John Gubbins

John Gubbins fly fishes and writes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He and his wife Carol live alongside the the Middle Branch of the Escanaba River near the town of Ishpeming. Mr. Gubbins is the author of Profound River and Raven's Fire, both critically well received novels. His third novel, The American Fly Fishing Experience, received two international literary awards, an IPPY and an Indie. His new novel, Authentic Wilderness, recounts four turbulent months spent fishing and camping in Alaska. Faced with the loss of their home, Mr. Gubbins and his wife began living the new normal. He found work as a fisherman on the Bering Sea, enduring hard physical labor in the Arctic's harsh weather. The separation from his family led Mr Gubbins to question the meaning of his life. His loneliness, the sexual passions of the crew, story telling, a mutiny, and ten days camping in Alaska's wilderness forced him to understand and appreciate his own individuality. They have two sons, James, a mural artist who lives in Madison, Wisconsin and Alexander, a poet, who writes and teaches in the Upper Peninsula.

Praise for Authentic Wilderness

Beverly Matherne, author of Bayou des Acadiens/Blind River and many other works of poetry,

What pleasure to read and reread this exquisitely written, deeply moving, memoir. Facing foreclosure, John Gubbins boards the Neptune to fish herring and salmon on Alaska's Bering Sea. In the midst of towering bergs, numbing ice fog and the most brutal work he has ever known, his mind turns inward to his own self loathing and temptation that could steer him, like Odysseus, from his course. Bolstered by childhood memories of his grandfather, moral compass and North Star, John returns home full circle, hallowed and whole.

Matthew Gavin Frank, author of Flight of the Diamond Smugglers, Preparing the Ghost, Barolo, Pot Farm and many other works of non-fiction and poetry,

In John Gubbins's beautiful new book, what begins as a story of adventure in the wilderness of Alaska, rife with both camaraderie and loneliness, soon becomes much more, as memory and destiny intrude, carrying with them the sort of heartache and soul sickness that in Gubbins's careful hands, burst with an electric and affirming humanity. The way Gubbins balances his kinetic narrative with lyrical meditation is nothing short of exhilarating, reminding us that one of the great animating sources of a life lurks in the dogged search for meaning.

Harry L. Peterson, President Emeritus of Western Colorado, Gunnison,

In Authentic Wilderness John Gubbins struggles with the expectations of his father and grandfather as he works to earn a living in Alaska's brutal and unforgiving Salmon season. Sharing stories with his cabin mates he finds common ground even though he has little in common with them but the need for money. The author begins to see himself more clearly both aboard the Neptune and alone camping the Nushagak in the Alaskan bush with only the likely presence of a nearby grizzly bear.

Katie Burgert, Fish Untamed, www.fishuntamed

A succinct, yet rich, true account of two very different facets of the Alaskan fishing world. Told from the author's point of view as he navigates the evolution of his own struggles, needs, and desires, this quick read is hard to put down.