Russian America: The Great Alaskan Venture, 1741-1867

New York: The Viking Press, 1965. Presumed first edition/first printing. Hardcover. Good in fair dust jacket. DJ, inplastic, has some wear and soiling, edge tears and chips. Light pencil marks in bibliography noted.. x, 274, [2] p. 22 cm. Maps. On the Sources. Index. From an on-line posting: "Hector Chevigny was born in Missoula, Montana on June 28, 1904. He died in New York City, on April 20, 1965. He received his B.A. from Gonzaga University in 1927 and did postgraduate work at the University of Washington in 1928. He married Claire Graves, from Spokane, in 1929. They had two children Antoinette and Paul. Among Hector Chevigny's professional memberships were: Authors League of America (council 1943-53), Radio Writers Guild (council 1940-53, national president 1952-53), N.Y. Academy of Sciences, and Writer's Guild of America Society of Friends. Hector Chevigny worked his adult life as a writer, with six major publications to his credit. In addition he had many articles and stories accepted in major publications, and wrote numerous radio scripts. Three of those publications: Lost Empire (1937), Lord of Alaska (1942), and Russian America (1965), dealt with Alaskan history. Another major endeavor was a work done with clinical psychologist Sydell Braverman, the Braverman-Chevigny Auditory Projective Test. At the start of his career he wrote a series called "Pioneers" for a Seattle radio station. This was a program of romantic historical incidents happening in early Seattle. At this time he also taught a course on Radio Writing for the University of Washington. In 1935 he moved to Los Angeles and was named Director of the script department at CBS radio in Los Angeles where he wrote comedy and drama for radio. He subsequently worked for Hollywood Hotel then Associated Cinema Studios. In November 1943 while in New York to meet with a publisher on an upcoming book he was writing, Mr. Chevigny began to see black spots in his one good eye. The doctor diagnosed this as a detached retina; the other eye had been diagnosed with this about a year before. After three unsuccessful surgeries he was left totally blind. He decided to stay in New York to continue his writing career. As a writer he felt he could continue his work by using a secretarial assistant, but getting around on his own would present difficulties. He attended the Seeing Eye Institute and learned how to deal with blindness with the help of a Seeing Eye dog. One of his major publications after this occurrence was the book My Eyes have a Cold Nose (1946), the story of his adjustment to working with his Seeing Eye dog. Along with his dog Wizard he was able to lead a somewhat normal and independent life which included dancing with his wife, he especially enjoyed the jitterbug. He was quoted as saying "blindness is not necessarily a tragedy but a nuisance" and he never let his blindness handicap him in his life or his career. From the finding aid for Hector Chevigny Personal Papers 1933-1965 (Foley Center Library Special Collections)."