Rockwell Kent "Wilderness" Centennial Journal

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 Approaching New Year’s Eve 1918 The sun over Fox Island a little after noon on Dec. 31, 2018. Capra photo Christmas has passed. It was a wonderful, magical day on Fox Island – at least as described in Wilderness , and later in the 1940 little book, Northern Christmas . But the letters tell a different story. Kent has been ill through the holiday. “It’s sad being sick away from you,” he writes on Dec. 29th. “I think it’s nothing but a nervous breakdown of my whole digestive system after these three months of worry and unhappiness. It’s much like the trouble I had in Newfoundland. I’ve tried every remedy I have – or will have tonight when I take castor oil. Fortunately, I have capsules of it to take, thanks to Mother’s kind thoughtfulness in sending them.” Between the illness and planning a special Fox Island Christmas, he hasn’t spent any time with his art. “I feel so tire...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 Part 2 -- Christmas & Late December 2018 Aerial view of the entrance to Resurrection Bay looking south into the Gulf of Alaska. The entrance is at the upper center of the photo. There you can clearly see three islands. First is Fox Island. Across from Fox Island you can see Callisto Head and Bear Glacier, which begins the eastern boundary of Kenai Fjords National Park. South of Fox Island, smaller Hive Island seems to blend into larger Rugged Island. Further out is Cape Aialik and around that corner Aialik Bay with Holgate and Aialik Glaciers. Beyond Cape Aialik you can begin to see the entrance to Harris Bay and Northwestern Fiord. Before I go further into these letters between Kent and Kathleen, I want to clarify a few things and risk exposing some of my opinions. These are very personal letters, My intent isn’t to disparage Rockwell or Kathleen. My main goal is to delv...