A former marine fighter pilot, Jay Hammond heads north to Alaska after World War II. He becomes a trapper, bush pilot, fisherman, guide, wolf hunter, poet, environmentalist, and finally a reluctant politician who endears himself to Alaska's people by telling them the unvarnished and sometimes unwelcome truth as he sees it about the state of affairs in their oil-boom state. They punish him by electing him governor. In his autobiography, Hammond reveals the real Alaska beyond the media myths and tourist literature. He introduces an assortment of unforgettable characters across the breadth of...

In this memoir, a sequel to the immensely popular autobiography, TALES OF ALASKA'S BUSH RAT GOVERNOR, former governor Jay Hammond spins more delightful yarns about the fascinating people and humorous situations he has encountered from one end of Alaska to the other, from wild tales about life in the Bush to stories about the hot air-filled legislative halls in Juneau. The late governor was one of Alaska's great storytellers, and he remains one of the state's most beloved and admired public figures--living or dead--thirty years after leaving office.