Arctic adventurer to speak at convocation

Author and Arctic explorer Alvah Simon will speak at this year’s Chancellor’s Convocation on Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 2 p.m. in the Kohl Center.

Alvah Simon with his wife and travelling companion Diana White-Simon. McGraw-Hill’s web page for North by the Night Book excerpt: Chapter 8

Hosted by Chancellor David Ward, the event is an official welcome to the university for new students, but all students, faculty, staff and the general public are invited and encouraged to attend. No tickets are required for the free illustrated talk, titled “North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey.”

“We want this convocation to engage the thinking of new students on what a university education – and life – can hold for them,” said Ward. “Alvah Simon will bring his inspiring message to students as they embark on another academic year.”

Simon is the author of “North to the Night: A Year in the Arctic Ice.” The book chronicles his expedition in a 36-foot sailboat high above the Arctic Circle, where he survived – with the help of his cat, Halifax – five months of isolation, sudden blindness, marauding polar bears and temperatures of 65 below zero.

His presentation will feature photographs taken by Simon’s wife and co-adventurer, Diana White-Simon. He will explain why “only by exploring the borders of human potential do we expand them.” Simon also will reveal what he learned up north: about himself, the environment, native cultures and the roles we play in each other’s lives.

The Arctic expedition was not Simon’s first adventure. Starting in his late ’20s, he took 13 years to sail 65,000 miles around the globe. He supported himself by selling opals, working in shipyards and laying underwater pipe off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

Simon met his wife-to-be in Australia. White-Simon, a native New Zealander, was an experienced global traveler herself. Within weeks they joined forces in searching for Australian crocodiles and the duck-billed platypus – just the beginning of a world-roving partnership.

In 1997, the Simons received the Cruising World Magazine Award for Outstanding Seamanship. Alvah’s story of their Arctic voyage won the 1996 International Boating Writers Contest.

This is the second year of the newly formatted Chancellor’s Convocation. Last year’s speaker was Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

Simon’s appearance is sponsored by the Chancellor’s Office and the Dean of Students Office and made possible by a generous gift from the UW Credit Union.