Arctic Entries

Bill grew up in Anchorage in the 1950’s and 60’s. He lived in a log house with his parents, two sisters and a dog named Mickey. Every February, he looked forward to strapping on his mukluks and being flung in the air during the Fur Rendezvous blanket toss. Otherwise, he hung out with his gangster friends.

Gregory (Tungwenuk) is a lifelong Alaskan. Raised by his Inupiaq grandmother in Nome, Inupiaq was his first language. He is a member of Kingikmiut Singers & Dancers of Anchorage. He has traveled to over 35 Alaska Native communities and collected over 10,000 Sobriety Pledge Signatures for Iditarod Musher for Sobriety, Mike Williams. He considers himself a ‘Living-Example-To-The-Truth (LETTT)’ that life can be lived and enjoyed without ‘having to’ consume any mood/mind altering substances and supports HB138.

Jeff is an IT Operations Manager for the US Army Corps of Engineers. He also recently retired from the Alaska Air National Guard after 25 years of service. Jeff enjoys many types of cycling (aka two-wheel therapy) and spoiling his grandsons. While he may not remember what he had for lunch yesterday, he can remember the important stuff, like 80’s movie quotes.

An Inupiaq born and raised in Kotzebue, Bekah enjoys the adventures and misadventures of life out of the ’bue. A BBA graduate and outdoor enthusiast, Bekah now works at Alaska Pacific University, where glacier tours are just another part of the job. Bekah and her husband Jason live in Eagle River with their dog Kaviqsuq (Kavi, pronounced ‘covey’), where she lives to be the person Kavi thinks she is.

In 1990, Gretchen moved from the Lower 48 to Bethel, sight unseen, for a one-year contract. She stayed for five years before leaving for graduate school in Seattle. Currently, she works as a biostatistician in health research here in Anchorage, and is the mother of four school-aged children. In her spare time, she writes creative non-fiction.

As a teenager in the 60’s, Larry moved from Seattle to Alaska, first to Kenai then Anchorage. After college, he took a job in California, where he met his future wife Sunnie. They married and returned to Anchorage to live, work and raise their three sons: Graham, Nolan, and Marshall. Today, Larry and Sunnie enjoy cycling, backcountry hiking and skiing, and “cabin time” at their hand-built log home in Willow. In the future, they anticipate extensive travel abroad, spending time with their sons and granddaughter Kinley Rae in the Lower 48.

Leisha arrived in Alaska last summer after many years of traveling and working around the world. She is a pediatrician; however, she has decided to hang up her stethoscope and work to stomp out disease through public health.

Nyakor is the mother of nine children and owns a business here in Anchorage. She was born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, after her father migrated to the country in 1975. Twenty years later, she moved with her family to the United States. Five months later, she got married and started a family in New York City. In 2012, she and her children moved to Anchorage. Today, she continues to pursue her education, with the goal of earning a BA in Psychology through Wayland University.

Zakiya a local journalist and student at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is the proud owner of 35 liquid lipsticks and continues to search for a perfect taco in Anchorage.

For his midlife crisis, Eric bought something more expensive than a Porsche: a law degree and a career in public service.

Bridgette moved to Alaska in 1989 with her father, mother, and four sisters. She now runs a solo legal practice. Bridgette loves her work, helping families as an attorney for parents and children in Child In Need of Aid cases, and as a mediator in a variety of cases. Her biggest accomplishments this summer include (not necessarily in their order of significance): winning the Parkstrip E League Softball Championship, as a member of the Gumbo House Deciders; and landing the man of her dreams—due to be married in November.

Rachel is from Seattle. She has a Master’s in Botany from the University of Minnesota. She has studied plants in the Australian rainforests of far north Queensland, and she loves to give impromptu lectures on invasive species and the differences between fruits and vegetables. She lives with her husband Chris and his sexy head of hair, and her eight pets.

Matthew Cahill - The Bear Who Tried to Eat My Courage by Arctic Entries

Megan Johnson - Modesty by Arctic Entries

Rhonda Anderson - Stranded by Arctic Entries

Brent Williams - Slaying Bears with Jimmy Buffett Songs by Arctic Entries

Johanna Sestito - My Romantic Adventure by Arctic Entries

Becca loves freckles, cats, and 90’s hip-hop. She hails from Spenard and likes to swear. Her heart is happy when her community is strong and healthy.

Katy and John are high school sweethearts born, raised, and married in Anchorage. After 12 years away, living in Seattle, they’ve returned home to raise their two boys and share with them all the adventures Alaska has to offer.

Erin is a writer, scientist, and a compulsive adventurer. She’s lived in Alaska for a decade and walked about 8,000 miles of it, much of that with her two young kids. Her latest book is Mud Flats and Fish Camps: 800 Miles around Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Bretwood is a geologist, data scientist, and wilderness adventurer. He grew up in Seldovia, and loved it enough to move back, where he helps run 501c3 nonprofit Ground Truth Trekking, and works for Nuka Research and Planning.