49 writers weekly roundup

As we speak, the Kachemak Bay Writers conference, Alaska Book Festival in Fairbanks, and Valdez Theater Conference are all underway, so non-conference happenings are quiet out there. Or maybe I’m just not as talented as Deb at digging up end-of-the-week news for you.

Deb is the half of 49W who does this Friday feature week after week, without fail. When people ask me, “How is the blog going? Is it hard to do?” I invariably answer, “Not really — I was fortunate enough (or smart enough) to collaborate with Deb Vanasse and she does a ton of work!” So let me take this day’s post to say: thank you, thank you, thank you again, Deb. You’re amazing.

Fascinating history plus free falafel? Is there a downside to this? There is one interesting lit event in Anchorage this weekend. Dr. Ann Kirschner, author of Sala’s Gift: My Mother’s Holocaust Story will talk about what happened when her mother gave up 50 years of silence and revealed the existence of hundreds of letters she received while in Nazi slave labor camps. The presentation includes a slideshow, plus falafel and Israeli buffet, 5:30 pm Sunday at the Alaska Jewish Historical Museum and Cultural Center, 3400 LaTouche St.

Kirschner is visiting Alaska to research the life of Josephine Marcus Earp, the third wife of Wyatt Earp. Josephine was Jewish, evidently, and lived with Wyatt in Nome for four years. Kirschner will be spending a week in Nome and invites any Alaskans with Earp information or artifacts to contact her through the museum at ajhmuseum@gci.net.

Photographer and Denali historian Tom Walker has a new book out: McKinley Station. It’s a companion volume to his Kantishna: Mushers, Miners, and Mountaineers, and is available at Gulliver’s Books or through Tom’s website. The book profiles the “characters that figure in the early history of Mt. McKinley National Park, the forerunner of Denali National Park. … Carving a national park out of the wilderness of Denali was a daunting task. People here lived life on the edge. Here are stories of sourdoughs, shoot-outs, and shady ladies. Stories of jousts with bitter cold and wild beasts; wilderness and wild fire. Battles with bureaucrats and bounders; poachers and prospectors.” If you’d like an audio preview, I found this radio interview on a Talkeetna station, KTNA.

I just received an Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment conference report (nope, I’d never heard of that one) from Nancy Lord, which I am excited to share with you next Wednesday. That doesn’t mean I’m overloaded with reports, though! Whether it’s a short paragraph or a full post, please send away.

I know — that wasn’t as timely or as link-packed as Deb manages week after week, but all the better to remind me what a collaborative project this blog has become.