It is a picture of someone pulling what looks like a small boat through an immense ice field. The figure is on skis and is tethered to the boat, which is about 10 feet behind.  Great blocks of ice are strewn about on either side of an icy path.  It is the kind of image that is both frightening and fascinating.  I'd really like to be there to experience this, but I know that it must be the kind of place that truly tests one's being in ways that cannot be fully comprehended anywhere else but there - on the ice.

Polar explorer Ann Bancroft was there.  And now, she'll be here on February 29th as part of the annual MPA Book Festival to tell her story.  MPA families can hear first-hand what it was like to drag a sled across vast stretches of ice through impossible conditions.  At 7:00 p.m. on Friday the 29th, Ann Bancroft will speak in the Nicholson Center.  According to her website, "Bancroft and Norwegian polar explorer Liv Arnesen became the first women in history to sail and ski across Antarctica´s landmass - completing a 94-day, 1,717-mile (2,747 km) trek."

Anyone who has spent any time experiencing the kind of winter conditions our Minnesota climate can dish out has to appreciate the ultimate test of the polar regions.  I am the kind of reader who finds himself returning annually to a few treasured books that can be enjoyed multiple times.  One of the those is "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing.  It is the account of the failed attempt of a team led by explorer Ernest Shackelton to cross Antarctica on foot in 1914.

Books have that special ability to take us to places where we've never been before.  Our annual Book Festival is a celebration of the power of reading, of the possibility of literature to transport us to far away places.  We hope you'll come to MPA next week to enjoy the amazing selection of books available for purchase - and to hear from someone who's been there!