"The author's lifetime in Alaska's wilds and her vision as one of the Southeast's leading artists make her the ideal guide for an exploration of fire trees -- these mysterious cedar giants hollowed out by flame at the hands of Alaska Natives untold years ago. Were they repositories for life-sustaining fire in a cold land? Beacons for ancient mariners braving the sea in magnificent carved canoes? A personal journey and the aid fo some of Alaska's marvelous characters draw a picture in which antiquity meets a contemporary quest -- and we all learn about how people adapt to a challenging landscape"--page [4] of cover.