While applying to attend John McPhee’s writing seminar at Princeton University in the fall of 2017, Ben Weissenbach wrote his 86-year-old instructor “I want to follow in your footsteps, literally.”

In completing his first book, “North to the Future: An Offline Adventure Through the Changing Wilds of Alaska,” Weissenbach penned a compelling portrayal of wild places that are similar but not identical to the ones McPhee explored in his classic 1977 book “Coming into the Country.”

In “North to the Future,” Weissenbach, of Los Angeles, tagged along with three prominent Alaska scientists in the northern part of the state.

After fearlessly introducing himself to adventurer/scientists Roman Dial, Kenji Yoshikawa and Matt Nolan, Weissenbach cut his own imperfect path across Alaska, frost-nipping

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