Adventures in Alaska with My Angel Joe

Bingman’s narrative is an exciting glimpse into Alaska and its people, written with travel-book detail, knowledge, and flair.

Les Bingman’s spiritually affirming memoir Adventures in Alaska with My Angel Joe explores life in the rugged Alaskan wilds from a believer’s perspective.

Some would read this memoir and call Bingman lucky, but he argues that all credit goes to his guardian angel, Joe. His adventure-filled life is spent flying old, sometimes unreliable planes, hunting in the Alaskan wilderness, and fishing its dangerous waters. Each such adventure is presented in a roughly chronological fashion, beginning in the 1960s.

Bingman’s world involves frequent danger to his life and limb, with almost airplane crashes, near drownings, fights, and other perils. Miraculous survivals are attributed to God—and Joe.

Joe serves almost as a good-luck charm who makes everything miraculous possible. Joe is silent in Bingman’s adventures; his presence is evident through Bingman’s awareness of God’s providence during events that might have ended tragically. His presence also lends humor to the story, as when Bingman writes that Joe probably hoped that flying a bigger airplane would make things easier, but instead, “the bigger the airplane, the harder his job.”

Near calamities abound from chapter to chapter, but while the audience might find Bingman’s adventures terrifying—proof that maybe it doesn’t make sense to fly old planes in the Alaskan bush—Bingman does not. He narrates with good humor and liveliness, transforming harrowing accounts into life-affirming, exhilarating explorations of what’s possible, even in the midst of near tragedies. Each blown-out engine, slip into frigid waters, and landing mishap becomes a chance for a prayer and a reminder that God is in control.

Writing is evocative and punchy, with enough details and personalities to really sell Bingman’s incredible stories, about events like when “angels flew” his airplane, and Bingman found his body “postured in an aerodynamic racing stance” just before he “smashed” the throttle and narrowly avoided hitting a plow truck. Each of the planes that he flies are lovingly recalled with specifics regarding types, engines, and curious mechanical quirks.

The characters who populate this memoir are archetypes of experiences, such as a crew bodybuilder who once ripped off his shirt to scare away a rival fishing boat, or Bingman’s father, who provides well-timed wisdom about handling situations. The nameless bush pilots whom Bingman comes to idolize as he learns to fly, navigate, and make his way in the world add additional color.

Bingman’s narrative is an exciting glimpse into Alaska and its people, written with travel-book detail, knowledge, and flair. And as much as it is a record of experiences, the book remains most about finding God’s fingerprints in the world.

Adventures explores the Alaskan wilderness and spiritual possibilities with equal panache and gusto.

A bush pilot relates his many encounters with his guardian angel in Alaska.

Bingman’s debut book is a fast-paced and ultimately winning combination of backwoods adventure yarns and personal faith journey centering on his audacious life as a bush pilot, fisherman, and jack-of-all-trades in the Alaskan wilderness. But the heart of the work is his accounts of his relationship with an angel simply named Joe. The escapades are told with smooth storytelling confidence that should appeal to armchair sports enthusiasts. The author comes from a family of pilots and risk-takers and he gives the impression of having found his real spiritual home in the Alaskan woods, where so many aviators have lived before him. “The back country of Alaska,” he tells his readers, “is riddled with twisted metal that once flew to that very spot and is now just someone’s story, slowly fading away.” But Bingman’s own tales are set apart by the presence of Joe, who turns up for conversations and moments of insight and almost always gives the author a feeling of companionship he wants to share with his readers. He hopes readers will “reflect on subtle miracles that have happened in your life and, with God’s help, start to realize that you are never truly alone.” Christian audiences will no doubt find some of Bingman’s Joe stories familiar to their own experiences, although more skeptical readers will likely wonder about some of the details. For instance, when a charging bear changes course at the last minute in the Ugashik district, the author thanks Joe “for being there for me when I needed him most.” But the angel makes no appearance in the tale—he just gets the credit. Such conveniences are common in this kind of faith recounting, and Bingman folds them so seamlessly into his personal reflections that even the most secular readers should find them easy reading.

A thoroughly engaging account of a modern-day adventurer in the Alaskan backcountry—with spiritual elements mixed in.

In this clever romp of a memoir, Les Bingman shares his many near-death experiences in the 1970s and beyond while working alternately as an Alaskan bush pilot and commercial salmon fisherman. Throughout, he praises his guardian angel for his protection.

The book opens with Bingman’s early life in a fishing settlement at Nushagak Bay, north of the Alaska Peninsula. There, his mom was involved with commercial fishing and his dad was a plane mechanic and pilot. Once Les is allowed to begin flying and boating, he has many close calls and believes his guardian angel, who he names Joe, has saved him.

The well-written book teems with details of locations, fishing vessels, and flying machines. His first airplane is a 1939 Piper J-3 Cub with simple flight controls that he dubs “Little Yeller.” He moves on to a C-130 Hercules, a 1960s British Britton-Norman BN-2 Islander, and a Cessna 206.

In a conversational tone, the author builds vivid scenarios of flying mishaps, such as one dangerous landing in a poorly selected location with only one workable brake. “ . . . I crammed on the right brake with my heel and pulled the stick back and to the right. The tail of the Cub switched places with the nose, and the momentum of the tail slinging around pulled us out into the current of the river.”

Through it all, Joe guides him—even manifesting in the physical form of a large man who, amazingly, actually introduces himself as “Joe” and takes charge after Bingman crashes his plane. The man mysteriously disappears once the situation has resolved. “I never saw the large man again,” writes Bingman, “but will never forget him for as long as I live.”

Black and white photos, although small and grainy, are a nice addition to this lively and entertaining memoir, which will be a fun read for small plane enthusiasts, commercial fishermen and anyone who loves the Alaskan wilderness.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.