Gilbert M. Grosvenor

I hadn’t realized that National Geographic was such a family affair. In reading Mr. Grosvenor’s book I have now learned that he is the fifth generation of the same family to have run the organization and he served quite some time ago. But geography was his passion and he was committed to it.

The book does not read like a boring biography but rather like a travelogue which makes sense when you think about it. I also didn’t know about the relationship of the magazine and family to show more Alexander Graham Bell – he was the great grandfather to the author.

So many interesting tidbits throughout from the famous people profiled within the pages of the magazine and of course the stunning photos always included in any issue. All in all a refreshing turn from my normal reading and one I was glad to include in this month’s schedule. It would make an awesome gift for anyone on your list who loves travel and of course, National Geographic. show less

Reviewed August 2007

I just had to read something about Alaska, I know so little about the place we are about to cruise in. The author breaks up his narrative by region, the slate is so diverse it is amazing. I was surprised at the diversity. I was very interested in learning about battles fought during WWII in Alaska. Even more so after mom told us her brother Doss was stationed in Dutch Harbor during the war and was shelled there. I also found the story of Keating and his photographer show more George Mobley being stranded on Little Dromede for 11 days, starving until the village shot a walrus. The foods he ate in the Northern most part of Alaska were disgusting. They say people are the same everywhere and after listening in between the lines of what the locals told Keating. You can see the locals were upset about non-locals coming into town, buying up property and changing the town. I have heard this same lament all over during my travels also.

18-2007 show less

Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making the idea of "heavier than air" a reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal
Russell Hawkes, in a hugely influential article on the then-nascent sport of hang gliding, "Happy Birthday, Otto Lilienthal!," National Geographic magazine, February 1972.

California hang show more gliders were made then of bamboo and cloth, but the essence was already there. “I began to understand what this sport is all about: To fly without awareness of the means of flight … Is this one more rash of the endemic madness that periodically breaks out in California? Or the birth of a genuine national leisure-time mania, like drag racing and surfing?”

 A lot of pilots were inspired by this article, and the first step line is still repeated by pilots who fly with wings, but no wheels. show less

This issue of Close-Up: USA does not disappoint. Five states of the Northwest are mapped in the beautiful and interesting style of National Geographic and, as well as a short overview of this vast area, each state is described in the text on the reverse of the map. Included are larger scale maps of the Glacier National Park, Puget Sound and of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. A relief map makes clear the rugged terrain, grassland and evergreen forest of the Northwest. show more A drawing - a bird's-eye view - of the restored mining town of Virginia City, Montana, born of the 1863 gold strike, gives an idea of another famous aspect of this part of the USA. As ever, the text is complemented by excellent colour artwork. show less