The Great Death

Native American author Smelcer's story draws on his grandmother's stories of the 1917 influenza pandemic that killed more than half of Alaska's Native population. Lorna Raver keeps listeners on the edge of their seats as she tells of two girls, the only survivors in their small village, who set out to save themselves. When two strange white men enter their village in the company of a Native, they change everything forever. The fear and distress of the villagers is made palpable as an unknown illness invades their lives, snatching young and old alike. The courage of the girls as they face the unknown in the midst of grief and danger is a story of human survival at its most inspiring. N.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine