Ray Hudson lived in the Aleutian Islands from 1964 to 1992, and there his heart remains even though he now lives in Middlebury, Vermont, with his wife, Sally. As a teacher at Unalaska, Hudosn oversaw the publication of seven volumes of regional history, and edited a collection of stories and craft instructions by Aleut leaders. In Vermont, Hudson continues to research and write on topics related to the island. Raised in Yakima, Washignton, and a graduate of the University of Washington, Hudson stude\ied woodblock printing with Lu Fang at the Zhejiang Fin Arts Academy in Hangzhou, China. He is the recipient of the National Education Association's Leo Reano Awared for his work with First Americans. In 1990, the Alaska State Council on the Arts recognized Hudson's effort on bahalf of the arts in the Aleutians by presenting him with the Governor's Award for the Arts.
Moments Rightly Placed: An Aleutian Memoir
by Ray Hudson
Paperback
(Second Edition)
$14.16
$14.95
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- ISBN-13: 9780979047077
- Publisher: Epicenter Press, Incorporated
- Publication date: 07/01/2008
- Series: Alaska Book Adventures (Epicenter Press) Series
- Edition description: Second Edition
- Pages: 224
- Product dimensions: 5.54(w) x 8.52(h) x 0.56(d)
- Age Range: 14Years
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Along a thousand-mile chain of treeless and windswept islands, Unalaska is perched at the end of the world, or, as some prefer to say, the beginning. In 1964, Ray Hudson, 22, landed in Unalaska village with a brand-new college degree, eager to teach. The Aleuts had seen many outsiders who had come but seldom stayed more than a year. Yet Hudson was no short-timer. Captivated by Unalaska and the history and traditions of its enduring people, he stayed. As the years passed—one, then five, ten, then twenty—he was embraced by his Aleut neighbors, sharing their celebrations and tragedies, teaching their children, exploring their language, and, much to their surprise, learning their delicate art of grass basketry. Ray Hudson’s intimate memoir weaves together landscape and language, storytelling and silence, ancient mythology and day-to-day village life. Ultimately he pays homage to the people he came to teach, and who, in the end, were his teachers.
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Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Starkly rugged volcanic silhouettes, rusted and ghostly remains of wartime outposts, a decaying Orthodox church, arctic flowers in a muddy bog, the blinding light off a baythese are the views and visions of the Aleutian Islands presented by Hudson, a teacher who lived there from 1964 to 1992. The grasses that Hudson gathers, dries and turns into baskets are the metaphorical threads of his narrative. Weaving a basket is a slow process, one that allows Hudson to gracefully combine the nature and culture of the Aleutian islands and the voices of Aleut people, such as his teachers, weavers Anfesia Shapsnikoff and Sophie Pletnikoff. While Hudson lived in the Aleutians for a quarter of a century, this book concentrates on the first 10 years, during which Unalaska first changed from a small, largely Aleut village to a town of immigrants employed by fisheries. Hudson has preserved the voices of the Aleut people, their real accomplishments and tall tales; public history and private lives; the fights won and lost; the survivors and the dead. Hudson provides plenty of the history of a region exploited variously by Russians and Americans since the 18th century, but mostly he has created a collection of illuminations: gentle, flowing, full of knowing detail. Hudson's love for this determined and traditional people coping with various conflicts of transition has shaped a deeply moving testimonial, a public gift to a people he very clearly adores. (July)
Booknews
An account of the author's life in Unalaska, a village on the island of the same name in the Aleutian chain. Hudson begins with his arrival on the island in 1964 and then recounts his exploration of the island's past and present, his relationship with the villagers over the past 30-plus years, and his learning of the craft of grass basketry. Includes original woodcut prints and b&w photographs by the author. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.