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.
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 Review by Hank Nuwer Last weekend arrived, and it was time for us to fly out to yet another remote Alaska city, because that’s my wife Gosia’s bucket list dream. We’ve recently scratched...
“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
Highly recommended: “If Your Dreams Don’t Scare You” by Joni Tevis
Yesterday for the first time I read a sad, brilliant piece of creative nonfiction in The Georgia Review, a periodical my long-ago house mate once appeared in. And like my former house mate, the author of this story was a Pushcart Press award winner. The title is "If...
Doug Dickey: Medal of Honor winner thanked in a memorable book
by Hank Nuwer: The urge begins as a mere impulse. “I could write a book,” someone thinks. “I should write a book.” While millions have confessed a similar urge, few start — let alone finish — the task. One who has done so is John B. Lang. Californian by birth and...