Vonnegut Bio; Hank Nuwer Stories
Grab a coffee and enjoy the story clearinghouse of Hank Nuwer with photos of Alaska and its wildlife by Malgorzata (Gosia) Nuwer.
You’ll find that I’ve added some finished and partially finished biography-in-progress of Kurt Vonnegut, “The Man in the Hole.”
Hank Nuwer’s Indiana University Press books on hazing. Podcast in The Culture
Podcast of “Weed in the Garden of Academe” with Hank Nuwer
Scroll down for archived Realalaskadaily stories.Thank you for reading. Got a compliment or gripe? Drop a line to Hjnuwer@Alaska.edu. Gosia and I want to keep this site ad-free. Trying to raise funds for last-minute research on my Kurt Vonnegut biography: “Kurt Vonnegut: The Man in the Hole. A Life of Reinvention.” (“Not authorized, but authentic scholarship”). Your donation would be so helpful: Hank Nuwer, PO Box 73446; Fairbanks, AK 99707-3446.
Dial M for Murder opens in Fairbanks on Oct. 24, 2025
Hank Nuwer as the Chief Inspector in Dial M for Murder, Fairbanks Drama Association, Alaska. The director is Bill Wright.
Elegy for my late Ball State University student Darla Stafford
One of the hardest-working, nicest students I ever taught at Ball State University (1985-1989) was a national spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service during the anthrax mail scare aftermath in 2001. Her name was Darla Stafford. When I guest-taught a class for her in...
Part Two: 1947-1962: 15 Years of Struggle for Team Machetanz
Our story thus far: Made a widow in a World War Two dirigible accident that killed her young Airman husband, Sara Burleson Dunn came to Alaska for a postwar vacation. In 1947 she wed Unalakleet children’s book author Frederick (Fred) Machetanz. By Hank Nuwer Fred and...
Second chance at love: Part I; Sara Burleson Dunn
by Hank Nuwer, Cordova Times Sara Burleson Dunn’s world came crashing down on May 16, 1944, when a U.S. naval air station dirigible slammed into a hangar on a training mission and plunged 258 feet to a concrete runway. The tragedy occurred at Lakehurst, New Jersey,...
Mudhole Smith Helped Feed Cordova in 1946
Last Frontier Tales By Hank Nuwer When a short list of 20th Century Alaskan legends is discussed, chances are Merle K. “Mudhole” Smith is somewhere up at the top of the heap. After all, the one-time barnstormer and bush pilot served as president of...
Polar Attraction: A Bear-Watching Trip to Utqiagvik
Last Frontier Days Polar Attraction: A Bear-Watching Trip to Utqiagvik (Polar bear photo by Gosia Nuwer) Review by Hank Nuwer (I've spliced together two different published newspaper stories, one from Cordova and one from Randolph County, IN--HN) Last weekend...
“Aunt Jean”: An Unforgettable Alaskan Artist
Last Frontier Day “Aunt Jean”: An Unforgettable Alaskan Artist By Hank Nuwer It was 1980, in northern Colorado, when I chatted with Martha Jean Shadrach for the first time. A contributing writer to Denver Magazine then, I accepted an invitation from Jane, my...
From Slavery to Freedom to Public Service: The Healy Family
From Slavery to Freedom to Public Service: The Healy Family By Hank Nuwer First published in Cordova Times Irish immigrant Michael Morris Healy and his lifelong companion Mary Eliza Clark Smith found solace in their Catholic religion and took joy in the...
Ian Mandt’s Hazing: A weed in the garden of academe podcast
Here is the link to this powerful podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/weed-in-the-garden-of-academe/id1460320573?i=1000706636684