In 1973; Norma Cobb; her husband Lester and the their five children; the oldest of whom was nine years old and the youngest; twins; barely one; pulled up stakes in the lower 48 and headed north to Alaska to follow a pioneer dream of claiming land under the Homestead Act. The only land available lay north of Fairbanks near the Arctic Circle where grizzlies outnumbered humans twenty to one. In addition to fierce winters and predatory animals; the Alaskan frontier drew the more unsavory elements of society's fringes. From the beginning; the Cobbs found themselves pitted in a life or death feud with unscrupulous neighbors who would rob from new settlers; attempt to burn them out; shoot them and jump their claim.The Cobbs were chechakos; tenderfeet; in a lost land that consumed even toughened settlers. Everything; including their "civilized" past; conspired to defeat them. They constructed a cabin--and first snow collapsed the roof. They built too near the creek and spring breakup threatened to flood them out. Bears prowled the nearby woods; stalking the children and Lester Cobb would leave for months at a time in search of work.But through it all; they survived on the strength of Norma Cobb--a woman whose love for her family knew no bounds and whose courage in the face of mortal danger is an inspiration to us all. This is her story.
#38393 in Books St. Martin's Griffin 1982-02-15 1982-02-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 231.39 x 23.62 x 6.39l; 1.24 #File Name: 0312174918512 pagesGreat product!
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Complex like Buckminster Fuller himself.By Beatrix WarbucksThis book always blows my mind. It's like seeing into the thoughts of a world mover. Check it out. The man certainly fell into the category of intuitive thinker; and his intuitions were mindblowingly accurate in a lot of respects. The same way his Buckyspheres unknowingly complimented the complex nanastructures of fullerenes based off of candle soot structures; the connections in this collection of essays come together to reveal what sometimes seems so complex with transitions in subject so quick; its hard to differentiate from the super associative ramblings of a schizophrenic; and yet; this was one of the most influential men of the 21st century; the second president of Mensa until his death. This book is also good to get a glimpse of what the scientific community used to be; before the streamlining of a post dot com/supercollider media image. This is the era mythified and laughed at in Johnny Quest and later Venture Brothers; one still full of hope and dreams.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. I love reading FullerBy RonaldI love reading Fuller; and this is a good sort of summation of his way of looking at the world. It's more comprehensive than the Operator's Manual for the Spaceship Earth and less dense than Synergetics. A good middle place to get a view of his scope of thinking.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. suggesting the power of leveraging!By jethroit tell us that everything was provided by God to man.only man had to make things out of what was created. like if man wanted to travel by water...man had to create something that floats to the ocean.it tells us the power of leveraging. like when David killed Goliath. he could have used by throwing stones by using human strength which has no match with a sling.using sling is a lot more powerful than throwing.there was a meeting of the environment; dreams and the human mind that makes the innovations. "more with less" imagine if david used his hand alone without the sling...he couldn't have killed goliath. it seems to represent about the human technologies in our time that makes life better and better. things get faster; swifter; stronger for human uses. the playing field was leveled...anybody can outwit the giant so long as we seek the opportunity. in short; it teaches the power of leveraging; which has the implications on personal economy. that man can live in abundance...like the rich peers he had.
