Globe Corner Blogs

The Last Polar Bear --by Steven Kazlowski

Last week Steven Kazlowski, author of The Last Polar Bear, visited our store and gave a slide presentation about his latest photographic journey into the Alaskan arctic. Some images left the audience cooing (myself most definitely included) at adorable polar bear cubs playfully tugging at the ear of their mother. But, Kazlowski also showed startling maps demonstrating the growing presence of human industry in the region and the diminishing range of sea ice, which is essential to how polar bears and other animals hunt and survive the extreme environment. Kazlowski’s intimate photographs of the harsh yet stunning arctic habitat elicit an emotional response that will easily prompt viewers to think and to read about the more serious subject behind his images: the warming of the arctic that threatens the delicate ecological balance that allows the polar bears (not to mention the Inupiat people, beluga whales, walruses, and arctic foxes) to thrive.
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Ghost Train to the Eastern Star --by Paul Theroux

Everyone who was working last night was very excited when Paul Theroux stopped by the store to autograph copies of his latest book, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. I rarely get star struck, but this is the man that started my obsession with travel writing, beginning when I read The Great Railway Bazaar.

I am not sure if it was nerves or sleep deprivation, but I do remember babbling to him about taking The Pillars of Hercules to Croatia with me. He must have thought I was a bit crazy as I could only muster fragments of sentences, but later we kind of chatted pleasantly about traveling. I can’t believe that I was comparing flight prices with Paul Theroux.

We now have lots of signed copies of the author’s books, including The Great Railway Bazaar (Asia), Riding the Iron Rooster (China), The Pillars of Hercules (The Mediterranean), The Mosquito Coast (Honduras), The Happy Isles of Oceania (Pacific Islands), The Elephanta Suite (India), Dark Star Safari (Africa) and The Kingdom by the Sea (Great Britain) and the newest edition to my reading list…Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.