The story of the Scottish bank clerk who became the Bard of the Yukon, the man who captivated the imagination of generations and painlessly introduced countless numbers to the beauties of verse.
Robert Service is famed world-wide for his verse-pictures of the Klondike goldrush. As a war poet, his work outsold Owen and Sassoon, and he went on to become the world's first million-selling poet. In search of adventure and new experiences, he emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1890 where he was caught up in the aftermath of the raging gold fever. His vivid dramatic verse brings to life the wild, larger than life characters of the gold rush Yukon, their bar-room brawls, their lust for gold, their trigger-happy gambles with life and love. The shooting of Dan McGrew is perhaps his most famous poem:
A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute
Saloon;
The kid that handles the music box was hitting a
Ragtime tune;
Back of the bar in a solo game, sat dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was his light o' love, the lady that's known as Lou.
His storytelling powers have brought Robert Service enduring fame, particularly in North America and Scotland, where he is something of a cult figure. Starting in Scotland, On the Trail of Robert Service follows service as he wanders through British Columbia, California, Oregon, Mexico, Cuba, Russia, Turkey, and the Balkans, finally 'settling' in France.
Wallace Lockhart's relish for a well-told tale in popular verse led him to fall in love with the verse of Robert Service and write his biography. He has enjoyed the full support and co-operation of Service'' family. This revised edition includes a new foreword by the poet's daughter, Iris Service Davies, plus additional photographs of scenes from the Klondike and of Robert Service from around the world.
