Webcast series Alaska segment to celebrate state’s literary legacy, including its libraries, bookstores
A program celebrating Alaska’s storytelling tradition will debut this afternoon on social media, YouTube and the PBS website. It’s part of a PBS series that examines the literary legacy of all 50 states.
“Reading Road Trip: Alaska” is the sixth installment of the PBS series, which examines America’s writers, poets and storytellers, past and present. Former Alaska State Librarian Patience Frederiksen worked with PBS producers on the Alaska program. She says they wanted to know about how each state was preserving its literary legacy.
“They wanted to know five or six historical authors that were important to the literary heritage of your state,” she said. “They wanted five or six contemporary authors who could be interviewed.”
After some back and forth over who should be selected, Frederiksen and the producers came up with a list of historical Alaska literary figures. They include Jack London, Margaret Murie, Frederica de Laguna and poet John Haines.
Frederiksen said they also finally settled on a diverse list of contemporary storytellers.
“They interviewed a number of authors,” she said, “including Seth Kantner; Dana Stabenow; Nancy Lord; Michaela Goade, who is an award-winning children's illustrator; and Velma Wallace.”
She said the producers were very interested in Wallace’s works, one of which was just adapted for the big screen. She’s an Athabascan from Fort Yukon.
“Two of her books I believe are going to be highlighted – “Two Old Women” and “Raising Ourselves.”
Fredericksen said the producers also asked questions about historical places that serve as relics of the writers’ legacy.
“They wanted to do literary landmarks, like authors’ homes, that sort of thing.”
She said they were interested in John Haines’s cabin, located south of Fairbanks. And the old bus where hapless wanderer Chris McCandless died. She tried to discourage them from featuring the bus, because of the controversy surrounding it.
But they insisted, citing the popularity of Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book, “Into the Wild” that recounted McCandless’s final days living in the bus.
“That is really a nationally known literary landmark in Alaska.”
Frederiksen said the Reading Road Trip producers also will feature a few of the places where the works of Alaska authors are available.
“They wanted to do interesting bookstores,” she said, “and then they wanted to do libraries. We suggested the Fairbanks Public Library – the log cabin one that used to be down on First Street.”
The program producers will touch on the Noel Wein Library and the North Pole Library, as well as other libraries and bookstores around the state.
The Reading Road Trip series is being produced through a partnership with the Library of Congress and its Centers for the Book affiliates in all 50 states. Frederiksen is board president of the Alaska Center for the Book, in Anchorage.
The Reading Road Trip: Alaska episode will be available online beginning at 4 p.m. today, on the PBS Books Facebook Live page, and also on YouTube, the PBS app, and the PBS Books and PBS website.
Correction: This story has been revise to correct a misspelling of Velma Wallis's name.
