Our Perfect Wild
Before Alaska villages started falling into the ocean, this couple saw change coming. Ray Bane sat quietly on the bank of the Koyukuk River, a winding ribbon of blue so clear that the slant of sun on its pebble-strewn…
Turtle Sitting
There’s Island time—the slow, simple pace of a vacation—and then there’s turtle time. We were in Hawaii walking along a beach when we noticed distinctive tracks that led from the gentle ocean surf to a place in the sand where…
Treasure in the Attic: Writing Trails Across Time
When I was commissioned to write Trails Across Time: History of an Alaska Mountain Corridor, I had no idea that I would discover such rich and fascinating stories. Places I’d traveled for years, often on our family’s way to go…
Cold Case: Book helped find a Stampeder’s final resting place
Six degrees of separation, it turns out, can span an entire century and two continents. The book, Gold Rush Wife (Ember Press, 2016) about the Turnagain Arm gold rush of 1896, helped solve a family mystery in Norway, which in…
The Tyranny of Snow
Another snowfall Adds to the weight Of this winter. Skiing through the marsh, Slender spruce trees Bow beneath their burden. Stooped old women, Curled into themselves. Flake by pure-driven flake, It is not one but the many Small injustices…
Horseback in Winter
Bareback and bunny boots are secrets to staying warm Light snow falls like a whisper, settling softly on the black mane of my horse. In the crisp air of winter, he snorts and paws at the snow-covered trail. He is…
Malarkey
We took a trip to visit my old sixth grade school teacher in North Dakota a few weeks ago. It is no secret, the influence that a teacher can have on the life of a kid and I credit…
“The Girl”
My son’s eyes and mine meet. He looks slightly sheepish and hugely proud. We are in a crowd leaving an auditorium where my granddaughter – my son’s daughter—has just finished her first ballet recital. She is five. It is the…
A Place to Gather
Published in Alaska magazine. I sat at the Talkeetna Roadhouse with three other women climbers after an attempted ascent of Denali. After two weeks of freeze-dried meals, our mouths watered in anticipation of home-cooked fare, and the aroma of freshly…
Join us in celebrating the book launch of Our Perfect Wild
How far would you go to save the things you love? Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan will be discussing her new book (with Ray Bane) Our Perfect Wild published by the University of Alaska Press. Joining her via Skype will be Ray Bane, co-author and the…