Book signing with Lydia Black

Submitted by Jennifer Collier
Phone: (907) 474-5831
05/17/04

Lydia Black will be signing copies of her newest book, Russians in Alaska: 1732-1867, Wednesday,æ May 19, 6-7:30 p.m. at Gulliver’s Books on College Rd.

Black was awarded emerita status upon her retirement in 1997 as professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She was awarded The Order of Friendship by the Russian Federation in 2000. Russians in Alaska is published by the University of Alaska Press.

Excerpt from the book’s cover:æææ

"This definitive work, the crown jewel in the distinguished career of Russian American scholar Lydia T. Black, presents a comprehensive overview of the Russian presence in Alaska. Drawing on extensive archival research and employing documents only recently made available to scholars, Black shows how Russian expansion was the culmination of centuries of social and economic change.æ

"She chronicles the lives of ordinary men and women--the merchants and naval officers, laborers and clergy--who established Russian outposts in Alaska. These early colonists carried with them the Orthodox faith and the Russian language; their legacy endures in architecture and place names from Baranof Island to the Pribilofs."

Contact: Jennifer Collier at (907) 474-5831 or fypress@uaf.edu, or Gulliver’s Books at (907) 474-9574.