Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
Loading
GS![]()
author
Gordon Stoddard
Gordon Anthony Stoddard (January 17, 1924 - February 5, 2006) was a World War II U.S. Navy veteran, Alaskan homesteader, and author.
Born in Berkeley, California in 1924, the youngest of three chi...view moreGordon Anthony Stoddard (January 17, 1924 - February 5, 2006) was a World War II U.S. Navy veteran, Alaskan homesteader, and author.
Born in Berkeley, California in 1924, the youngest of three children of Myrtle Rolph Stoddard and Harry Leroy Stoddard, he graduated from Carmel High School and attended the University of California Davis before enlisting in the U.S. Navy and serving in the South Pacific during World War II. His ship was involved in many battles from the Philippines to Okinawa and he survived the sinking of his ship when it collided with another ship during a typhoon.
After the war, at the age of 25, Stoddard moved to Alaska, where he decided to homestead on the Kenai Peninsula. He selected a homestead near Oyster Point on Cook Inlet. He cleared the land and used the logs to build four cabins. He spent summers working construction, and lived off the land, hunting game, growing vegetables and picking wild berries. After several years of this, he started a greenhouse business and grew produce to sell all year around. A fire destroyed his greenhouse and a few thousand tomato plants, and he went back to working construction.
His sister, Shirlie, encouraged him to write about his homesteading experience in Alaska. His book, ‘Go North, Young Man,’ was published in 1957. Frequently spending the winter in Carmel, California with his family, he returned to work in Alaska, building bridges, schools, navy bases and on the Trans Alaska Pipeline project. He sold his homestead in 1994 and moved to Brookings, Oregon, before moving to San Rafael to be closer with his family in 2004.
He passed away in Menlo Park, California in 2006, aged 82.view less
Books by Gordon Stoddard
Go North, Young Man: Modern Homesteading in Alaska Go North, Young Man: Modern Homesteading in Alaska Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings