Stories, Journalism & Vonnegut Bio Hank Nuwer
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.
Walter Gary “Rip” Coleman: Win One for the Ripper!
The Boy of Summer: First published in the Cordova Times By Hank Nuwer I grow excited each year as baseball spring training reports from Florida and Arizona announce the coming of a new season. My father only watched boxing matches...
Margaret C. Grigor: Medalist
Last Frontier Tales Margaret C. Grigor: Medalist By Hank Nuwer Sculptor Margaret Christian Grigor never lived in Alaska or Hawaii, but she created a memorable medal commemorating each’s statehood on either side of the coin. Born to American...
The One That Got Away…Was Me
My switch to Alaska citizen is complete. I have an Alaska voting card. I’m paying Alaska property taxes. My vehicle has an Alaska brown bear license plate where Indiana vanity plate Moby Van once resided. But most important, I qualified with Alaska DNR (at my advanced...
Dr. Roland Lombard: The Outsider Who Dominated Sled Dog Racing
Part Two By Hank Nuwer It was 1958 when longtime musher Dr. Roland Lombard of Massachusetts, already 47 but super fit, came to challenge the best of Alaska’s sled dog racers. Newspapers in Fairbanks and Anchorage listed his racing credentials. His big wins had been...
Poem: A Prayer for Alex Pretti
A Prayer for Alex Pretti By Hank Nuwer I saw a murder on the news today. The victim died with no time to pray. His attackers came like bees in a swarm. Their every movement meant him harm. They sprayed, swung, slammed his head. They took his gun and shot him dead....
“Doc” Roland A. and Louise Lombard: Mushers from New England
“Doc” Lombard: The Vet Who Was Always Off to the Races Part One in a series from the Cordova Times By Hank Nuwer At his office in Massachusetts, Dr. Roland Arnold Lombard was regarded as the veterinarian of choice for the city’s dog and cat owners. ...
New Mexico: You can go home again. But that home no longer is the same.
What greeted my family and me was a nightmare of the worst kind.
Nina Whaley: Representing Alaska, 1963
By Hank Nuwer The year 1963 proved magical for an 18-year-old Alaska girl with her heart set on competing in a number of top beauty pageants. She was Nina Whaley, the daughter of well-known Alaska bush pilot and photographer who also lobbied to institute the World...
A Musher’s Mercy Errand
Legendary sprint mushers long will stay household names in Alaska. One of the all-time best was veteran racing champion and veterinarian Roland Lombard. His eight wins in the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race were the most ever until George...