You've probably heard of him, Dr. Elmer Gaede. Prescription for Adventure: Bush Pilot Doctor is his story.
In 1955, fresh out of Kansas Medical School, he drove up the Alcan Highway to the Alaska Native Services Hospital in Anchorage. He left behind tractors in wheat fields and learned to fly a J-3 on Lake Hood — then he volunteered for mercy flights into remote villages.
Moose, grizzly bear, and polar bear hunting came next, along with bush flying house calls and forced landings in blizzards along the arctic coast.
Later, he homesteaded on the Kenai Peninsula, cleared a half-mile airstrip, crashed his Cessna 180 into the Gaede-Eighty chicken house, took on a monkey for a patient, and flew patients to the Seward Hospital in treacherous conditions.
If you were spell-bound, intrigued, and laughing through the first version of Prescription for Adventure: Bush Pilot Doctor, you'll love this revised version! The stories have been enhanced with supplementary photos, previously unwritten stories, and additional details. Footnotes identify real-time locations mentioned in the book. Go see for yourself what "was" then, and what "is" now.
Learn more about Doc Gaede.
Table of Contents
- Chp 1 — Opening the Door to the Last Frontier
- Chp 2 — Tundra Taxi
- Chp 3 — Flying or Bust!
- Chp 4 — The Thanksgiving Day Moose
- Chp 5 — Lime Village Evacuation
- Chp 6 — Out to Get a Bear Rug
- Chp 7 — Assignment: Tanana
- Chp 8 — A Strange Village Welcome
- Chp 9 — House Calls Alaskan Style
- Chp 10 — A Simple Caribou Hunt
- Chp 11 — King of the Arctic
- Chp 12 — Break-up Takeoff
- Chp 13 — Hunting: Not For Men Only
- Chp 14 — Close Encounters of Many Kinds
- Chp 15 — Hospital Ward the Size of Kansas
- Chp 16 — Tooth-pullin' Time
- Chp 17 — Double-feature Drama
- Chp 18 — The Last Alaskan Nomads
- Chp 19 — 2000 Feet Above the Yukon River
- Chp 20 — The Top of Alaska
- Chp 21 — Outside
- Chp 22 — Back Home
- Chp 23 — The Day the Earth Broke Apart
- Chp 24 — Baby Won't Wait
- Chp 25 — Return to Point Hope
- Chp 26 — Flight by Faith
- Chp 27 — No Ordinary Day
- Chp 28 — The Valley of 10,000 Smokes Revisited
An Alaska Unit Study Guide, which meets the standards for quarter-credit Alaska history is available along with the first edition of this book. Learn More...
"Again, thank you for all you have done to keep the history of the area alive; we use your book as a recruiting tool for physicians, board members, and donors. Such amazing stories!"
"Take it from one who has experienced the silence of an engine out-of-fuel at 2500 feet, Doc really had courage! Flying a tube and fabric two seat J-3 Cub without radios in the ever-changing weather of Alaska brings the hairs up on the back of any pilot's neck. Twice through; the book is a fun and informative read! Thank you Naomi!"
"Naomi, I enjoyed your book to the utmost. I've read several Alaskan flying/adventure books over the years and have enjoyed none of them as much as this one. Your dad sounds like my kinda guy. Wish I could have known him. Having spent some time in AK, I enjoyed following on the map the path of your Dad's adventures. And you did such an excellent job of setting the scene for each story. You truly have a gift for storytelling. Let me know when the next book is ready."
