Why I am holding on to certain secrets
When we were working on his book more than 15 years ago, Vic Fischer told me some stories that he …
Alaska’s new heroes for press freedom
The resignations last week of four small-town journalists in Alaska made me proud and sad. Proud …
Hungry polar bears and a 50-year story
Polar bears came into George Divoky’s camp on a barren Arctic Island last summer and devoured a …
The political gamble behind Lisa Murkowski’s book
Now we find out if the gamble paid off. When I began working with Senator Lisa Murkowski on her new …
Why Lisa Murkowski’s book took 5 years to write
My collaboration with Senator Lisa Murkowski began in her office in the Hart Senate Office Building …
My new book and its long path to existence
It’s a uniquely satisfying feeling, opening a box that delivers a new book you have written. I had …
He taught me the most important writing lesson
I never had a better boss than Tom Gibboney, the publisher at a weekly in an Alaskan fishing village …
She broke through fear to give students a better life
Our world would be better if we honored those applying their genius to humbly help others and paid …
What I learned from a man who was eaten by a bear
What is a good man? That question always makes me think of a story I wrote as a newspaper reporter …
This is not my beautiful life
I’m fascinated by stories of abrupt, drastic life changes. They light up the far corners of what’s …
Here’s a book I want to write
Introducing my idea for a complete and up-to-date Alaska history
My dad’s big gamble and how he told of it
As Charles's father demonstrated, quality matters even for a self-published memoir
How permission can lead to more authentic truth
Winning permission to enter whaling camp and the promise of honesty
Mark Rowland’s legacy of stories well told
The death two weeks ago of my father-in-law, Mark Rowland, got me thinking about where writing …
Truth-telling and the decision to kill
Christine Cunningham explained to me the choice she made between being a vegetarian and a hunter. …
If you must write, you can write
I was ready to go home at the end of my work day when I got a call about a possible mutiny at sea. …