First published 2006
Heather Lende chronicles life in Haines, Alaska, a remote town ninety miles north of Juneau where weather determines whether planes and boats can reach the community. No traffic lights control nonexistent traffic. No postal workers deliver mail to doors. People disappear without explanation. When residents die, the entire town gathers for funerals. Lende serves as both obituary writer and social columnist for the local newspaper, giving her unique insight into this isolated place surrounded by wilderness. She introduces readers to her husband Chip, who runs the hardware store, their five children, and an eclectic mix of neighbors including former hippies, weathered fishermen, Tlingit natives, and Mormon cave explorers. The human residents share their stunning but dangerous landscape with moose, eagles, sea lions, and bears. Through her dual role documenting both deaths and daily happenings, Lende reveals how a small community functions when cut off from the outside world, where everyone knows everyone else's business and survival often depends on neighbors helping neighbors.
Genres: american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Setting: Haines, Juneau
Period: 21st-century
296 pages · ebook · Algonquin Books