Joe Wilkins once lived a double life. By day, was a quiet professor at the University of Illinois Springfield. But when he was away from teaching, he led another, more dangerous life.
During his days in the Air Force in the 1960s, he was trained in arctic wilderness survival in Alaska.
For decades, he used that training to explore, and now document, the beauty and danger he experienced.
His new book is the culmination of those travels. It’s called “Gates of the Arctic National Park: Twelve Years of Wilderness Exploration.”
Wilkins, the very “Indiana Jones”-like author, is a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
“Gates of the Arctic National Park” documents his explorations in Alaska between 2005 and 2017.
And a side note: All net proceeds from the book’s sale will benefit veterans in need through the Joe Wilkins Veterans Scholarship Fund at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
