The Map of My Dead Pilotsis about flying, pilots, and Alaska, the beautiful and deadly Last Frontier. Author Colleen Mondor spent four years running dispatch operations for a Fairbanks-based commuter and charter airline, and she knows all too well the gap between the romance and reality of small plane piloting in the wildest territory of the United States. From overloaded aircraft to wings covered in ice, from flying sled dogs and dead bodies, piloting in Alaska is about living hard and working even harder. What Mondor witnessed day to day would make anyone's hair stand on end. Ultimately, it is the pilots themselveslaced with ice and whiskey, death and camaraderie, silence and engine roarand their harrowing tales who capture her imagination. In fine detail, this series of stories reveals the technical side of flying, the history of Alaskan aviation, and a world that demands a close communion with extreme physical danger and emotional toughness.

Colleen Mondor is a longtime columnist and reviewer for Bookslut and book reviewer for Booklist whose essays have appeared in several journals and aviation magazines. She currently owns an aviation business. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. Her blog can be found at chasingray.com.