting bags of cement for the construction of an airfield, and then as a sheet metal worker making $75 a week. "She was a wild spirit, and she fretted being shackled, as she saw it, to the demands of two small children and poverty in the city heat, away from her beloved wilderness. I am deeply grateful to each who have shared the remarkable adventure of my life. It is good to rest in the moment, my feet tucked warm beneath me on the sofa. We never had old snowmachines. She also said never to pee on a fire, but it seemed I needed to find out things for myself." As somebody who lives in the burbs and has never been camping this doc provides a glimpse of a lifestyle/adventure that I will never see but wish I could. She spent the night with Annie and me playing with teddy bears in our bunk beds. The Helmericks individually and together wrote a bookshelf of Alaskana, including We Live in Alaska, a 1947 best seller; Constance Helmericks Down the Wild River North,: and Harmon Helmericks The Last of the Bush Pilots. Aspen is working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to archive her parents films and photos. Nevertheless, adventure was in her blood and she had found a man to share her wild dreams. Bud was in his element, talking guns in his fathers shop, but for Connie it was the final link in domestication. Later that month, my father obtained materials and built a nineteen-foot canoe from two layers of thin canvas and hand-cut planks. 3 When ice claims the Northland, we are snug in a little Alaskan town, watching December light spill over the glaciers and pool on the breaking surf. They all envy my freedom. Tom watched me, nodding. Aspen credits Irons and Smith as major collaborators and others as contributors. The top of his head was almost naked with a wispy island of hair in the front, while the back and sides grew collar-length chestnut hair threaded with gray. Yet if one can surrender to the grace and magic of each shifting moment, this dance is everythingexquisite and profound. Its a balancing act, this dance with the river. PW. Life sometimes takes such unexpected and violent twists that it can appear frighteningly arbitrary, and yet seen from this distance of years, it glimmers with underlying motifs. Morristown. Where are you going, and what do you wish? Aspen shared this humorous observation. Curious as an ermine, I followed emerging patterns in and out of time. So technically its challenging, our equipment is heavy and were old, Aspen said. Launching a canoe laden with half a ton of supplies and equipment into the Yukon River, they began their arduous, epic quest not quite sure of how they would successfully pull it off. Jean was born in Erie PA (1943) and moved with her family . Tom, Rude, and I were tested wilderness companionsall Aries, lined up like close siblings. Wed sell this place and use travel-nursing to find another home. I would not be who I am without it.. I recall him always in overalls. Kathy Hilton had been trying to promote Casa Del Sol tequila a few times during the season. What couldnt rot theyve hauled back to civilization. I have always belonged to wilderness. The closest he came to speaking of her in later years was that woman. Most of her book recounts the struggles they endure carving out a homestead for themselves deep in the wilderness. A wooden, handmade rocking chair is all that Jean Aspen and Tom Irons left at the former site they called Kernwood. Things always work out once we align, I said softly. On September 5, 1954, Jean was married to the love of her life, Paul Trousdale of Beverly Hills who passed away April 9, 1990. As spring advanced, even Lucas began to see the possibilities. Jean Aspen Education Jean Aspen finished their High School education with Good Grades. My second book, Arctic Son: Fulfilling the Dream, tells of building another log home and living for a year remote from other humans. Nevertheless, the struggle to integrate these two worlds and come to peace with our culture has been the driving force of my quests. Im interested to see how it evolves. She also went on the lecture circuit with her parents. These new houses are so remote and sterile, he waved vaguely towards lights speckling the nearby hills. Connie wore a beige traveling dress with a lace collar, a stylish hat, and white gloves; my handsome father wore his old sneakers and corduroy trousers. Although much of my life has been lived in remote wilderness, I could never have traveled far without friends who championed my journey. My elbows were propped on tanned knees. Id like to know the babies I help deliver and watch them grow up. No matter the careful preparation, we wander a starry night on an unknown course. I dont know. We were seated by our backyard campfire, cooking salmon over mesquite. Lucy, our old Corgi-mongrel, muttered. Connie cooked, washed clothes, and carried buckets of water to their rented log hovel while a dreary winter pulled down. In 1992 Jean Aspen took her husband, Tom, and their young son to live in Alaska's interior mountains where they built a cabin from logs, hunted for food, and let the vast beauty of the Arctic. She had just completed her junior year. I picked the first winter lettuce and spinach. He tends to step in the background and stay quiet. Arctic Daughter: A Lifetime of Wilderness is the second documentary by Jean Aspen and Tom Irons. The house squatted on a large barren lot that was enclosed in back by an unfinished block wall. Just living in silence and respect it opens layers and layers and depth in the landscape.. After living Outside for several decades, Aspen came back to Alaska, settling in Homer, where she works as a part-time nurse at South Peninsula Hospital. Life is a journey into mystery. We heard the car slow at the corner of our property and the adolescent boom of a radio as it turned into the driveway. It seemed prudent to take to the river voluntarily, nevertheless I was afraid. Time is our only currency. Grizzled chest hair curled from the neck of his T-shirt, and his dark beard was streaked with white. The plumbing was dank, the rooms cramped and dingy, and the electrical wiring dangerous. Away from the Southwest, maybe a small community where we can grow food and not feel guilty about using water. That evening, Egypt launched an air assault on Israel. Although Bud later accused Connie of marrying him to get to Alaska, I dont believe that was the whole story. My mother taught herself to drive on her way back to Arizona. Graduations overrated. She had scant practical skill and no stomach for conflictan odd combination for an author and arctic explorer, as she defined herself. Jean is the author of Arctic. My book, Arctic Daughter: A Wilderness Journey, recounts how Phil and I navely set forth, without even a map, on the mighty Yukon River in the spring of 1972. Connie, the romantic, was swept up in his glamorous (if spurious) tales of South America, Cuba, and Alaska. Security is an illusion, I reminded myself. he asked, voice soft and deep. I let out my breath and glanced up. Born to explorer parents, Connie and Bud Helmericks, Jeanie began life in arctic wilds. "We crouched together, feeling the comfort of wet warmth pass between us, chewing raw, rubbery moose while the storm raged. For more than forty years, this wild valley has cradled my dreams. They were supposed to be back in Aspen by Sunday afternoon, though their plans were tentative and friends thought they might have stayed to witness Monday's solar eclipse, according to the Pitkin. . I stared into the fire and listened for his response. He didnt return to college, and his brother John was never able to go. Theres a fine line between challenges that are part of an adventure and the signposts of impending disaster. The guys rarely chose our place. Remember when it was dark at night? Jean Aspen replants the site in 2017. In early childhood, Connie fled her nannies, slipping away from her powerful and abusive father to ramble the woods of upstate New York. He had been on his own since the age of twelvedriven out by a new stepfather. I never heard his side. One has only to read my fathers letters to know the truth: Connies writing is complex and engaging, while his is as stolid as a grocery list. First, there was the Erika blow up over her earrings. He had commissioned a new stovepipe oven built to my design for baking bread and roasting meat. We filmed our fourteen months alone, and two decades later Tom and I produced a documentary, companion to the book. This is the story of my first book, Arctic Daughter: a Wilderness Journey, which became a Reader's Digest selection. Her younger and more docile sister Janet told of my seven-year-old mother climbing out their second-story bedroom window and down a tree to sleep beneath the stars. When spring again released the river, we embarked on a six-hundred mile canoe voyage back to that other world, a treacherous journey of more than three weeks. Our glass studio? In 1948, in the year that Phillip K Beisel was born, on May 14th, the State of Israel was proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion, who became Israel's first Premier, and the U.S. officially recognized Israel. Name Jean Aspen Birthday 1950 Age 70 Gender Female Nationality American Occupation Author Parents Constance Helmericks Siblings 1 Net Worth $1 . Jean Aspen 4.08 198 ratings17 reviews The child of a famous female explorer describes her own journey down the Yukon to the Chandalar River with her childhood sweetheart, recounting their experiences living off the land in the remote Brooks Range. His life hunting polar bears with Iupiat men seemed more dramatic than hers writing cross-legged in a tent, so she even adopted his voice at times. Tom leaned forward on his bench and turned the salmon. It was perhaps inevitable that Tom and I would end up in Alaska. In 1992 Jean Aspen took her husband, Tom, and their young son to live in Alaska's interior mountains where they built a cabin from logs, hunted for food, and let the vast beauty of the Arctic close around them. Jan Aspen was inspired by his fathers wild adventures, so he chose the same hobbies as his father and began exploring at a young age. Talking about her family Jean is the author and daughter of Arctic Constance Helmericks and she herself has been traveling all over Alaska for more than 28 years. Its kind of dull out here on the desert with you guys. Before I knew it, he had cleaned out our glass studio, sold the equipment, and located a rundown, three-bedroom house close to the university. Yes, and salad too, I rose and handed him a plate. I remember her carrying a box suitcase up the walk of our little back-alley rental. 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