1. If You Lived Here, Id Know Your
Name: News from Small-Town Alaska
by Heather Lende
An Unexpected Gem
Tiny Haines, Alaska, is ninety miles north of Juneau, accessible mainly by
water or air—and only when the weather is good. Theres no traffic lig ht
and no mail delivery; people can vanish without a trace and funerals are a
community affair. Heather Lende posts both the obituaries and the social
column for her local newspaper. If anyone knows the going-on in this
close-knit town—from births to weddings to funerals—she does.
Whether contemplating the mysterious death of eccentric Speedy Joe,
who wore nothing but a red union suit and a hat he never took off, not even
for a haircut; researching the details of a one-legged lady gold miners
adventurous life; worrying about her sons first goat-hunting expedition;

2. observing the awe-inspiring Chilkat Bald Eagle Festival; or ice skating in
the shadow of glacier-studded mountains, Lendes warmhearted style
brings us inside her small-town life. We meet her husband, Chip, who
owns the local lumber yard; their five children; and a colorful assortment of
quirky friends and neighbors, including aging hippies, salty fishermen,
native Tlingit Indians, and volunteer undertakers—as well as the moose,
eagles, sea lions, and bears with whom they share this wild and perilous
land.
Like Bailey Whites tales of Southern life or Garrison Keillors reports from
the Midwest, NPR commentator Heather Lendes take on her offbeat
Alaskan hometown celebrates life in a dangerous and breathtakingly
beautiful place.
Personal Review: If You Lived Here, Id Know Your Name: News
from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende
My daughter and I were in Talkeetna, AK last week on a very rainy day.
Our flightseeing was cancelled. We slogged around in the mud, wandering
in-and-out of the shops. In one I found Lende's book, my daughter found
another that interested her, and we decided to head back to Peg Vos's
charming "a B & B on C" where we were staying. We curled up on a comfy
couch in front of the fire Peg had lit to take the chill out of the air and
began to read.
I originally thought the book would help give me insight into the people who
lived in the rugged and wild land that we were visiting. Besides
sightseeing, when in a new place I like to meet the people who live there,
so I was especially interested in the book.
After the first few chapters, I was somewhat dismayed. Yes, I know Lende
is an obituary writer but I didn't realize the book would be mostly stories
about the people who died in Haines, and there are a lot of 'em, young and
old. As I kept reading, however, the presence of death, which at first
seemed to be a running theme, was mitigated by another theme far more
powerful, that of the lives we lead in the days we are given. Through all of
Lende's essays it is life itself that shines through.
Lende is a woman of faith, but one does not have to be religious to be
moved by her tales of the people of Haines. She addresses the
universality of human experience lived day-to-day in a remote American
town.
I learned something of the people of Alaska as I read this book, it is true;
but I learned far more about myself, which I did not expect when I first
began this modest little book with the moose on the cover.
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