Posts by MELISSA COFFMAN
Flying Alaska After 50, by Gary S. Evans
Flying Alaska After 50, by Gary S. Evans This book is about a temporary flying job that turned into a life-changing career. Flying bush Alaska was far more interesting than being a general building contractor. It was a chance to fly thousands of hours over some of the most beautiful country there is. I was…
Read MoreNightmare on the Northern Dream, by Greta McKennan
Nightmare on the Northern Dream, by Greta McKennan Junetta Beale, owner of the Shipshape Bookshop, is happy to welcome her former fiancé and his bridal party to her small Southeast Alaska town. They plan a brief cruise of the Inside Passage on her floating bookmobile, the Northern Dream. She maintains that she no longer harbors…
Read MoreSeasons of Light and Dark, by Janet Gilsdorf
Seasons of Light and Dark, by Janet Gilsdorf Set in 1971-2, Seasons of Light and Dark tells the story of the physicians and their families who live and work at the Alaska Native Hospital in Bethel and struggle with living in this remote place. The tundra is wild yet beautiful, the Kuskokwim River is a…
Read MoreHonor at Last, by Aurora Hardy
Honor at Last, by Aurora Hardy History honors the Navaho CodeTalkers who helped the US military win World War II against the Japanese. Unknown to many, at the same time in Alaska, Alaska Natives, men and women, old and young, signed up to serve in the Alaska Territorial Guard or ATG. This book is based…
Read MoreHer Denali Solo: A Woman Alone on North America’s Highest Peak, by Chris Lundgren
Her Denali Solo: A Woman Alone on North America’s Highest Peak, by Chris Lundgren In 1990, when only fifty of the thousand annual attempts to climb Denali were made by women, Norma Jean Bowers summited without assistance. As a solo climber, she could not rope to others for safety along the deeply crevassed Kahiltna Glacier.…
Read MoreMore Forgotten Murders, by Betsy Longenbaugh
More Forgotten Murders, by Betsy Longenbaugh In this sequel to Forgotten Murders from Alaska’s Capital, researcher and author Betsy Longenbaugh gives us ten more historic murders from five communities in Southeast Alaska. They include the murder of the Juneau man who enlisted, at age 15, to serve on the front lines of World War I,…
Read MoreThe Beast in the Dark, by John Smelcer
The Beast in the Dark, by John Smelcer After a ferocious beast attacks a small Alaskan village, a mysterious shaman helps a courageous teenage boy prepare to defeat it. A classic hero-journey story like The Lord of the Rings where the smallest and seemingly weakest among us overcomes obstacles even the biggest and strongest could…
Read MoreSurvival in a Mill Town, by Von Braschler
Survival in a Mill Town, by Von Braschler For many years, the 1916 Everett Massacre which systematically killed countless mill workers has been swept away. There has been a sort of amnesia about that Bloody Sunday and a strange sort of immunity for the civic leaders who brutalized lumber workers. These were sawmill workers who…
Read MoreKill Brother, Kill Sister, by Leland E. Hale
Kill Brother, Kill Sister, by Leland E. Hale Alaska Airlines Captain Robert Pfeil was the scion of an Alaskan pioneer family. His sister Muriel was a winner in her own right. As the owner of Alaska’s most successful travel agency, routinely voted one of the best-dressed women in Anchorage, she was worldly in a city…
Read MoreA Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska, 3rd Ed., by Doug Vandegraft
A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska, 3rd Ed., by Doug Vandegraft The Lower 48 have created myths and legends about Alaska. Things in Alaska are bigger, colder, wilder, fiercer, more rugged, more independent, more resourceful, to name just a few of the qualities that define the Alaska myth. However, the one that says…
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