Arctic Entries

John loves life and all of its regular every day amazingness. He is a lucky husband and father of two wonderful boys, ages seven and fifteen. He cherishes his Alaskan life and the opportunities Alaska offers us to live and experience this amazing world. He wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on earth (except maybe Hawaii twice per year or an NFL game).

When Peter was three years old, he travelled with his family of six for a year in Europe. He was nicknamed “the family friend finder” because while his family would set up the tent, he would wander off around the campground wearing nothing but his diaper and would invariably return with a complete stranger, hand in hand, his new friend, no common language, no nothing; he’d just find them and bring them home. Sometimes, he would have his newfound friend in one hand and his diaper in the other, buck naked. His folks would then thank the kind stranger for bringing him home, and sometimes a real friendship would ensue. Peter really has not changed that much, except his wardrobe is a bit more secure.

Rebecca has spent her life in Alaska, making only brief escapes to convince friends who have moved away to come back. She lives mostly on soup and the occasional bag of sour cream and onion potato chips.

Darl, a highly respected business leader, successful entrepreneur and world traveler, is thankful every day that the world is giant freak show and he gets front row seats.

Nicole is a recovering Midwesterner who has been living in Alaska for 12 years now, recouping from years of flat land. She is passionate about her work in adolescent substance abuse and human trafficking in Alaska. As a single mom of a middle school boy, she is sure she will soon have many more stories of survival, ingenuity, and last ditch efforts. Luckily, she has a great credit score and lots of energy.

Amy is an Oregonian at heart who was imported to Alaska in 2005. She loves her family, the Packers, Jamestown Revival and local food & drink. Mostly in that order.

Rafi made his move to the 49th State after graduating college out East in May (as if that was original!), and hasn’t looked back since. He manages political campaigns around the state, and is based out of Sitka. So far, since moving to Alaska five months ago, he’s found himself all over Southeast, Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula. He loves the outdoors with all his heart, and is passionate about fly fishing, running around the back country, and flying. Like other young east coasters who have fled west (and north), he’s experiencing a lot of familial pressure to get home, so we’ll see how long this Alaska journey goes for.

Kris Lira was born in California and raised all over the United States. For the past 33 years, she has happily called Alaska her home. She lived many years before she married Paul, but that’s really when her life began. Now that their three children are all amazing adults with amazing lives of their own, Kris is hoping to become the Colonel Sanders of her generation and really start something big as she looks beyond middle age! Any ideas?

Jen hails from Canada, where she first fell in love with the outdoors. She fell in love with Alaska in 2004 and spent 10 years visiting, on frequent trips kayaking and hiking in Southeast, before making the move official. The wild Alaska outdoors continues to inspire new endeavors and current interests include skiing, running and hiking with her young family, but anything goes!

Kent Haina has travelled extensively in the Air Force and airline industry. He was born and raised in Hawaii, and eventually landed in Alaska. He is a 747 Captain and instructor for a major airline.

Jonathan is a Chicagoan, a musician, a skier, and an epidemiologist. He learned to walk on ice skates, and learned to cook on a camp stove. He’s been a few places, too, like West Africa and Atlanta. Now he lives in Anchorage and thinks it’s pretty great. In his opinion, breakfast is the best meal of the day, but that’s more of a fact.

Christy is a most-of-her-life Alaskan who works in education and thinks high school students are the best. She works to make time for travel and writing and is a compulsive editor... in fact, she is probably re-writing this intro in her head even now.

Born in Washington State, Pat moved to Alaska in 1973 and has worked for the Alaska Zoo for the past 30 years. Hobbies include wrestling with bear cubs, moving elephants and donating golf balls to the wilderness.

Nick has lived in Alaska for 11 years, has had Type 1 Diabetes for 30 years, and has loved Madonna for longer than both those. He sells Subarus because he loves them, is an avid Seattle Sounders fan, and hopes to meet David Beckham one day. Typically, Nick and his dog and are the extroverts, while his partner, best friend, and boss (separate people) are all introverts.

Marcia is the Alaskan cliché who came for a year and has stayed 41. Currently, she is the founder and co-director of the Listening Post of Anchorage, where stories of the community are heard and respected at the Transit Center, Brother Francis Shelter and Bean’s Cafe, and soon the Mt. View and Loussac Libraries. To learn more, visit: listeningpostanchorage.com

Born and raised in Anchorage, Trevor is a graduate of Northwest University where he studied business and biblical literature. From 2008-2013, he was the local director of a Christian non-profit called Young Life. He is a former: skydiver, scuba diver, mountain runner college athlete, thrill seeker, and self-proclaimed man’s man. But he’s currently a: Jesus follower, reader, sports spectator, professional therapy participant, and a very happily married man. He’s a future: billionaire, philanthropist, Olympic curling gold medalist, and organ donor.

Lisa works as a writer and editor, with bylines in a variety of local and national publications. If you think she looks familiar but can’t quite place where you’ve seen her, you’ve probably bumped into her out on the hiking trails or seen her Irish dancing. She does other types of dancing, too; in fact, it was a night of dancing that started her down the road to a real-life soap opera.

Jeff moved to Alaska in 2004 from New Mexico when he was 19 looking for an adventure. He worked a variety of odd jobs, including driving a cab and working as a doorman at the Captain Cook Hotel while in school. He graduated from UAA in 2009 and soon after found work doing sales in the IT industry. He speaks Russian and has traveled all over the world.He currently works at GCI as a commercial account manager.

Born in Seattle, Roman went to high school in Virginia and moved to Alaska when he was sixteen. He has been a husband since 1985, a father since 1987, and a professor at Alaska Pacific University since 1992.

Jamie has been living and flying in Alaska since 1995. She owns SkyTrek Alaska Flight Training at Merrill Field, and teaches intrepid students how to fly. When not living and breathing aviation—and scrubbing the grease out from underneath her fingernails—she likes to spend time with her very tolerant husband and two teenage daughters. She’s famous for trying out her tofu recipes on her family and friends, and finding the leftovers in house plants. She’s honored to be chosen to tell another story.