Welcome to Growing Up Anchorage

We host true stories from a variety of writers sharing their experiences of Growing Up in Anchorage during the mid 20th Century.  We hope you enjoy reading these wonderful stories!

 

LAST FRONTIER CAFE

Take a coffee break and join us in ongoing conversations about life in Anchorage.  This wonderful virtual coffee shop is a place we can all meet and share our memories.  I look forward to seeing you here!

ABOUT OUR AUTHORS:

Jana Ariane:  

Jana Ariane Nelson

Mother, Grandmother, Pet Mom.  Aging dancer by day, amateur genealogist, doll house aficionado, writer, Network Administrator and Publisher during most other times.  Anchorage resident from 1948 until the mid 1980′s.  Worked in the legal field and at community colleges for many years before retiring.  Lives in Oregon with husband and assorted furry children.

 Jeanne:  

Jeanne Waite Follett

Newspaper and radio reporter, legal secretary, cook, condominium manager, ski resort worker, small business owner, electrician, and construction worker.  Varied career?  Nope, short attention span.  Now living in Moose Pass, award-winning writer, world traveler before time and money run out, and blogger at Gullible’s Travels.

Eldermusician:  

Gene Brown (Eldermusician)

Gene Brown (aka: Eldermusician) lived in Anchorage from ’46 to graduation from AHS in ’60.  He played lead trumpet with the Navy for seven years, and has been writing short stories for decades. He still plays trumpet in local swing bands. A widower, he also runs a land development business with his son.

 Kathleen:  

Kathleen Wilson

Kath worked for the State Police until she left Anchorage in ’67 to become a counseling psychologist working overseas providing social services to American military families before returning in ’92 to work for the Coast Guard.  Now a retired widow, she lives in The Villages, Florida. Kath said she’s never written a story before but is enjoying reliving the memories!

Harper-Haines:  

Jan (Petri) Harper-Haines

Jan began gathering the oral stories of her Athabascan mother and grandmother and their lives on the Yukon. COLD RIVER, Whispers From A Family’s Forgotten Past grew out of these early stories. She is a graduate of Anchorage High School and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. A former secondary education teacher, she has had a twenty-year career in advertising and marketing.  Please visit her website at harperhaines.com

Dan R:

Dan Riker

Jim S:  

Jim Irgang Stelling

Jim was raised in the Anchorage and Spenard area from 1946 until he graduated in 1960 from AHS.  He was the first Marine from the Great State of Alaska to join the Marine Corps.  After two tours in Vietnam and 20 years in the military, he started his own business of apartment management and maintenance. Retired, he currently lives in Peoria, AZ.

We are featured in Town Square 49 on AlaskaPublic.Org.  How exciting is this!  Click on the Town Square 49 link below:

Town Square 49

We have also been recently featured on the page of the Anchorge Daily News.com website. Click on the ADN link below:

Anchorage Daily News 

 

 

Blogroll

  • Anne (Cannon) Hawthorne

    i ALSO REMEMBER THE VOLCANO!  tHE mOST POIGNANT ONE WAS THE FEEL OF MY TEENAGE TEETH–THE VOLCANIC GRIT WAS NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN.  i  WAS AT lAKE sPENARD WITH A FRIEND.  wE WEREN’T SCARED JUST AMAZED!

  • LynneAKAK

    Can someone tell some stories about “The Monkey Bar?” I’ve heard about it and am so curious if the stories are true…

  • JanaAriane

    From J Stelling:

    Hi Jana, Just read the story posted in the Alaska public but no mention of your web site. Boy, do I remember the big volcano. I was walking down a gravel road with a fishing pole over my shoulder and saw this huge black cloud coming in over Cook Inlet. A few minutes later I had some very small white flakes hitting my clothes. No, it can’t be snowing, it’s too warm. The flakes grew larger and blacker so I turned around and went home to find out what was happening—Had the Russians dropped an atomic bomb some where?? The news on the radio said that a volcano had erupted and Elmendorf AFB was flying most, if not all, of its planes to Fairbanks. Our house was painted white, our detached garage (about 3 feet from the side of our house) was also painted white. By noon the gargage could not be seen, a complete Black Out. When all cleared, the ash was about 3 inches thick, maybe a little more. It took two heavy snow falls over the next two years to finally sink it into the ground.The picture of North Star School brought back wonderful memories. I remember The Principal (PAL?) Mr. Norton and was friends as Jack and I think you were with his son Tommy for several years. During the fifth and sixth grades I was a Patrolman, wow. I got to hold a red flag over Fireweed Lane to let students cross the street. I also got out of class 15 minutes early.My biggest mistake—During the summer I used to volunteer to go to school on Saturday and run the 16 mm projector for movies for the younger kids in the small library. There was a popcorn machine in the janitor’s room and we sold popcorn for a nickle a bag. The movie (staring Jimmy Stewart) about an invisible rabitt was over. I was pushing the popcorn machine back into the janitor’s room, there was some popcorn in the bottom so I grabbed a little bag full. MR. NORTON SAW ME.The next Monday morning he had the hallway filled with kids, explained to them the proper way of morales and honesty and swatted my backside with the paddle that had all the holes in it. One of the most embarassing moments of my life.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you, Reenie!   It IS fun!  Thanks to all the contributors!  

  • Willoughbyi

    I love the way your page is growing. Each time I take a look you have more information added. just plain fun!