The Way of Our People

Arnold's love affair with Alaska began in 1951 when he first moved there with his family. For five years, he taught in the Athabaskan Indian village of Tanana on the Yukon River. After returning to the lower forty-eight to obtain his doctorate in children's literature from the University of Alaska. During this time he worked closely with schools in the Athabaskan villages of Alaska's interior. Upon retirement, he was granted the title Professor Emeritus, and he still lives in his adopted state. Besides writing, his main interest is working with individual students on their manuscripts. Arnold has had published four books with Alaskan settings. The first two, At the Mouth of the Luckiest River and The Way of Our People, deal specifically with the Athabaskan culture. The third, The Wind is Not a River, focuses on the Aleut culture. These three books have recently been brought back into print by Boyds Mills Press, which also published Arnold's fourth children's book---a picture book called Anna's Athabaskan Summer. Besides children's books, Arnold is the author of two college textbooks, Your Philosophy of Education: What Is It ? and Do You Read Me? Practical Approaches to Teaching Reading Comprehension. Also, two of Arnold's stories have appeared in Highlights.