By Neil Christian Johannsen
Inspired by the true survival story of a horse alone in wilderness Alaska
In 1956, a barge-load of pack horses under tow by a fishing boat nearly sinks in a terrifying midnight storm on Alaska’s Shelikof Strait. Bound for a Kodiak ranch, the barge instead wrecks on a rugged Katmai shore, stranding the pack animals on a peninsula rife with grizzly bears. All the horses soon get rescued but one, a spirited stallion named Takli, owned by Willow, a girl being raised on a hardscrabble Alaska homestead.
Despite numerous attempts to bring Takli back, it soon becomes clear that this freedom-loving horse will never again be corralled. As she grows to adulthood, Willow travels on fishing boats and float planes to maintain the connection with her horse. Takli always recognizes her, and shows his delight by circling around and around her on his wide, smooth beach. She alone can get close to him, and climbs on his back for exhilarating bareback gallops beneath snow-capped volcanoes.
In ways both tragic and magical, Willow’s bond with the wild horse alters the lives of her parents, her bush-pilot brother, his best friend and their beloved Alutiiq Native neighbor.
Remarkably, and true to life, the marooned stallion lives 18 years in the wild, surviving marauding bears, frigid Alaska winters and even the devastating 1964 Alaska Earthquake. Reminiscent of “Call of the Wild” by Jack London, “Near the Wild Heart” tells a powerful story of a mystical relationship between a human and another of earth’s creatures.
“A horse tale you’ll never forget!”
– Robert Michael Pyle, two-time winner of the National Outdoor Book Award
About the Author
Neil Christian Johannsen grew up on a working ranch in Northern California. As a youth he delivered newspapers from horseback and learned to fly a bush plane out of a pasture. After earning a master’s in forestry/outdoor recreation, he worked as a park ranger, artist, writer, and skipper of offshore sailboats, building his own thirty-footer to sail wild Alaskan waters. He served as deputy director of California State Parks and, as the longest-serving director of Alaska State Parks, earned a commendation from the Alaska legislature for establishing fifty parks. He oversaw preservation of millions of acres of scenic and recreation areas and historic sites in Alaska and later consulted on nationally protected lands in Europe, South America, and Russia.
Neil has written for national magazines and coauthored a guide to exploring Prince William Sound. He and his wife, Hilary Hilscher, live with two cats on an island in the Pacific Northwest.