Galesburg native recounts Yukon River adventure in new book

Staff Reports
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YUKON RIVER, Alaska — During the COVID summer of 2020, journalist/outdoor writer Gary Tomlin self-isolated in Alaska’s wild, sparsely populated Interior wilderness. He paddled 800 miles down the Yukon River from the Canadian border to the lower river near its expansive delta.

Gary Tomlin, a Galesburg native, will be signing copies of his book, “God, Gun and Big Water: Paddling Alaska’s Mighty Yukon River” Saturday in Peoria and Galesburg. Signings will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bushwhacker, 5728 N. Knoxville Ave.; Peoria, and 3-5 p.m. at the Illinois Citizen Soldier Museum, Galesburg VFW Post 2257, 1001 Michigan Ave.
Gary Tomlin, a Galesburg native, will be signing copies of his book, “God, Gun and Big Water: Paddling Alaska’s Mighty Yukon River” Saturday in Peoria and Galesburg. Signings will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bushwhacker, 5728 N. Knoxville Ave.; Peoria, and 3-5 p.m. at the Illinois Citizen Soldier Museum, Galesburg VFW Post 2257, 1001 Michigan Ave.

The Galesburg native’s book, “God, Gun and Big Water: Paddling Alaska’s Mighty Yukon River,” is an account of the adventures of his six-week sojourn.

“I tried to weave the themes of spiritual experience, the constant vigilance for self defense and my interaction with the surprising and unpredictable forces of the river,” Tomlin said. “In two words, it was ‘clean’ and ‘quiet.’ For example, most people have never heard a whole movement from a bird’s repertoire, uninterrupted by other sounds. It was a common concert for me on the water.”

Travel with Tomlin as he grows from a scared neophyte to a confident paddler as each day’s challenges expands his skill and confidence while he makes his way downstream and across an unblemished wilderness.

From the opening: “When dancing with Nature, She takes you to your edge, between life and death, and waltzes you gracefully along it, while consuming your total consciousness with Her beauty and Her strength. But you have to go to Her, where She lives unblemished by man, to get this kind of dance. The Yukon River is such a place.”

Gary Tomlin, a Galesburg native, will be signing copies of his book, “God, Gun and Big Water: Paddling Alaska’s Mighty Yukon River” Saturday in Peoria and Galesburg. Signings will be from 10 a.n. to 1 p.m. at Bushwhacker, 5728 N. Knoxville Ave.; Peoria, and 3-5 p.m. at the Illinois Citizen Soldier Museum, Galesburg VFW Post 2257, 1001 Michigan Ave. (Photo: Gary Tomlin)

Tomlin will be selling and signing copies of his adventure story from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Bushwhacker outdoors store in Peoria, 5728 Knoxville Ave., and from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Illinois Citizen Soldier Museum at Galesburg VFW Post 2257, 1001 Michigan Ave.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Galesburg native's book recalls paddling adventure on Yukon River