True North: Hunting Fossils Under the Midnight Sun

Product Description

As a bored child in a working class family, Lou Marincovich imagined a life of adventure and strong emotions—and got far more than he anticipated. Inspired to become a paleontologist by a children’s book on dinosaurs, he plunged into realms of life where intellectuals rarely go, working hardhat jobs on offshore oil drilling platforms in equatorial Africa and Alaska to put himself through grad school and laboring beside cutthroat coworkers, one of whom he was barely stopped from murdering. Later, as an internationally recognized paleontologist, he spent three decades researching fossil mollusks in the surreal landscapes of remotest Alaska, Arctic Canada and Siberia. In the course of documenting faunal and climate changes in the Arctic over the span of 60 million years, he solved the mystery of Bering Strait’s age; discovered an unnamed river; survived a helicopter crash, several bush plane accidents, a near-drowning in an icy river, landslides, and punishing storms; and saved his own life by shooting a charging grizzly with his last bullet. In addition to finding the adventure he craved as a young man, Marincovich was rewarded by surprising and profound spiritual experiences, during one of which he found his soul mate. This is a unique story of youthful yearning, high adventure, moral lapses, scientific discovery and love.

Review

“This memoir is a can’t-put-down page-turner, equal parts Jack London and Marincovich’s idol Roy Chapman Andrews. But it is not just a rip-roaring adventure story; it also eloquently communicates both the intellectual thrill of scientific discovery and the emotional (and spiritual) energy derived from genuine exploration in some of the most challenging– and beautiful–environments on Earth.”

— Warren D. Allmon, PhD, Director Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York

“Caution: This captivating, skillfully constructed memoir is a real page-turner. There’s an earthy reality to the author’s voice; it’s like spending a weekend with a case of wine and a favorite relative who’s telling of his incredible adventures. Word choices and phrasing are often wonderful. While reading this book, please remain in your seats and with your seat belt fastened. It’s a wild ride. But, considering the experience of natural wonders, breathtaking excitement, moments of laugh-out-loud humor, and the honest voice in your ear, it’s worth the trip.”

— BookLife Prize 

“This book has so many of my favorite things — the romance of scientific adventure, a window into the mind of the explorer, the grit of the expedition, and the quest for nature’s secrets that ends up revealing the depths of our own hearts and souls. It brings to mind the great science memoirs of Darwin, the transcendental writings of Thoreau, and the tales of Alaska and Everest told by Jon Krakauer. Read it, and be transported!”

— Cassandra Vieten, PhD, President Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, California

About the Author

Lou Marincovich, PhD, is a paleontologist who specializes in studying Cenozoic 
(from sixty-five million years ago to today)
 marine mollusks of the North Pacific and Arctic oceans. He is the only scientist fortunate enough to have focused on this topic for an entire career. 

During his career with the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Academy of Sciences, he documented the changing climate of the Arctic over sixty million years as evidenced in the shifting migration of mollusk species between Asia and North America. He was the first to show that ancient lineages of mollusks considered extinct at the end-Mesozoic extinction some 65 million years ago continued to dwell for millions of years in the Arctic Ocean beside newly evolved Cenozoic species. And his fortuitous find of a fossil clam specimen in a museum collection led him to solve the mystery of Bering Strait’s age.

Dr. Marincovich has authored more than 100 scientific articles and books. He is a Research Associate in Geology