This week, 49 voices heads to the Bear Tooth Theater in Anchorage, where Alaska Public Media's Indie Alaska program held a screening last week and made a short movie with Alaskans willing to answer a few questions in front of the camera.
One of my favorite things about Alaska is you could say it’s beautiful, it’s this it’s that, but it’s the people.
- In 1979, when this was Flapjack Jim’s, I started at the record store next door. Obviously records and tapes went belly up. Took my severance pay and bought a gold mine. And used that for the down payment for my home, and that was 35 years ago.
- When I meet people who don’t live here, and the first thing everyone always asks you is ‘Oh, I know this person who lives in Anchorage or who lives in Alaska. Do you know them?’ While that may be a bogus question to ask someone in New York City or L.A., the chances that you know somebody else up here are actually pretty high.
- You’ve heard the expression, ‘A Sourdough is a person is soured on the country, but doesn’t have the dough to leave.’ Well I have a twist on that. I’m an April 1st I came on April 1st and was foolish enough to stay for 50 years. Tomorrow is my 50th anniversary of being in Alaska.
- After a couple different summers working up here, it was actually like a physical breakup – that’s how I would describe it - whenever I had to cross the border and go back down to the Lower 48. Honestly, it was like this: You’re crossing the border and I felt this like heart pain, and I was like, ‘Oh my god! It’s not you. It’s me. Just give me more time. And then I realized that I want to live in Alaska. So I moved up a couple years ago and have not looked back. It’s been a really good decision.
