Manfredo Zepf
When Manfredo Zepf set out across the frozen expanse toward the Arctic Circle, he wasn't just testing his limits against one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth—he was stepping into a world where every single decision carried the weight of survival.
Dropped off by a bush pilot at an unnamed lake in the northern Canadian wilderness, Zepf was left entirely on his own. Equipped only with his gear, a Weatherby .30-06 rifle, and decades of meticulous planning, he faced thirty-one bear encounters, unpredictable storms, a roaring forest fire, and the profound, humbling solitude of the Far North.
An Arctic Adventure is a thrilling, deeply personal first-hand memoir of exploration, endurance, and awe. Through stark, magnificent landscapes and constant hazards, Zepf captures the raw, pristine beauty of the wilderness while detailing the mental and physical grit required to stay alive.
Part gripping survival chronicle and part profound reflection on our responsibility to protect the natural world, this book will inspire anyone who has ever dreamed of challenging themselves against the ultimate unknown.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Annelise Sievert
"née" Zepf
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Painting by Annelise
Seventy feet in the air I held on to the top branches of the eucalyptus tree as it swayed gently back and forth and watched the sun as it broke the far horizon. I was intoxicated by the smell of the Eucalyptus and the vista around me awoke my dreams.
I was the Nuns favorite blue eyed blond haired angle known to always play tricks on them.
Later as a young woman, during WWII my blond and blue eyes became a detriment. Brazilians were concerned about the large German population that lived in Brazil and some took violent action against those of German heritage.
I went to University hoping to become a writer!
My father insisted I become a nurse! I became a Nurse wanting to write.
I had the misfortune to marrying a handsome but a philandering young man, Edgar Muller. The marriage was short lived.
Divorce in Brazil was against both the Catholic church and the government.
I had an affair and got pregnant!!!
I named my third child Conrad after my brother.
Edgar's parents tried to get custody of Marlene and Ronald, my first two that I had with Edgar.
With the help of my parents and the sponsorship of Georgia and Ross Kitzmiller, US citizens, that had been my back door neighbors, I left Brazill with my three children.
Highlights captures the great years that I had in the greatest country in the world. I was challenged, I excelled, I met my soulmate.
I watched my kids have the chance that I wanted them to have.
Highlights are the wonderful memories of my life.
Please enjoy them.
Long ago when I was young and unafraid I lived in Burlington, Iowa.
I faced a reality that shook me and took me on a path that I had not envisioned for myself.
My vision was to graduate from high school and attend University and become an Engineer.
I was accepted by Dartmouth, the University of Arizona and the University of Iowa.
Due to some confusiong about my draft status I had to make another choice. I made the choice to enter the Navy to avoid going to Vietnam.
The reality was that fate sent me to Vietnam!!!
Other than Vietnam, my experience in the Navy was great.
I graduated from the Electronics school at the Great Lakes US Navy base.
Attended Nuclear Power school in California and Idaho on my return from Vietnam.
Then I participated in Commissioning of the USS Coronado.
I volunteereed and was a crew member of the hydrofoil USS Tucumcari and toured the North Sea,
Flew down the English Channel,
Flew a circuiet around the Mediteranian.
On my returnd to the US I helped decommission the USS Woodcounty and was briefly the "Captain" when it was being prepared for mothballing.
I got out early and attended the University of South Florida and finally became an Engineer.
Life has been a good uphill journey and I am still on it and will write about that some other day.
Marlene Hart
Older sister of the family storyteller created a superb scapbook that pictorially shows how the family storyteller made a very dramatic and unique journey from Brazil to the United States.
She expertly arranged many pictures and mementos that brings that jjourney to life.
She took a similar Journey. Her journey has its own flavor and slightly different experiences. She not only is the older sister to "The Family Story Teller," She was the one who with her youngest brother made the Journey back to Brazil and returned to the United States where in Urbana, Illinois she married Richart Hart and raised her family.
She has put her unique skills and created a scrap bookl for herself and her two brothers.
"The Family Story Teller, Ron Mueller, is proud to feature my journey as presented by Marene, "The Sister I always wanted." I have curated my journey but as I digitize Marlene's physical scrap book.
I look forward to doing the same for her and Conrad Mueller our younger brother.