Go For It!
Judith Kleinfeld, Ed.D.
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 Epicenter Press
ISBN: 0972494421

Find Your Own Frontier. How ordinary people can become extraordinary.

What is it about the American frontier that is like nothing else in the world? When I decided to emigrate & people scoffed at my dream, I'd retort that there on that frontier I'd be able to breathe & be myself.

“On a frontier, you can make the most of yourself and contribute the most to others while, at the same time, having a whale of a good time.” (Page 15)

I had lived all my young life with the queazy desparation of a misfit in a highly cultured society which could trace its provenance, at the drop of a hat, back through the ages; where everyone had their place & their future mapped out. I felt like a mongrel at the Westminster Dog Show.

“...Just thinking about getting out of your rut, dreaming of thumbing your nose at convention, picturing yourself doing something different will give you an exhilerating sense of freedom.” (Page 17)

At 22 years of age, I lit out from London for the frontier of Chicago, Illinois & a whole new life. Decades later I lit out again, following Horace Greeley's exhortation to “Go West!” ending up in the Pacific Northwest rainforest, & on the Internet, a whole other frontier!

“Americans are the people of the frontier. To be there means going out on the edge, doing something different with your life, making a mark. You can pioneer wherever you are.” (Page 18)

So, when Judith Kleinfeld's Go For It! came across my transom I was thrilled -- so this is what I've done! The sign of a good book is that it arouses in me a humor, a hunger, a delight, & this one certainly does!

“Most people who enter new and dangerous territory need a guide. When Alexis de Tocqueville wanted to travel to the frontier of 1831, the unsettled territory of Michigan, he employed two young Indian guides.” (Page 139) Now let Judith Kleinfeld be your guide to finding your frontier.

What I especially like about Judith Kleinfeld's energetic writing is her use of lively stories about people who have traveled to Alaska, interspersed with statistics, newspaper headlines & recipes for success.

“We Americans created the frontier, as a place on the map and a country of the mind ... and our frontiers, in turn, have created us, a people with dreams, with a sense of unlimited possibility ...” (Page 82)

Highly recommended for those with a dream who want to Go For It!

Do catch my Interview with this intrepid frontiers woman.

More from Judith Kleinfeld:
Gender Tales: Tensions in the Schools
Fantastic Antone Succeeds: Experiences in Educating Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Cross-Cultural Teaching Tales

For a taste of what's new in Alaska publishing go to: www.epicenterpress.com
(11/23/03)

Rebecca