Skylab—lounge and band room at South Pole
Southern—Southern Exposure, McMurdo’s smoking bar
SPAWAR—Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. Provides air traffic control, meteorological forecasts, and airfield ground electronics maintenance for the USAP.
Spryte—One-compartment tracked vehicle; a field camp workhorse
SSC—Science Support Center, administrative hub of science support operations
Summer Camp—Array of Jamesways used for accommodations at Pole in the summer only
Terra Bus—Personnel transport vehicle, almost 50 feet long with room for about 56 passengers
Toasty—Mentally dulled from too much time on the ice
Triwall—Large reinforced-cardboard box used for cargo and for trash disposal
T-Site—Hub of radio transmission in McMurdo
U-barrel—urine barrel (either the barrel itself or the outhouse built over it)
Upper Case Dorms—Most desirable dorms, with one bathroom per two rooms and a sink in each large room
USAP—United States Antarctic Program
UT—Utility Technician; maintains heaters, furnaces, washers and dryers, and other appliances
Vermiculite—a flaky, absorbent mineral used to pack chemicals for shipment
Willy—Williams Airfield, a runway for ski-equipped aircraft
Winfly—winter fly-in, from August to October
Winter—season from February to October
Winter-overs—winter residents of the stations
Winter Quarters Bay—bay that separates McMurdo Station from Hut Point
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Charles Wilkes v. Samuel Dinsman. 48 U.S. 89, US Supreme Court, 1849. Online, LexisNexis Academic.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without exception, my crew supervisors in McMurdo have been excellent bosses and a pleasure to work for. So, first thanks go to Lester Bracey, Bob Radke, Bill Poulson, Susie Heyob, and James “Wheel” Mickelson.
There are many people whose keen eyes and thoughtfulness have contributed valuable details to what otherwise would have been vague and uninteresting anecdotes. Though it’s impossible to recognize all those whose conversations and expertise I’ve relied upon, I’m particularly fortunate to have known Robert Zimmerman, David Zimmerman, Doug Wing, Jeff Truelove, Chris Teske, Slim, Liesl Schernthanner, Jeff Ryan, Scott Phillips, Randy Noring, Alex Morris, Rick Monce, Jessica Manuel, Sue Long, Michiel Lofton, Libor, Rob LaBarre, Chris Kugelman, Stephanie Koetzle, Susan Kaspari, Brandon Holton, Peter Hobbes, John Hatcher, Dale-Lynn Gardner, Ted Dettmar, Nelson Corcoran, Jay Cairns, Tony Buchanan, Wilson Blake, and Deb Baldwin.
It would be an insidious oversight not to recognize Keros Johnson, who is the funniest person I’ve known on this rock, and a goddamn rock in the worst of winters.
Roren Stowell is a phenomenal critic though he’s never written a word.
James Penkusky is a sick dog best shot on sight.
Nearby, Brad Johnson should be strung up by his balls.
As Jake Speed dances a merry dance.
And Kathy Blumm shows up just in time to peddle extra rope and ammo.
The librarians at the Canterbury Museum Library in Christchurch many times went out of their way to assist me in finding obscure materials.
For commenting on the first draft of this book, I’m grateful to Sara Lorimer, Dylan Sisson, and Dagwood Heinrich Ludwig Reeves, whose suggestions were either ignored or implemented, and in both cases were invaluable.
More than anyone, it is Jason Anthony who has added to my understanding of this book. We were roommates in Christchurch during the year-long period in which it was written. In some strange marriage we sat writing in our own rooms all day and emerged in the evenings to drink wine and eat fine New Zealand cheeses and discuss Richard Byrd’s turds and Antarctica’s capacity as a mirror for our culture while outside our window the Kiwi “boy racers” screamed down Worcester Street in their extravagant neon-lit rice burners and gentlemen in white suits flocked to the lawn-bowling club across the street. One day our neighbors beyond our wall, practicing for karaoke, repeatedly played “Hey Jude” for four hours straight, and when I then decided to go over and kill them, it was Jason who diverted my attention with stories of Lincoln Ellsworth, who was so obsessed with the Old American West that when he flew his plane over Antarctica he wore a holster and antique six-shooter. It was Jason who suggested, after reading a draft of my manuscript, that I didn’t have enough “Antarctica” in my book about Antarctica, and that I should at least acknowledge the popular image of the place before questioning that image. From this advice I relinquished a portion of my selfishness and remembered the process of my experience of Antarctica, a slow metamorphosis from the grand to the absurd to the normal.
The resulting manuscript appealed to Adam Parfrey, a publisher so sensitive to different shades of American culture that he actually liked the book before wondering whether it would sell to the penguin and iceberg crowd.
Due to their ruthlessness and honesty, there are certain artists whose work long ago so influenced me that I consider them a primary internal audience. They are Nathan Cearley and Sean Tejaratchi.
Rar Jungle is a real showboat. A real piece of work.
When Rar and I once crept into Frank Woll’s house hoping to startle him, and found him on the couch watching a Nazi occult documentary, wearing a Darth Vader mask, and toying with a ten-inch hunting knife, I knew I had found an interesting friend.
Before I met David Nelson, I didn’t know what dry humor was.
To my parents, Dee Johnson and Jay Johnson, I am grateful for a stable upbringing and for their unconditional support despite my erratic and unpromising path through the world.
The Old NSF logo: An elite fellowship lights the way from ancient to modern science under the unity of national might.
The new NSF logo: A federal agency assumes stewardship of the globe under the unity of an interchangeable mob.
Big Dead Place © 2005 by Nicholas Johnson
All rights reserved
eISBN : 978-1-932-59599-4
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