Homesteaders wounding each other in a deadly shootout. Bear attacks. Surviving 60-below zero on the North Slope. Riverboating Class VI whitewater, considered impossible to run without risk of life and limb. Practical jokes. Moose Dropping festivals. Plane crashes. Drownings. Saving lives. Love and Passion. Divorce. Eccentric curmudgeons. All these describe the true-to-life people, stories and tales of high adventure that await you in The Legend of River Mahay. Read about the man, the legend, and the lifestyle that made his name a household word in Alaska. His story will keep you spellbound, laughing and crying from start to finish, and in the end, entice you to become a part of the allure that is Alaska. The Legend of River Mahay is a classic that reveals to us that being an Alaskan is not just a name, but rather, a celebration of an adventure lifestyle; a dream that all of us have within us. This book is also an allegorical tale of the struggle that all Alaska pioneers embrace. Take the adversities with bears and substitute fear, self doubt, isolationism, failure, and hardships that all pioneers combat to survive, succeed and evolve in the wilderness. This is a story about a man who wants to know what is always on the other side of the ridge, and who does what it takes to get there.  Although The Legend of River Mahay illustrates a man and his dream, it also presents life in an Alaska Bush community where the odds are good that the goods are odd. Deborah Cox Wood relates Steve Mahay's yen for adventure, his personal'Mahay Way' philosophy, adventures on the river, his personal life and family, as well as his relentless pursuit of living by God's rules--all amidst the history and local color of Talkeetna, Alaska, population 378 and one old grouch. Larry Kaniut, Author of Alaska Bear Tales