The White House of the North: Stories from the Governor's Mansion by Carol Sturgulewski

They say that if you want to be inspired, study in a historic building.  The Juneau Governor's mansion surly can meet that challenge.  With over 100 years of tales to tell, the history of this humble but elegant building follows the journey of our state.

From boom and bust, neglect to make overs - some more attractive to others, it isn't just how the building was constructed or why, it is the transition from territory to statehood to self determination.

Carol Sturgulewski doesn't throw a fresh coat of paint over the flaws of the building, its occupants, or their activities.  Alaska's governor's mansion (or house if you prefer) statistically seems to be filled with as many characters as the rest of her population.  Hung in effigy, run out of state, hot tubs, crushed velvet, and sun tan beds - the behind the scenes stories are filled with tidbits that would satisfy readers of both People Magazine and the Smithsonian.

The historical photos in the book are fantastic, they capture the juxtaposition of the traditional Alaskan lifestyle - where even the governor, it seems, at time has a yard filled with construction debris, a front porch that is a little questionable, and treasures hidden away in basements and attics.

Purchase your copy by clicking here.

The Raven's Gift by Don Rearden

Rearden is one of those breakaway talents that hits the ball out of the park the first time hit picks up a bat.  It builds in tension as the story makes it way through the bleakness of a post-epidemic arctic, discovering different facets of humanity along the way.

Like some of Steinbeck's best novels, it forces us to explore why we are who we are in the greater context of survival.  The best part, this isn't some guy from Los Angeles making up what it would be like to be strolling through rural Alaska.

It's real, it's raw, it's authentic and meaningful.  It stays with you.  It has you thinking about the characters months after you set the book down, or, more likely, hand it off to someone else.

Read more about Don Readen here.

Beyond the Bear by Dan Bigley and Debra McKinney

Surviving a brown bear attack in the wilderness takes a rare and exceptional individual.  Words like persistent, courageous, indomitable come to mind.  One has the expectation of a person with a strong sense of self, a will to live that is in overdrive, and an inner strength that is beyond measure.

Dan Bigley has all these traits in spades.  But he is so much more than a man who survived a bear attack.  He is centered, a down-to-earth man living a balanced life.  His focus is on his family.  He finds joy in the little things.  The bear attack, he tells us, GAVE him all of things that make a life one well lived and not just coasted through.

The bear didn't just blind him, she chewed his face.  Even with the disadvantage of titanium plates in his skull and his eyes pop out of his sockets - Dan found a woman of qualify to love and cherish him, marry him and raise their children in their slice of heaven in Alaska.

This is a story of love and hope... and also one of the more terrifying encounters a man can experience.

Buy yourself a copy by clicking here.

My Wonderful Life with Diabetes by Rick Mystrom

Words to Live by

 Former Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom stopped in the studio several times to allow us to follow his publication journey.  It is always interesting to see how one goes from bright idea to book on the shelf.

Rick has been working on this book all his life, literally.  Diagnosed at an early age as a diabetic, he has managed through proactive lifestyle choices to avoid the horrible consequences and certain early death that his came with his diagnosis.

Living a meaningful life filled with adventure is also a theme, and Rick relates this through his experience with taking a small remote city on the edge of ghost town to America's Choice for the Olympics - twice.

Alaskan politicos will also enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at yesteryear, and some of the biggest names and events in Alaskan political history.

Click here to purchase Rick Mystrom's book.

miAlaska by Joel Loosli

He's from Palmer, and he is multi-talented.  miAlaska is Joel Loosli's photo journal comprised entirely of images taken with an iPhone while touring Alaska over the course of a year and a half.

This is not a Christmas re-gift of your cousin's summer vacation - this is Alaska through the eyes of an Alaskan, one who happens to be well skilled and professionally trained in his craft.

The landscapes are everything Alaska is, magnificent, grand, demure, mystical and mysterious.

And, true to form, it isn't just the images...which are also available as prints.  Joel also brought a basket full of his silks to the set as well.  Strong Alaskan graphics in classic colors - there is a pride piece for every executive for the holidays.

On Alaska Daily, Joel told the story behind his brilliant graphic idea - so easy and simple he couldn't believe that no one had made a houndstooth out of our State...so he waited, and waited, then took the initiative and did it himself.  Technology has brought the ability to use Alaska's number one trading partner, China, into the reach of everyman.

The quality silk fabric is available in a number of color combinations, and the graphic is also available on t-shirts and sweatshirts.  One could easily predict this is going to be the accessory of choice for politicians representing Alaska.

Alaska Daily, on set, Dorene adds Joel's scarf to her wardrobe.

Hit this link to buy Joel Loosli's book or scarves/ties.

It's Important to Paws by David Jensen

Our favorite cover girl, Layla

It's thick, heavy, and filled with a twenty+career worth of glossy full color portraits of Alaskan pets - mostly rescues.

David Jensen brought Layla to the studio to enjoy her moment in the spotlight, and the extremely well behaved lady set the standard high for a redheaded model.  David suggests she is his Service Dog, offering him emotional support when he gets stressed...like during television interviews.

As if he was stressed, a natural in front as well as behind the camera, David offered several entertaining behind-the-scenes moments for his photos, as well as a peek behind the process of creating such a heavy volume.  Did we mention it was a gia-nor-mous book?

His love for golden retrievers is obvious, they dominate the subject matter.  They range from oddles of fluffy balls of cuteness (yes he did offer tips on shooting puppy litters) to his beloved Layla striking a pose on the cover during their first hike to Flattop Mountain.

Layla at the ABC Alaska Studios

Its not just dogs, there are plenty of kitties, and horses, and even snakes and frogs...even a few birds.  And sprinkled through are the puns, observations, and jokes that David just couldn't keep away from.

All and all, hundreds of animals breeds, including some extremely rare breeds, are featured in this loving look at the pets that Alaskans have come to love.

And don't miss David's poem.

To purchase David Jensen's book, click here.

Six Truths: Fifty Sonnets

Tom Begich's first stab at publication.

 Beautiful words can be fierce when they cut close to the heart.
 Illustrated by Fred Jenkins with cover art by Kesey Pollock.

"I adore this book... The lines don't flinch, they don't offer easy resolution, but struggle instead to uncover that dwindling quality earned through sacrifice and loss - truth."  K.P. Liles, author of "Singing Back the Darkness" and "Spring Hunger"

More than his written words, which had an honest that cut to the heart of the matter and left one lingering in what what was and what might have been - Tom shared some great music with us.  His songs, true to his poetry, cross between the smoky worlds of jazz and blues.

Click here to purchase Tom Begich's music and poetry.

The First Great Race - Dan Seavey

Although the cover promises the story to be about Alaska's 1973 Iditarod, the story of the first race fills only the last half the book.  The first half is about the Seavey family, how they came to be in Alaska, came to be mushers, and came to be a dynasty family in Alaska sled dog racing.

Walking through the colorful family history, filled with endearing asides and photos that are sure to bring a smile - if not a chuckle, it is easy to understand how Dan and Shirley have raised the bar on how to raise children that don't just embrace an Alaskan stereotype - they define it.

Dan stays in the weeds, exploring the subtle nuances of being a beginning musher without a mentor.  The Seavey's came to Seward in the 1960s, the only musher they were familiar with in Moose Pass - a gentleman who dispatched his team as soon as he lost the mail contract.  Not exactly an enthusiast.

Building up his knowledge base via good old fashioned experience, we walk with Dan through the notes he kept in his dog journal.  Even those who find no interest in dogs or mushing will find the slice-of-Alaskan life stories entertaining.  You just can't make this stuff up.

The second half settles in the tale of the greatest buddy camping trip ever concocted.  Weeks on the trail, in good company, without all the organized assistance that the current Iditarod offers.

Acknowledgments to those in small communities sprinkled along the trail, a glimpse of what life may have been like before the television cameras showed up to cover the event.  This section is filled with historic photographs, Alaskan history, and salty characters.

Dan Seavey is a master storyteller whose warm humor heats up the remembrance of a lifetime of dreams lived, promises kept, and adventures taken.  Dan was inducted into the Iditarod hall of Fame as one of the father's of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  He is a strong advocate of the historic trail, finisher of five Iditarods, and patriarch of a racing dynasty that has provided Alaska with generations of first place Iditarod finishers.


Click here to purchase a copy.