Book Review: The Year-Long Day by A.E. Maxwell and Ivar Ruud, 240 pages, J.B. Lippencott Co. 1976

In the Arctic winter of 1970 to 1971, a trapper/hunter in the Svalbard Achipelago had to protect himself from polar bears several times. This is not particularly unusual. It was unusual for Ivar Ruud to keep a detailed diary, make a movie and  have a book published about his experiences. Most arctic trappers and hunters do not keep detailed diaries, make movies, and write books. Ruud had an older partner, Fredrick Rubach. In their first year together, they harvested over fifty polar bears.  After the first year, they moved into separate cabins about 15 miles apart along the coast.  They would only see each other when they were dropped off, at Christmas, and when picked up in the summer.

While researching defenses against bears in the arctic, this correspondent found the account of Ivar Ruud referenced in the Polar Bear Human-Information Management System (PBHIMS) data base. The PBHIMS was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by AmmoLand. Used copies of The Year-Long Day  are sometimes available on ABE Books or Biblio. My copy was found in very good condition for $25 and shipping. The book is fast paced. It mentions enough of the daily grind to inform the reader, but is successful as adventure story telling.

The year of the account is, apparently, 1970-1971, according to this source. It matches with the authors description of it being his fourth year at Hornsund fiord, starting in 1967-68, when he was about 21.  His last overwinter at Hornsund fiord appears to have been 1971-1972. Polar bear hunting in the Svalbard Archipelago was outlawed in 1973.

The book is a very well written, non-fiction account of adventure and survival. It is a page turner which captured this writer for several hours. At least five instances are documented of Ivar Ruud shooting polar bears as they charged him. Two of those were while hunting the bears. The other three were from bears hunting Ivar, or at minimum, investigating Ruud as potential food. When a polar bear is attempting to enter your cabin with you inside, it is a serious threat.

For those interested in factual accounts of survival, hunting, and adventure, this is a wonderful book. Ivar would be about 78 today. An online source says he became a successful real estate agent in Southern California.

Of particular interest to this correspondent, the incidents in the book are not well matched with entries in the PBHIMS. The database includes one predatory attack while Ruud was in a tiny cabin. It includes one charge while Ruud was actively hunting polar bears. It does not include a predatory incident where Ruud was not hunting polar bears and had to shoot one at under 15 feet in the polar night while on a trail, or another incident where a polar bear was shot charging at him when he was on top of a cabin and the bear was only a few feed away.

This correspondent suspects a great many attempts of predation by polar bears on humans were stopped because the humans were armed. The vast majority of those were never recorded or published. If anyone knows if Ivar Ruud is alive or available, this correspondent would love to interview him.

©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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