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Atlin Where Everyone Knows Your Dog's Name
Atlin Where Everyone Knows Your Dog’s Name is the story of growing up in an isolated, northern gold rush town. It was an innocent time, when imagination was king, and the wilderness was a playground. Surrounded by his family’s many dogs, Brad was raised without running water, TV or radio. People burned wood for heat, ate moose meat and trout, and water was delivered once a week to a barrel in the kitchen. With his buddies in tow, Brad enjoyed care free days of swimming, fishing, hunting, and random adventures unknown to their city dwelling counterparts of the time.
The author combines his own memories and experiences with the tongue-in-cheek 1970s writings for the local newspaper by Diane Solie Smith.
The author combines his own memories and experiences with the tongue-in-cheek 1970s writings for the local newspaper by Diane Solie Smith.
- GenresNonfiction
382 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 6, 2023
Brad has highlighted so many experiences that I have shared. This makes this such a special book and one that I will have my boys read…especially as both of their grandparents are mentioned. Also - where are the mojos? I have not seen them in years!
January 19, 2022
Atlin: Where Everyone Knows Your Dog’s Name, Bradford D. Smith, author
This is not a book to rush through. It is a book that makes you think. It is a book to be placed on your nightstand and to be picked up so it can take you on a journey to a bygone time and a remote place with no distractions except for those from nature. It is about a boy, a time and a place, all of which are out of the realm of our time and our place. The small, quiet town of Atlin, in British Columbia, is a place of extreme cold and months when daylight hours are few. It is where Brad grew up. His family moved there in the late 1960’s. Some might consider the place nirvana but to others it would be a nightmare.
Adjusting to life there for Brad and his family meant hard work. They suffered hardships, but they didn’t ask the government for help, they never gave up, they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and started again. They built a hotel, raised dogs, had a shop. They created businesses that thrived and then failed so they created another to fulfill the needs of the town. When problems arose, families sometimes broke apart and some moved on, but the town survived because the people were strong and motivated to make a life without the creature comforts and encumbrances of the more developed world. How could we, today, survive without indoor plumbing, adequate heat, electricity, abundance in supermarkets or fashionable clothes? We have become a very materialistic society, used to material wealth. It doesn’t speak well of us that most of us probably would not last long, in the place Brad where matured. Can you imagine, he had no hand sanitizers or helicopter parents; he had few rules and some of those he broke, like kids are wont to do; yet he survived and thinks fondly of his childhood.
Brad was allowed to be a kid, to get bruises, to take some dangerous chances, and to learn about life through his experiences. His friends made up games to play. They used the materials around them to build “stuff”. Brad learned to swim, kind of, by jumping into the water. When he sank, a friend pulled him up. He could recognize different bears, trap and fish. He could pan for gold. He sometimes took too great a chance, but there was always someone looking out for him, someone to rescue him. To survive, everyone took care of each other. That was a given, that was necessary. Can you imagine that in today’s divided world?
Brad didn’t have to worry about his white privilege. He had no privilege. He had no fear of being racist or homophobic or of using the wrong pronoun. He was not coddled, but rather, he was set free to dream to create something from nothing. It was such a hard life, yet it was a simpler life. Basically, Brad had to go to school and be home for dinner. Otherwise, he was pretty much on his own. All of the families were self-sufficient and supported each other in their time of need. One has to seriously wonder how our children today could survive if put into that environment. Would they know what in nature was edible, what to plant that would grow in certain soils or climates. Would they know how to fend off a bear? Today’s kids think catching a cold is dangerous, or supporting the wrong cause which could get them canceled; service to the country is not even a blip on their radar because patriotism is almost akin to racism. Today’s kids lack imagination because they have not been allowed to develop it for fear of being accused. J’accuse is the fear of today.
I daresay, to some of us, it might be better to grow up on the frozen tundra of a wasteland, than in this land of plenty. The country is fast spoiling what is going to be the future citizens of America by forcing them to live with and follow trivial concerns. A bit less of our judgmental mindset, greed, selfishness and overprotection and a bit more of freedom and acceptance of others and their differences of opinion, would serve us well.
This is not a book to rush through. It is a book that makes you think. It is a book to be placed on your nightstand and to be picked up so it can take you on a journey to a bygone time and a remote place with no distractions except for those from nature. It is about a boy, a time and a place, all of which are out of the realm of our time and our place. The small, quiet town of Atlin, in British Columbia, is a place of extreme cold and months when daylight hours are few. It is where Brad grew up. His family moved there in the late 1960’s. Some might consider the place nirvana but to others it would be a nightmare.
Adjusting to life there for Brad and his family meant hard work. They suffered hardships, but they didn’t ask the government for help, they never gave up, they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and started again. They built a hotel, raised dogs, had a shop. They created businesses that thrived and then failed so they created another to fulfill the needs of the town. When problems arose, families sometimes broke apart and some moved on, but the town survived because the people were strong and motivated to make a life without the creature comforts and encumbrances of the more developed world. How could we, today, survive without indoor plumbing, adequate heat, electricity, abundance in supermarkets or fashionable clothes? We have become a very materialistic society, used to material wealth. It doesn’t speak well of us that most of us probably would not last long, in the place Brad where matured. Can you imagine, he had no hand sanitizers or helicopter parents; he had few rules and some of those he broke, like kids are wont to do; yet he survived and thinks fondly of his childhood.
Brad was allowed to be a kid, to get bruises, to take some dangerous chances, and to learn about life through his experiences. His friends made up games to play. They used the materials around them to build “stuff”. Brad learned to swim, kind of, by jumping into the water. When he sank, a friend pulled him up. He could recognize different bears, trap and fish. He could pan for gold. He sometimes took too great a chance, but there was always someone looking out for him, someone to rescue him. To survive, everyone took care of each other. That was a given, that was necessary. Can you imagine that in today’s divided world?
Brad didn’t have to worry about his white privilege. He had no privilege. He had no fear of being racist or homophobic or of using the wrong pronoun. He was not coddled, but rather, he was set free to dream to create something from nothing. It was such a hard life, yet it was a simpler life. Basically, Brad had to go to school and be home for dinner. Otherwise, he was pretty much on his own. All of the families were self-sufficient and supported each other in their time of need. One has to seriously wonder how our children today could survive if put into that environment. Would they know what in nature was edible, what to plant that would grow in certain soils or climates. Would they know how to fend off a bear? Today’s kids think catching a cold is dangerous, or supporting the wrong cause which could get them canceled; service to the country is not even a blip on their radar because patriotism is almost akin to racism. Today’s kids lack imagination because they have not been allowed to develop it for fear of being accused. J’accuse is the fear of today.
I daresay, to some of us, it might be better to grow up on the frozen tundra of a wasteland, than in this land of plenty. The country is fast spoiling what is going to be the future citizens of America by forcing them to live with and follow trivial concerns. A bit less of our judgmental mindset, greed, selfishness and overprotection and a bit more of freedom and acceptance of others and their differences of opinion, would serve us well.
April 7, 2022
A great read on growing up in Northern Canada. The stories are interesting and full of adventure. It is a tremendous look at life in a small town where everyone knows your name. A great read.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
February 21, 2022
Absolutely delightful, full of humor. The readers will learn so much about a different place, a different time not so long ago, and a special way of growing up with freedom. When I began the book, I wasn't sure -- it's nonfiction so there is almost no dialog. However, the author's mother was a write, among many other things she was excellent at doing, and some of her words and newspaper articles pepper the book. There are many photos, which is excellent in a book like this. By the time you finish the book, you'll love this little community and its characters, including the dogs.
While the author tells snippets of some of the historical characters that formed the town, his mother is also one of them, just another generation. She and the other women of this town were especially talented and resilient. I can't imagine living in these conditions and thriving as they did. Atlin was a gold rush town, situated on a gorgeous lake in British Columbia. It is still there but has changed, though the freedom for kids to explore seems to be intact, or was the last time the author visited.
While the author tells snippets of some of the historical characters that formed the town, his mother is also one of them, just another generation. She and the other women of this town were especially talented and resilient. I can't imagine living in these conditions and thriving as they did. Atlin was a gold rush town, situated on a gorgeous lake in British Columbia. It is still there but has changed, though the freedom for kids to explore seems to be intact, or was the last time the author visited.
November 24, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely love this book. It's such a well written book of life in small town Canada. The author's childhood sounds just magical and yet it took a lot to be able to survive in such a remote area with none of the modern conveniences we take for granted today.
I grew up in some small towns and my parents live in a remote mountain community and I love to go visit them. I could relate to some of what the author describes in this book.
I absolutely love this book. It's such a well written book of life in small town Canada. The author's childhood sounds just magical and yet it took a lot to be able to survive in such a remote area with none of the modern conveniences we take for granted today.
I grew up in some small towns and my parents live in a remote mountain community and I love to go visit them. I could relate to some of what the author describes in this book.
January 24, 2022
This book was a joyful memoir of the author's childhood in Atlin, BC, Canada. His life up there in this small, remote town during the 1960s, 70s was hard at times, but it also showed the sense of community that ensured every person in town was taken care of.
January 12, 2022
"...life was a perpetual adventure," write author Bradford Smith, "an astonishing journey that most of us were not aware we were taking."
He's writing of his own life, one where he spent his growing years in Atlin, British Columbia. Isolated and difficult to reach, Arlin was both a wilderness community and his playground. His story is one part personal nostalgia for a far more simple life, at least in the eyes of his then young eyes, part history, and fully charming and intriguing. Living in Alaska myself, although I've never made it to Atlin, I've been to nearby Skagway and even Juneau, Alaska. I chuckled reading that Smith's family moved from Juneau to Atlin because, well, the population then about 5,000 then in Juneau made it just too crowded. I've taken that ferry to Haines that he mentions, too, and cannot imagine doing the trip in what was surely a far slower, less comfortable ferry of the times with all their personal belongings. Just as living in remote Alaska today, more than one trip was needed, too. I'm actually pretty sure some residents of remote Alaska and the Canadian wilds today would nod their heads sagely and say, "Yep, ain't improved much."
I won't detail Smith's adventures and misadventures as they are many and varied. His days were full of fun like fishing and hunting, yes, but hard work, too, work that didn't always feel like work because, well, they had fun doing it. Well, some of it. Even living in Alaska today where friends harvest moose and wild game to get them through our long winters, I know how hard just that task alone can be. Imagine hauling not just food animals you've trapped or killed for long distances without mechanical means, but wood, water, and doing it regularly, not just occasionally. One of the saving graces was perhaps the abundance of dogs, mostly huskies and Malamutes, in Smith's life. Mushing isn't as much a sport for some as a way of life, a way of getting food and supplies to the table and Smith lived that life. It was a small, close-knit community and everyone helped each other, too. It was a hard life but one full of fun, amazing sights and sounds, adventure, and people who, yes, knew your dogs' names.
More importantly, Smith saw it as a wonderful adventure, a time where he lived rather than just existed. "I have attempted to depict and explain a time, a place and a sense of community.... I chose to tell my story in a bright light, understanding every community has darkness..." In other words, he knows he's being nostalgic. I mean, how else can you look back on the experience of having a father put you on his shoulders and then climb tall ladders or poles with you clinging to him without thinking twice about it.
Finally, a real plus to this book are the additions of excerpts by Smith's mother, Diane Solie Smith. I wish I'd known her. Much of the history of Atlin available today may be through her efforts as a historian and writer of several books. Kudos to Bradford Smith for giving his mother her due and including her thoughts and insights. She died in 2003 and is buried with her last dog on a hill overlooking the town that once hosted her wild flower garden. The dog's name was Willow.
Thank you #NetGalley and #FathomPublishing for introducing me to this wonderful book. I've shared it with friends including one who lives part time in, yes, Atlin.
He's writing of his own life, one where he spent his growing years in Atlin, British Columbia. Isolated and difficult to reach, Arlin was both a wilderness community and his playground. His story is one part personal nostalgia for a far more simple life, at least in the eyes of his then young eyes, part history, and fully charming and intriguing. Living in Alaska myself, although I've never made it to Atlin, I've been to nearby Skagway and even Juneau, Alaska. I chuckled reading that Smith's family moved from Juneau to Atlin because, well, the population then about 5,000 then in Juneau made it just too crowded. I've taken that ferry to Haines that he mentions, too, and cannot imagine doing the trip in what was surely a far slower, less comfortable ferry of the times with all their personal belongings. Just as living in remote Alaska today, more than one trip was needed, too. I'm actually pretty sure some residents of remote Alaska and the Canadian wilds today would nod their heads sagely and say, "Yep, ain't improved much."
I won't detail Smith's adventures and misadventures as they are many and varied. His days were full of fun like fishing and hunting, yes, but hard work, too, work that didn't always feel like work because, well, they had fun doing it. Well, some of it. Even living in Alaska today where friends harvest moose and wild game to get them through our long winters, I know how hard just that task alone can be. Imagine hauling not just food animals you've trapped or killed for long distances without mechanical means, but wood, water, and doing it regularly, not just occasionally. One of the saving graces was perhaps the abundance of dogs, mostly huskies and Malamutes, in Smith's life. Mushing isn't as much a sport for some as a way of life, a way of getting food and supplies to the table and Smith lived that life. It was a small, close-knit community and everyone helped each other, too. It was a hard life but one full of fun, amazing sights and sounds, adventure, and people who, yes, knew your dogs' names.
More importantly, Smith saw it as a wonderful adventure, a time where he lived rather than just existed. "I have attempted to depict and explain a time, a place and a sense of community.... I chose to tell my story in a bright light, understanding every community has darkness..." In other words, he knows he's being nostalgic. I mean, how else can you look back on the experience of having a father put you on his shoulders and then climb tall ladders or poles with you clinging to him without thinking twice about it.
Finally, a real plus to this book are the additions of excerpts by Smith's mother, Diane Solie Smith. I wish I'd known her. Much of the history of Atlin available today may be through her efforts as a historian and writer of several books. Kudos to Bradford Smith for giving his mother her due and including her thoughts and insights. She died in 2003 and is buried with her last dog on a hill overlooking the town that once hosted her wild flower garden. The dog's name was Willow.
Thank you #NetGalley and #FathomPublishing for introducing me to this wonderful book. I've shared it with friends including one who lives part time in, yes, Atlin.
February 25, 2022
Review: Atlin Where Everyone Knows Your Dog’s Name by Bradford D. Smith
3.5* 01/14/2022
This was an Early Reviewer’s book I received. It’s a story about a young boy’s life living near the Yukon River in Alaska and British Columbia. Bradford writes about his living in the wilderness without running water, TV or radio. In the small community of Atlin he spent his days swimming, hunting, fishing, and many random activities with his friends and plenty of adventure to be made up.
Bradford told a story about himself and how living the way he did made him the person he is today. He mainly told about his adventures in 1669 at the age of ten. The pictures in the book show him about that age throughout the book. I felt he was only writing about that area of time and place. There was some nostalgia about a simple life, some history, and family life.
3.5* 01/14/2022
This was an Early Reviewer’s book I received. It’s a story about a young boy’s life living near the Yukon River in Alaska and British Columbia. Bradford writes about his living in the wilderness without running water, TV or radio. In the small community of Atlin he spent his days swimming, hunting, fishing, and many random activities with his friends and plenty of adventure to be made up.
Bradford told a story about himself and how living the way he did made him the person he is today. He mainly told about his adventures in 1669 at the age of ten. The pictures in the book show him about that age throughout the book. I felt he was only writing about that area of time and place. There was some nostalgia about a simple life, some history, and family life.
March 29, 2022
This was a beautiful book full of nostalgia that would convince almost anyone that they wished they'd lived their childhood the same way. It's all there in the title of the book. People not only know your name but your dog's name. I appreciated the author letting us into his childhood. It sounded very charming to live through.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews