February 1955 (age 55)

On February 7, with his first book contract in hand, Sigurd sat at his manual Royal typewriter in his writing shack, inserted a sheet of canary yellow paper, and typed the first draft of what would become the following opening paragraph of his book:

The singing wilderness has to do with the calling of the loons, northern lights, and the great silences of a land lying northwest of Lake Superior. It is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life that is close to the past. I have heard the singing in many places, but I seem to hear it best in the wilderness lake country of the Quetico-Superior, where travel is still by pack and canoe over the ancient trails of the Indians and voyageurs.

Throughout the month, typing on legal-sized, lined yellow paper, Sigurd also began working on drafts of several new essays for the book, which, under their final names, included "The River,""The Last Mallard," "Scrub Oak," "The Loons of Lac la Croix," and "Birds of the Ski Trails."

Meanwhile, on February 28, Sports Illustrated published Sigurd's article, "Fishing at 20 Below."The article's favorable interpretation of spearfishing stirred up a hornet's nest in downstate Minnesota because a number of Izaak Walton League members had condemned the practice, and it had divided the organization. Jack Connor and other outdoor writers said Sigurd's article shows he doesn't really care about the state's conservation program (recall the January 1955 edition of "This Month," which described how Sigurd was on the short list for state conservation commissioner--a job he didn't want). Sigurd responded to all this by saying that he wasn't trying to glorify the killing aspect of spearfishing, but was just writing an interpretive piece on the joys of the experience. He said he wouldn't have sent it in if he had realized how controversial it would be in Minnesota, and that if fisheries experts say it should be banned he would not object. However, Sigurd still used the story a year later in The Singing Wilderness . The essay "Dark House" is essentially the same as the Sports Illustrated article. It contains only one significant change, and that is in the very first sentence. Instead of saying the incident happened two years ago, he says it happened ten years ago. Perhaps he was trying to distance himself slightly by making it sound like this was the kind of thing that was done a long time ago but not now?

February 1970 (age 70)

Sigurd becomes a member of the Northland College Board of Trustees. Sigurd spent his first couple of years of college at Northland. Located in Ashland, Wis., Northland today is a leading environmental/liberal arts college and the home of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. (For more information, see the Northland College website.)