Heather Lende

Some 1,200 miles from Juneau, Unalaska is a marvelous destination, full of interesting people, places and a tragic World War II history.

They've zeroed in on my cherry tree and nothing will deter them -- even pebbles from me and neighbors with better throwing arms.

Remembering Haines' grand dame of the performing arts while wondering how much of ourselves is molded by nature and how much is nurtured.

A batch of northern poets, including Joan Kane and Olena Kalytiak Davis, is helping remind Alaskans who we are and where we came from.

The old-timers say bad things happen in threes. I am not sure if this is true, but I do believe that bad doings bring out the best in people. It’s not that misery loves company, exactly, rather that suffering binds us together.

Thirty years ago if you asked me why I live where I do, I would have replied the people and this place. The same is true today.

Some 2,072 eagles were spotted in one flight during a recent count of the birds in Haines.

HAINES — I had already given my regrets over not attending Helen Tengs’ 90th birthday party, since it was in the middle of a Saturday afternoon in the middle of moose season, but then the hunt ended in record time, after just eight days, since 26 bulls were taken and the management goal was 25. … Continue reading Sad and grateful to celebrate a Haines icon’s 90th year

TENAKEE SPRINGS — I am not a traveler. Still, this summer I managed to make it all the way to Italy and back. Even before I agreed to take that trip, my friend Teresa signed me up to visit the Tenakee Book Club. Teresa and her husband Larry have made their home in Tenakee Springs … Continue reading The naked truth: Soaking in Tenakee hot springs is good for the soul

This is the season when visitors and residents alike fall in love with Haines and sometimes each other. At least there’s a feeling in the air that’s a bit like the one that prompts renewing of wedding vows after, say, surviving another Alaska winter. Sockeye salmon are running, slowly but surely, and the fleet’s nets … Continue reading Even shrieks and tears can’t hide how lucky we are

HAINES — Three hours of speeches in the hot sun at the grand opening of the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center & Bald Eagle Preserve Visitor Center in the nearby Tlingit village of Klukwan on May 14 wilted me. My granddaughters, ages 2 and 4, were melting down, too. We were in charge, since our son-in-law … Continue reading Priceless Klukwan treasures unveiled at opening of heritage center

There were about as many John Schnabels, its seems, as days of the week. He grew sweet cherries, swam at the pool, played bridge and sang country songs, but foremost, John was a business leader and champion of the Alaska timber industry.

“Blonde Indian” is so Alaskan, so personal, yet it is also the most literary of books in that it reads like a prose poem. I wasn’t the only one squirming in my seat and covering my eyes, when author Ernestine Hayes relentlessly read Young Tom’s drunken monologue, delivered as he drowned.

OPINION: In the end, the Holly Jolly Follies in Haines hits all the right notes.

During our week together at the hospital, Linnus and I became friends again, without ever talking about why or how we sort of weren’t for a while. I think the staff thought we were sisters, or even married, since we kept finishing each other’s sentences and asking the same questions.