Jennifer Niven
Author
of The Ice Master and Ada Blackjack converses
with Matt Borondy
Jennifer Niven's first nonfiction book, The Ice Master,
was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2000 by Entertainment
Weekly. She wrote the screenplay for the Emmy-winning short
film Velva Jean Learns to Drive, worked as a television
producer, and even played Shania Twain in a music video.
Her new book, Ada Blackjack, is a bit of a continuation
of The Ice Master's arctic-exploration-gone-awry theme
and was summed up this way by the Boston Globe:
"In the 1920s, famed Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson
made it his secret mission to claim desolate Wrangel Island for
the British. With false assurances that he would lead his crew,
Stefansson put together an unseasoned group of four young men and
a diminutive 23-year-old Inuit named Ada Blackjack, who was so desperate
for money for her sick son that she willingly signed on as seamstress...Almost
immediately, the trip was a disaster."
Jennifer Niven lives in Atlanta with her husband. You can visit
her on the web at jenniferniven.com.
It’s my understanding that, like most people, you’ve
never been to the Arctic, you aren’t an Inuit woman, and you
don’t have a background in exploration. Yet, you’ve
written two books dealing with Arctic exploration, and they’ve
had a considerable amount of readership. What is it about these
stories that compels you to write them and compels ordinary people
to read them?
Perhaps the thing that compels me to write them is the same thing
that compels people to read them. The element that draws me to these
kinds of stories is that they feature unexpected heroes-- ordinary
people who become extraordinary when they find themselves in dramatic,
dangerous, challenging, unforeseen situations. As horrified as we
are by disaster, I think we like to imagine what we would do in
an avalanche on Mount Everest, a collapsed coal mine, a crashing
plane, a sinking ship. Would we be heroic? Would we lose our nerve?
Would the best or the worst in us surface? How would we react?
What makes Ada Blackjack a sympathetic character? In what
ways do you personally identify with her?
When I first started researching the book, I was worried that I
wasn’t going to be able to connect with Ada as I wanted to.
I loved the four young men who were her companions on the expedition,
but I had reservations about Ada herself. She had a questionable
reputation, she could be a difficult person, and I was apprehensive
that this might overshadow her bravery and heroism. But the more
I learned about Ada, the more I liked her. And in the end, one of
the things that made her most appealing to me was the fact that
she was a flawed person. Yet she emerged from her ordeal not only
with enormous courage and the survival skills she taught herself,
but with grace and purity. Even when her rescuers were slandering
her name in the media, Ada retained her composure and integrity.
I admire that immensely.
Probably the strongest parallel between Ada and me is that we both
have had to deal with the devastating chronic illness of someone
close to us. In Ada’s case, it was her comrade Lorne Knight,
who suffered from scurvy. In my case, it was my father, who was
diagnosed with cancer at the outset of my work on the book, and
who passed away the same week I finished writing the first draft.
As I wrote about Ada alone on that island, struggling to care for
and save this young man who was dying, the parallels between Ada
and Lorne Knight, my father and me, seemed all too real.
In the past few years as you’ve worked on The
Ice Master and Ada Blackjack, have you seen anyone
in the news that has reminded you of Stefansson? Do you see him
as an archetypal sort of person or an anomaly?
I can’t think of anyone in particular who reminds me of Stefansson,
although I’m sure there are people out there who share many
of his traits. I don’t know that I can classify Stefansson
as either an archetypal type person or an anomaly because I think
he was both. He was a very human man with a skewed view of responsibility.
He thought up these grand adventures but didn’t plan them
well or see them through as he should have. He didn’t believe
in doing the dirty work himself, but preferred to send others to
do it for him, and then he refused any accountability for the usually
tragic outcomes.
What is your favorite part of this book and why?
I think my favorite part is when Ada—after being slandered
in the media by Harold Noice, her rescuer—puts on her best
dress, boards a street car, and pays a visit to the newspaper office
in downtown Los Angeles to tell her side of the story. After all
she had been through to that point—the separation from her
son, the homesickness, the pain and death and struggle on Wrangel
Island, the isolation, and the harassment of newspaper reporters
when all she wanted was to rest and be left alone—I think
it is incredibly inspiring that she was able to find the courage
to stand up for herself. To me, that was one of the very bravest
things that Ada did.
How has this book affected the families of the people involved in
the story?
I’d like to think that it has given them a greater sense
of themselves and of where they come from. In many cases, it has
answered questions they have had all their lives. For me, meeting
these family members and witnessing their reactions to the book
have been the most rewarding aspects of my work. Carey Lawless Dunlap,
the grandniece of the youngest member of the expedition— Milton
Galle (also known as “Sohnie” to his family)—
sent me this email after she had finished reading Ada Blackjack:
“I am very excited about ‘meeting’ my grand-uncle
Sohnie. As a child we were told not to ask about him but that didn't
really matter to me -- I had no idea who Sohnie was. It took me
years to realize he was my grandmother's brother. In the early 80's
I sat down with my grandfather to go over the family history. He
told me as much as he could, but there was so little information
about Sohnie, and my grandmother still did not want to talk about
him. You have re-introduced Sohnie to our family and I am very thankful
for that. I loved the story. It brought to light so many things
that have puzzled me all my life. Meeting my Great-Uncle Sohnie
has been such a joy. I always knew he was a good and kind soul.
I never thought otherwise. But now I see some character traits that
I believe my father had that came from dear Milton. And now my son,
who reminds me of my father in many ways...... well, I just can't
tell you what you have added to my life.”
Your mother, Penelope Niven, is also a successful author
of nonfiction. What’s the most important thing about writing
you picked up from your mother?
I think the most important thing I picked up was something I learned
from years of watching her in action—that writing is hard,
hard work and that you have to be very disciplined to be good and
successful at it. For years, I actually tried to ignore my urge
to write—which I’ve had since I was a little girl—because
I had witnessed firsthand the long hours my mother worked, the struggles,
the frustration, the roadblocks-- the footnotes!— and I felt
I wanted something more glamorous, something easier, something more
fun for my career. I decided to be a rock star and then a dancer
and then I decided to be an actress, but in the end I couldn’t
run away from the writing. It was always there, that urge, and finally
I just couldn’t ignore it anymore. But the good thing is that
once I started writing, I was prepared for the hard work and the
struggle—I knew to expect the roadblocks and the frustration—but
I got to discover the glamour of it and the fun.
What’s the most important thing about life you picked
up from your mother?
The most important thing about life that I learned from my mother
is that I should never limit myself, never tell myself “no,”
that I should dream big and believe that those dreams can come true,
and that I can do anything I put my mind to. She also taught me
to be kind to others and to be a good friend, both of which I try
very hard to do.
I’ve read a few of your Book Babe book reviews, which
I’ve found compelling because they are more personal than,
um, whatever book reviews normally are (snobby, whiney, pretentious?).
What’s it like to be both a writer and a reviewer of books?
What personal anecdote would you use in a review of Ada Blackjack?
The Book
Babe book reviews are fun because they allow me to be silly
and to write a little more freely than I can in my nonfiction work.
It’s a nice complement to my own books because I don’t
have to be so serious and I can ramble on about myself, while still
talking about books I love. As for which personal anecdote I would
use in a review of Ada Blackjack, I think I would talk
about the adventures I used to create for myself as a little girl
and only child, playing on the beach outside our house in Maryland.
I would pick up objects that had washed ashore and create stories
about the tragic shipwrecks that they must have come from. Or perhaps
I would talk about the “harrowing” adventures I have
had on my own travels as I promote my books about real-life adventure—such
as the time my AAA travel planner sent my mother and me down the
desolate Natchez Trace in the middle of the night. Apparently, the
Trace becomes some sort of wild animal preserve when darkness falls,
and there were frogs, deer, possum, snakes, raccoons, and rabbits
running and jumping and hurling themselves in front of the car.
We drove twelve miles an hour, honking our horn the entire way,
praying that it would end. When it was finally over (what seemed
like hours and hours later), we felt we could have written our own
adventure story.
You have an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute.
How does your training as a screenwriter inform your prose writing?
Some readers have told me—and I like to think this is true—that
my screenwriting background helps me to write more visually, allowing
me to bring the story to life in a filmic way. Another valuable
thing I learned at AFI was discipline. My time there was a turning
point for me because it was when I truly began to become a dedicated,
disciplined writer. As writing students, we were each responsible
for completing one polished screenplay by the end of each year.
At first it didn’t seem like much to do, but I very quickly
realized that if I didn’t put in my eight hours every day
and set deadlines for myself—if I didn’t take responsibility
for the work—it wouldn’t get done. Of course, that’s
just good, plain common sense, but that realization had a huge impact
on me and my work habits.
As a nonfiction writer, do you enjoy researching more than
writing?
I love the research. When I was younger, the two things I wanted
to be most when I grew up (aside from being a world-famous rock
star) were an archaeologist and a Charlie’s Angel. With the
research, I get to be both. But I have to say that I love the research
and the writing equally. I get a rush from both and whichever one
I’m in at the moment is the one I think I prefer. If I’m
in research mode, I never want it to end. My adrenaline blazes and
I am invincible, chasing lead after lead after lead. Even when I
hit a brick wall or a dead end, I’m determined to uncover
whatever it is I’m searching for. It’s so hard to let
that go, to realize the bulk of the research is finished and that
it’s time to begin the writing. But when I am writing, there’s
nothing else I want to do.
What has been your experience with having a website? Do
a lot of random people contact you (not including Nigerians trying
to dump millions of unclaimed dollars in your bank account)?
I hear from so many interesting people through my website—readers
from all around the world; truly fascinating people who have been
moved in some way by the stories or by the characters in my books.
That means a great deal. I’m genuinely touched that they will
take the time to write me and let me know they liked my work. I’ve
also heard from old friends I’d lost touch with, former grammar
school teachers, distant family members, people I worked with or
went to school with once upon a time, and other writers whose work
I admire. I’ve even received a few marriage proposals!
 One
of the more exotic items in your website bio is your fascination
with belly dancing. How did you get involved with that? What does
it add to your life?
My illustrious belly dancing career began three years ago in Savannah,
Georgia, where I was living for a few months. My good friend Valerie
and I heard about classes being offered at the local nursing home,
of all places, and the experience was just too irresistible (and
strange!) to pass up. A few months later, I moved to Washington,
DC, where I began to study more seriously. I even joined a student
troupe and gave my first performance. Since I’ve been in Atlanta,
I have been trying out various studios, and am happy to see that
the belly dance community is thriving here. As for what it adds
to my life, it’s a wonderful place to meet interesting, dynamic
women friends, and it allows me to pursue one of my other passions—dancing.
Your website also says you were in a Shania Twain video.
Which video was that? Tell me about the experience you had making
it.
I actually played Shania Twain in a music video for a
Canadian country artist named Jim Matt. The song was called “Vince
Gill, Ricky Skaggs, and Me,” and it featured all sorts of
country music star look-alikes—Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire,
Garth Brooks, and, of course, Shania Twain. Most of the people in
the video were professional look-alikes who made a living portraying
their alter egos. I showed up at the audition because someone told
me I looked like a new country singer named Shania Twain. I had
no idea who she was, but when I walked into the room to try out,
all the other girls who were there said, “Well, we might as
well leave.” I had done bit acting parts by then and was used
to being on film and hamming it up, so it was a lot of fun. My favorite
part of all was dancing around on camera.
You’ve been a TV producer, acted in a music video,
and written a screenplay and some books. Have you ever had a job
that wasn’t glamorous? Waited tables, torn movie tickets…something
like that?
Actually, I’ve been pretty lucky because I’ve had some
really colorful and exciting jobs. However, there was a week in
college when I worked at a modeling agency washing and blow-drying
makeup brushes. Did I mention I only stayed there for a week?
Are you done writing about the Arctic? Where are you going
from here?
I can honestly say I am finished with the Arctic, although I will
always have a soft spot in my heart for that particular region of
the world. From here, I am heading to the much warmer climes of
the American Deep South. But that’s all I can say at this
time…
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Posted:
January 19, 2004
