Book description
A highly personal account of the travels of Max Finkelstein as he
retraces, some two hundred years later, the route of Alexander
Mackenzie, the first European to cross North America (1793).
Mackenzie's water trail is now commemorated as the Alexander Mackenzie
Voyageur Route.
More than just a travelogue of a canoe trip across Canada, this is
an account that crosses more than two centuries. It is an exploration
into the heart and mind of Alexander Mackenzie, the explorer, and Max
Finkelstein, the "Voyageur-in-Training." Using Mackenzie's
journals and his own journal writings, the author creates a view of
the land from two vantage points. The author retraced the route of
Alexander Mackenzie across North America from Ottawa through to
Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, and paddled the Blackwater, Fraser and
Peace Rivers, completing the trip in 1999. This route is the most
significant water trail in North America, and perhaps the world.
"A 'must-read' for everyone who loves wild places and the magic
of canoes."
- Cliff Jacobson, Outdoor Writer & Consultant
"Past and present collide in this journey of discovery across
the map of Canada. Max craves the extremes. He relishes in coping with
what nature throws at him, punishing himself to find his physical
limits and experiencing firsthand the inherent dangers in such a
voyage. With Alexander Mackenzie as his guide and inspiration, Max
finds the strength to carry on against all odds to forge poignant
historical and personal links in this incredible cross-Canada paddling odyssey."
- Becky Mason, Artist and Paddler, Chelsea, Quebec
Paddler, author, environmentalist and raconteur, Max Finkelstein
works as the Communications Officer for the Canadian Heritage Rivers
System, Canada's national program for river conservation. When he is
not speaking about, writing about, or otherwise promoting Canada's
river heritage, Max can usually be found paddling on a river. He has
paddled over 22,000 kilometres in North America, Europe, Africa and
Australia. His first book, Canoeing a Continent: On the Trail of
Alexander Mackenzie, which described his experiences retracing the
historic first crossing of North America by a European, was released
by Natural Heritage in 2002. Paddling the Boreal Forest: Rediscovering
A. P. Low, an extraordinary project undertaken with his friend and
paddling partner James Stone, sent the two of them to northern Quebec
to retrace and experience first-hand the routes of geologist,
map-maker and explorer A. P. Low.
Max and his wife, Connie Downes, live in Ottawa, where they are
introducing their son, Isaac Thelon, to a life of travelling on and
learning about rivers.
