Just as author and columnist Heather Lende was preparing do
set out on a book tour promoting her first book, she was
throw a bit off schedule. Literally. As she tried to avoid
a collision with a truck with her bicycle, she slid
underneath the three-quarter ton pickup and the driver, not
realizing she was there, ran over her hips, crushing her
pelvis.
During her recovery, Lende continued to write her column
for the Anchorage Daily News (she only missed one
deadline). Her latest book, TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE GARDEN
AND THE DOGS: A True Story of Bad Breaks and Small
Miracles," Lende gathers many of those columns together to
create a fascinating look at small-town life in Alaska, and
how her family and neighbors were so instrumental in her
recovery.
Lende drew upon her volunteer work with a hospice group to
garner strength that was necessary to help her recovery
along, but also found herself using her experiences to help
her own mother and father at the time of her mother's
death. The title of the book was actually the last words
that Lende's mother communicated to her father, and Lende
found comfort and inspiration in the simple message. Her essay
regarding her mother's passing is one of the most poignant
of the book.
She also draws upon her work as the obituary writer for her
local newspaper in the small town of Haines, Alaska
(population 2,400). Some of her stories of the local
characters will have you reading and smiling, and some will
tug at
heartstrings, but all are a rare peek at life in a close-
knit community.
Lende's book isn't all about death and dying (or nearly
dying), there are stories of her husband's induction into
the local Tlingit tribe's Eagle Clan, her great love of the
mountains and beauty of Alaska, and the customs and
traditions that make small-town living so great.
TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE GARDEN AND THE DOGS is a gentle,
sweet memoir that will resonant with folks looking for a
simpler way of life no matter if they are in Alaska or
Texas or anywhere in between. It's just a pleasure to read.
The Alaskan landscape so vast, dramatic, and unbelievable
may be the reason the people in Haines, Alaska (population
2,400), so often discuss the meaning of life. Heather Lende
thinks it helps make life mean more. Since her bestselling
first book, If You Lived Here, I d Know Your Name, a
near-fatal bicycle accident has given Lende a few more
reasons to consider matters both spiritual and temporal. Her
idea of spirituality is rooted in community, and here she
explores faith and forgiveness, loss and devotion as well as
raising totem poles, canning salmon, and other distinctly
Alaskan adventures. Lende s irrepressible spirit, her wry
humor, and her commitment to living a life on the edge of
the world resonate on every page. Like her own mother s last
wish take good care of the garden and dogs Lende s writing,
so honest and unadorned, deepens our understanding of what
links all humanity.
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