A summary of our December 2009 speaker, Bill Sherwonit
By Dianne O’Connell

At the monthly luncheon Thursday, December 3, held at the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, nature writer Bill Sherwonit took Alaska Professional Communicators on a tour of some of the journeys–psychological, spiritual and natural–experienced during the writing of his most recent two books.

Speaker Sherwonit grew up in a strict Lutheran home located on the fringes of urban and rural Connecticut. Though he left behind the stern dogma of his youth, he said, a general spirituality and nature continue to inform his life and writing. His book, Changing Paths: Travels and Meditations in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness, published by the University of Alaska Press (September 2009), chronicles his life and personal development along these lines. His book, Living with Wildness, (not “wilderness”), also by UAA Press (June 2008) focuses on the opportunities for living with the wild right here in the Anchorage bowl.

“Wilderness is a place or an idea,” he explained. “Wildness is a quality or a state of being – something within us. … It is only when we begin to get to know something that we can really begin to value it. The Coastal Wildlife Refuge in South Anchorage is so much more than treacherous mudflats, for instance. But you have to get out and experience it to understand it.”

“Writing requires me to pay attention to what is going on around me, promotes a kind of hyper-awareness. I’m going to be writing about this, so I have to keep alert.”

Sherwonit recalled an experience in the Chugach Mountains when a wolverine appeared and stayed close for about thirty minutes. “This was not the time to jump for my journal or camera,” he said, “but rather to just stay with the experience.”

“Absorb first, write second,” he suggested.

“I’m a very introspective, sensitive guy,” the writer told his audience. “I stand before you as a fallen Christian and a failed geologist,” venturing into a rambling, yet interesting, exchange regarding the human species, a bear’s right to act like a bear, and the bundle of contractions which represent humanity – from incredible compassion to horrific terrorism.

Sherwonit holds a Master’s degree in geology, as well as an impressive history as a journalist and writer of essays and narrative non-fiction works. He has called Alaska home since 1982, when he began work at The Anchorage Times. He’s been a fulltime freelance writer since 1992 and has contributed essays and articles to a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, journals, and anthologies. His essay “In the Company of Bears” was selected for The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007.

Sherwonit is also the author of 12 books about Alaska. He lives in Anchorage’s Turnagain area, where he writes about the wildness to be found in Alaska’s urban center as well as in the state’s most remote wilderness areas.

Sherwonit is the December 2009 guest blogger at 49 Writers, a literary blog for and about Alaskan writers at 49writers.blogspot.com. You can also learn more about his books and life at Bill Sherwonit’s website, www.billsherwonit.alaskawriters.com.

The meeting was the first Alaska Professional Communicators luncheon to be held at the AHFC building. The location is, to date, a temporary meeting place until the Board has determined long-term options to replace the former Golden Lion arrangement, explained Board president Connie Huff. A member survey will be forthcoming to solicit membership input.

Members should take note of the location, as the January 7 meeting will be there as well. AHFC is located at 4300 Boniface Parkway, at Tudor Road (next to the Alaska Club). The catering company has also changed, with food provided by Dianne’s Restaurant, of downtown Anchorage.

APC member Stan Jones has received excellent reviews recently from People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and more. Jones was APC’s featured speaker in April 2009. (Read the synopsis of his talk).

People gave Jones’ book, Village of the Ghost Bears 3 out of 4 stars. The reviewer described “the fourth book of this enchanting series set in Alaska,” and said the author has “created a richly populated universe you’ll be sorry to leave.” People Magazine ( Dec. 7, 2009)

Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tina Jordon gives Village of the Ghost Bears an A-, saying “Jones delivers a finely laddered plot…but the real fun, as always, lies in the dozens of mini-lessons he gives on hardscrabble Alaskan life.” Entertainment Weekly (Nov. 24, 2009)

Additional reviews included:

“Jones, who’s been a bush pilot and an investigative reporter, brings stomach-wrenching verisimilitude to crimes despoiling the land and the people, while he sensitively renders the tender, painful romance between Nathan and Grace. His sympathetic portrayal of Alaska’s mixed-ethnic traditions is a tribute to both the state and the states of mind it inspires”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review, Oct. 12, 2009

“Nathan is a likable series lead, capable, depending on the situation, of touching tenderness or unbending strength. Fans of other Alaska-set series—Dana Stabenow’s atmospheric Kate Shugak novels and John Straley’s rather more traditional books featuring private investigator Cecil Younger—will embrace the Active novels but don’t stop there: recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a stylishly written, solidly plotted mystery”—Booklist

“Multilayered characters and an offbeat setting authentically rendered—Jones bids fair to become the Tony Hillerman of Alaska.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Readers get a crash course in living in remote Alaska and a mighty fine mystery as well. Comparable to Alaska mysteries by Dana Stabenow and Mike Doogan, this series should get more exposure than it does.”—Library Journal

Steve Lindbeck, President and General Manager, Alaska Public Telecommunications, Inc. is the featured speaker for the January 7 APC luncheon, to be held in the offices of Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC). Lincbeck’s talk, “An Alaskan in the Media Revolution,” will explore Alaska broadcasting in today’s rapidly changing media landscape.

Lindbeck is responsible for leadership and oversight of APTI, a media organization that includes KAKM-TV, KSKA-FM and the Alaska Public Radio Network, and which reaches audiences throughout Alaska.

Download a poster to help us promote this talk!

Luncheon Information
11:30 a.m., Thursday, January 7
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, first floor
Corner of Boniface and Tudor (entrance on Boniface side) Anchorage

Lunch: members $16; guests of members $18; others $20

Reservations:
1. RSVP and payment through PayPal.

2. Email: akpc at gci dot net by noon Tuesday, January 5.

3. Call 274-4723 and leave a message, including a phone number where you can be reached. When calling or sending an email, please include how many people are coming and their names.

Map to Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, location of the January 7 meeting

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A summary of our November 2009 speaker, Mr. Whitekeys
By Sonya Senkowsky

“Being a good communicator in Alaska—the bar isn’t all that high.”

With that and a smirk, on Thursday, November 5, 2009, Mr. Whitekeys launched his talk to the Alaska Professional Communicators, as well as a theme familiar to his fans: sharing a laugh over media bloopers from across the state.

From the Kodiak Daily Mirror: “Senate passes bill that would set up hunting season for children.” The ad from KFQD ad, which said: “Radio or TV experience required, but not necessary.” And from The Pulse, a local shopper: “Bring the world home. Hose a foreign exchange student.” This last headline-writer turned out to be in the audience; it was APC member Dianne Barske, who claimed authorship with a smile.

New media and technologies got some notice as well. Whitekeys found that his book Mr. Whitekeys’ Alaska Bizarre scored an Amazon.com rating of four and a half stars, while the classic Melville novel Moby Dick rated only four. The obvious conclusion, according to ‘Keys: “I am famous-er than Moby Dick, and there is technology to prove it.”

But the presentation was more than a cleverly customized recap of Whitekeys’ act. While continuing his trademark “can you believe this” banter, by citing a series of favorite quotes, the writer-entertainer and author of three books also shared a glimpse of his inspirations and the philosophies that have guided his career.

These included what he called “one of the best things ever said to me about writing,” a quote attributed to Mark Twain, passed along to ‘Keys by former Anchorage Daily News publisher Howard Weaver: “People love hearing stories about people.”

He quickly knocked that down a notch—adding, from Voltaire, this wisdom: “All books are too long.”

Since quitting his 26-year nightclub gig—a decision made because he no longer wanted to run a bar—the performer known to Alaska only as Mr. Whitekeys has been responsible for weekly Fly By Fridays commentaries on the KTUU Channel 2 Newshour as well as a monthly column in Alaska magazine. And he appears drawn to collecting comments on writing, including one by comedian Steven Wright, who didn’t understand why anyone would spend years writing a novel, “when you can buy one for a couple dollars.”

Despite the earlier posturing about his Melvillian accomplishments, Whitekeys still doesn’t take himself all that seriously. In one breath, he says, “I’m a journalist telling the story of Alaska.” In the other: “My job is to mouth off and make snotty comments.”

Both descriptions contain truth, but it’s the first that best answers the question “Where does he get his ideas?” When odd things happen to Whitekeys—and for whatever reason this happens with stunning regularity—he is the expert collector and curator of the moments they bring, filing them away for stories or songs.

There was the video shoot in Kodiak for his DVD, Mr. Whitekeys presents Alaska, the First 10,000 years, when he and four dancers set out in rain slickers to demonstrate the region’s typically gloomy weather. Except, the day of the shoot happened to be “the hottest, sunniest day of the year.” They arrange to have a hose replace the rain, but then find themselves with another problem: a rambunctious local who wanted only one thing: “I’m gonna spray those girls.” That was not allowed to happen (this is not that kind of act), but the story—well, it gets filed for sure under “Alaskans behaving badly.”

Then there was the day he was arrested for trespassing on railroad property in Seward while bird-watching. It was the officer who arrested him who ended up telling about a comic-book-like alert system once used to call out police in Palmer, using a red light mounted on a hotel chimney.

And, while the rest of the country was duking it out over health insurance, Mr. Whitekeys found himself musing over the debate in a different direction, and ended up writing the song, “We Want to be On the Death Panel.”

Shortly after this came his one-sentence lesson on movie-making and marketing: “You can’t say that, or else Wal Mart won’t carry it.”

In closing, Whitekeys told of a recent National Public Radio interview he’d heard with columnist Leonard Pitts, who said that in order to write about something, he had to care about it.

“I say that’s a bunch of crap,” said Keys. “I want a cheap laugh.”

Nonetheless, his parting quote still managed to be poignant. It came from Kurt Vonnegut, who said: “We are here on Earth to fart around.”

And if you are ‘Keys, to do it in style.