Robert Service: Under the Spell of the Yukon

Robert Service's time in the Yukon, at first as a transplanted bank clerk and later living off the royalties of poems like "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee," is the core of a fascinating life. Starving in Mexico, residing in a California bordello, farming on Vancouver Island and pursuing unrequited love in Vancouver were only preludes to his Yukon years and his first poems.Words were Robert Service's lifelong passion, and he set them on many stages. But it was his McGrew, McGee and other players of the Great White North who glittered with a golden glow and forever made him the "Bard of the Yukon" and the de facto poet laureate of Alaska. Robert Service sheds light on on aspects of Service's life that have been sketchily covered by other biographers, focusing on his years in the western U.S. and Canada. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Songs of a Sourdough, was the most successful poetry book of the 20th century.

Words were Robert Service's lifelong passion, and he set them on many stages. But it was his Sam McGee, Dan McGrew and other players of the Great White North who glittered with a golden glow and made him forever the 'Bard of the Yukon' and the de facto poet laureate of Alaska. Service spent the decade prior to the First World War traveling across North America. Later, he lived in France with his wife and daughter; during the Second World War they summered in Vancouver, BC, and wintered in the Los Angeles area. An intensely private man, Service remained an enigmatic character until his passing in 1958. Robert Service sheds light on aspects of the poet's life that have only been sketchily covered by other biographers, focusing on his years in the western US and Canada. This also features a selection of some of Service's most popular poems, including 'The Cremation of Sam McGee,' 'The Shooting of Dan McGrew,' 'The Call of the Wild' and 'The Spell of the Yukon.'

Enid Mallory is a former librarian who has written for Canadian Geographic, The Beaver and Reader's Digest and is the author of several books, including Coppermine: The Far North of George M. Douglas.