On a remote, volcanic island in Indonesia, the Lamalaran Tribe is fighting to preserve its ancient language and traditions. The community is thought to be the last subsistence whaling tribe in the world, and it is one that writer Doug Bock Clark knows well. Over the course of three years, Bock Clark spent intimate time with the Lamalerans. He learned their language, got to know the depth of their culture and examined their connection with the natural world.
He captures those experiences in his new book “The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life” (Little, Brown and Company/2019). He also explores the tribe’s effort to preserve traditions from the pervasive encroachment of modernity.
Host Frank Stasio speaks with Bock Clark ahead of his book signing at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.