Note: This review was prepared by Thomas L. Vince, archivist and historian for Western Reserve Academy. Mr. Vince served for 26 years as director of The Hudson Library and Historical Society and is an authority on historical figures of significance to the region, including John Brown, James W. Ellsworth, and Lincoln Ellsworth.

Definitive New Book on Lincoln Ellsworth, Polar Explorer

Without a doubt the best biography of polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth has just been published by the University of Alaska Press. This long-overdue examination of the noted explorer's complex life, Polar Extremes: The World of Lincoln Ellsworth, is the work of Beekman H. Pool. Pool, an experienced explorer in his own right, has penned a scrupulously documented, highly readable book that tells the story of the lonely child who spent part of his youth in Hudson, Ohio. As an adult, Lincoln Ellsworth went on to play a major role in the realm of polar exploration.

Lincoln Ellsworth (1880-1951) was born in Chicago, the son of wealthy industrialist James W. Ellsworth, who later became the principal benefactor of Western Reserve Academy. Lincoln himself spent part of his youth living with his grandmother at Evamere Farm in Hudson, briefly attending WRA in the mid 1890s. In 1925, when Ellsworth and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen attempted to fly across the North Pole, their two small planes came down on pack ice and they were given up for lost. After a perilous but safe return, they successfully crossed the Pole and the Arctic Ocean by dirigible the following year.

In the mid-1930s Lincoln Ellsworth turned his attention to Antarctica and made a remarkable crossing of that continent on a small plane, the "Polar Star," now at the Smithsonian. He claimed a portion of Antarctica for the United States, and named it in honor of his father, James W. Ellsworth, with whom he had a difficult and sometimes strained relationship. Ellsworth was honored by Congress in the late 1920s and later received a medal from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A first-class postage stamp honoring his achievements was issued in 1988.

What sets this new book apart from the other biographies of Ellsworth is that author Beekman Pool was personally acquainted with his subject and joined him on a grueling 800-mile trek through the wilderness of Labrador in the summer of 1930. He remained in touch with the explorer for the rest of his life and had access to private papers and diaries in the possession of Lincoln Ellsworth's widow until her death in 1993.

In the mid-1980s, Beekman Pool initiated an effort to have Ellsworth honored with a U.S. postage stamp, a project that took about five years to bring to fruition. During that time, I worked with Mr. Pool on a letter writing campaign and even visited Pool at his estate in Dublin, New Hampshire, to examine his impressive library of polar literature.

Now in his '90s, Beekman Pool spent nearly 20 years working on his manuscript, and his optimism and persistence have given us a wonderful book about a neglected figure in polar exploration. My only regret is that I wasn't persistent enough in offering some of Western Reserve Academy's archival photos of Lincoln Ellsworth as a WRA student for use in Polar Extremes: The World of Lincoln Ellsworth. To view selected photos, click here: www.wra.net/news/lincolnphotos.html.

I have been in contact with Mr. Pool since the book's release, and he is very pleased to know that copies are now available for loan at the John D. Ong Library. The trade paperback edition lists for $27.00. For further information, please consult your local library, bookseller, or check on the web for online sources including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Borders.

Thomas L. Vince
Archivist and Historian
Western Reserve Academy