Pete Fromm

Indian Creek Chronicles, A Winter Alone in the Wilderness, by Pete Fromm (pp 183). This is a wonderful book about the seven months the author spent alone and snowbound in backcountry Idaho tending to a Park Service fish breeding pond. He went in thoroughly green, the Park Service having been hard pressed to find anyone willing to do the $200 a month job. It’s the story of his adjusting to a semi-solitary existence, his interactions with bear and mountain lion hunters, his own subsistence hunting, and other adventures. It’s a book that either confirms one’s total disinterest in camping alone for months on end, or excites the imagination for doing something similar. Fromm is a remarkable young man, especially considering his then lack of backcountry experience. I found his story thoroughly enchanting and wishing for a similar adventure. (But don’t tell my wife!)… (more)

This is an excellent true story of Fromm taking a year off college to spend the long Idaho winter alone, guarding salmon eggs. Mostly alone, although a lot of the narrative is actually about lots of visits from snowmobiling hunters, and others. It's pretty fascinating, and crazy. Lots of good stories, with some narrative arc.

I think there's a lot that isn't on the page because he didn't want to wrestle with it. About his family, his dog, the environment… Some restraint is good, and thought provoking. But if Fromm had pushed himself a little bit harder, this could have been great.… (more)

Marnie and Taz are busy lovingly restoring a fixer-upper that they hoped to fill with children, when they discover they are pregnant! Marnie is sure it is a girl. When she goes into labor, they grow excited at the prospect of their growing family and the start of their big plans for the perfect life together. Marnie was right, and the baby is a girl. But she dies giving birth to their daughter, changing forever the wonderful plans they had made. Taz wonders how he will go on. How does he live without the love of his life? How does he care for his newborn on his own? Everything has changed overnight.

This wonderful story by Pete Fromm chronicles the days before the birth of Midge and the year and a half after. It is populated with realistic characters who struggle to make a life, day by day, one moment at a time. As the characters struggle to find what makes a happy life of contentment, the reader, too, examines what is important to a wonderful life. It also makes the reader consider what it would be like with such a loss. But life does go on, and people must find a way.

This is a beautifully and tenderly written book with unforgettable images. I loved every second of this one!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.… (more)