Last Run: A True Story of Rescue and Redemption on the Alaska Seas
By Todd Lewan
4.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
It was a desperate mission that made front-page headlines and captured the attention of millions of readers around the world. In January 1998, in the dead of an Alaskan winter, a cataclysmic Arctic storm with hurricane-force winds and towering seas forced five fishermen to abandon their vessel in the Gulf of Alaska and left them adrift in thirty-eight-degree water with no lifeboat. Their would-be rescuers were 150 miles away at the Coast Guard station, with the nearby airport shut down by an avalanche.
The Last Run is the epic tale of the wreck of the oldest registered fishing schooner in Alaska, a hellish Arctic tempest, and the three teams of aviators in helicopters who withstood 140-mph gusts and hovered alongside waves that were ten stories high. But what makes this more than a true-life page-turner is its portrait of untamed Alaska and the unflappable spirit of people who forge a different kind of life on America's last frontier, the "end of the roaders" who are drawn to, or flee to, Alaska to seek a final destiny.
Todd Lewan
Todd Lewan joined the Associated Press as a correspondent in 1988. In 1996 he became an editor on AP's international desk, and later a national features writer. In 1998 he received several feature-writing prizes for this story.
Related to Last Run
Related ebooks
Sagebrush Empire: How a Remote Utah County Became the Battlefront of American Public Lands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sea and the Jungle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings58 Degrees North: The Mysterious Sinking of the Arctic Rose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, a Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rescue of the Bounty: Disaster and Survival in Superstorm Sandy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Icy Graves: Exploration and Death in the Antarctic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Edge of Survival: A Shipwreck, a Raging Storm, and the Harrowing Alaskan Rescue That Became a Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank: Disaster in New England's National Marine Sanctuary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDare to Survive:: Death, Heartbreak, and Triumph in the Wild Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLone Voyager Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everest 1922: The Epic Story of the First Attempt on the World's Highest Mountain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRunning Dry: A Journey From Source to Sea Down the Dying Colorado River Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeaded into the Wind: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEndeavour: The Ship That Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surviving Galeras Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5New England Coast Guard Stories: Remarkable Mariners Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHorse of the Sand Pounder: East Coast, World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTen Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdge of the Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaving Grand Canyon: Dams, Deals, and a Noble Myth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLabyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collision Course: The Classic Story of the Collision of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Alaskan Affliction: An Exciting “Best Of” Remote Alaskan Adventures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlast: My Return to Mount St. Helens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Broken Lands: A Novel of Arctic Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Earth Sciences For You
How to Make Hand-Drawn Maps: A Creative Guide with Tips, Tricks, and Projects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantasy Map Making: Writer Resources, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zondervan Essential Atlas of the Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nuclear War Survival Skills: Lifesaving Nuclear Facts and Self-Help Instructions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Answers to Questions You've Never Asked: Explaining the 'What If' in Science, Geography and the Absurd Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Building Natural Ponds: Create a Clean, Algae-free Pond without Pumps, Filters, or Chemicals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rockhounding for Beginners: Your Comprehensive Guide to Finding and Collecting Precious Minerals, Gems, Geodes, & More Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disaster Preparedness Handbook: A Guide for Families Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Witch's Yearbook: Spells, Stones, Tools and Rituals for a Year of Modern Magic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cloud Collector's Handbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Lie with Maps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret of Water Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Foraging for Survival: Edible Wild Plants of North America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Voyage For Madmen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas: A Field Guide to Favorite Places from Chimney Rock to Charleston Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rockhounding & Prospecting: Upper Midwest: How to Find Gold, Copper, Agates, Thomsonite, and Other Favorites Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Geology: A Fully Illustrated, Authoritative and Easy-to-Use Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herbalism and Alchemy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeing Human: Life Lessons from the Frontiers of Science (Transcript) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Fire Story: A Graphic Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children's Blizzard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Last Run
5 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic, riveting read about the men of the La Conte who are caught in a huge storm and forced to ride it out in the water itself. It also focuses on the helicopter rescue crews who risked their lives -- and very nearly lost them -- trying to save those men. To this day I've not read a more riveting storm-at-sea type story (and I've read quite a few). I probably liked this even more than The Perfect Storm, which is usually the yardstick for these types of books. Top-notch research and writing make this one not to miss if you like this kind of story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lewan's writing seems very authentic. The characters feel very real and believable. While he presents heroic acts, the people involved are ridden with faults and insecurities. Alaska presents as a frontier nation, full of people who have spent their second and third chances and are chasing a fourth. I really enjoyed this after a slow start.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I mainly read this book because I'm acquainted with a relative of one of the rescuers and heard about this story. Lewan's tale of a dramatic helicopter rescue of Alaskan fisherman who were shipwrecked started out beautifully. But it quickly got bogged down in superfluous detail and background about each person's life. I basically felt like Lewan didn't have enough material for a whole book.... so he tried to flesh it out the best he could and all that stuff just made the book more difficult to read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Run is a story of dedication, greed, tenacity and heroism. Dedication of investigators to match miniscule remains to a missing person. Greed of fishermen to catch just a few more before heading back to port and safety from the storm. Tenacity of fishermen cast adrift in bone chilling water fighting towering waves and hurricane force wind until help arrived. Heroism of Coast Guard search and rescue. A true story of human struggle and redemption.Author Todd Lewan commences his drama with a CSI-like investigation and segues ways into painting portraits of the five fishermen who later find themselves together on a sinking fishing ship in the middle of an Alaskan hurricane. The portraits he paints have the blemishes of real men who came to Alaska hoping to be allowed a second or third chance or perhaps, just the opportunity to survive.The last half of the book is a fast paced drama of the men fishing, fighting the storm, running from the storm and then not escaping. As the fishermen are repeatedly (every 10-15 seconds) entombed in towering waves, the reader anxiously waits for the Coast Guard to arrive on scene and commence the rescue. The tension builds and builds and though the ultimate ending is told in the first few pages of the book - the reader needs to know what really happened and finds no comfort in the foreshadowing.The story is masterfully told. It starts fast, slogs along for a bit while the characters are developed and then roars along chapter after chapter.Author Lewan deserves kudos for including a map of the Alaskan region early in the book and later, pictures of the main characters. The map is helpful in tracking the story and the pictures put a face on the words.What I would do to improve the book? I would change very little. Perhaps, include more information about the Coast Guard helicopters. An appendix with a detailed drawing of a helicopter described in the book would be interesting. Maybe a picture of a guardsman in rescue gear or an aerial photograph of the Coast Guard base would add to the story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5interesting! amazing how dedicated the coast guard is.