Feeling his life is passing him by, an aging doctor risks his and
his family's stable life to seek the uncertain and dangerous job of
being a medical missionary on the North Slope of Alaska. His wife grudgingly follows him, using hard work and a nurturing spirit to overcome unpredictable challenges of their new life. Meanwhile, their young son accepts danger, risk, and hard work as "normal" while
growing from 2 years to 16 years in an Arctic lifestyle and with Eskimo as his playmates.
This passionate true story uses the individual journals of Dr. Henry W. Greist, his wife Mollie, who is a trained surgical nurse, and their young son David to tell of the remarkable experiences of this family during the 1920s and 30s at the furthest point north in Alaska. Their entwined voices presented here reveal the interests and points of view of each toward each other, toward the environment, in relationships with the native people, and in their purposes during their seventeen years in the Arctic. Although predominantly the story of their survival and their service and friendships with the Eskimo, they also relate of occasional Arctic visitors among whom are Raold Amundsen, discoverer of the South Pole, and Charles and Ann Lindbergh, who visit on their flight to Japan. Wiley Post and Will Rogers, attempting to reach their village, died within fifteen miles of their home and the Greists were given the grim task of preparing the bodies to be sent to the US. It is all true and presented by the three people who lived it — a family dedicated to helping the Eskimo at great risk to themselves.
