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In the 1990s, Poopdeck Platt enjoys some sunshine in front of The Saltry, in Halibut Cove. (Photo courtesy of Ken Moore)

Life

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 2

The story of Poopdeck Platt, who lived in Homer for nearly half a century, began in the American…

Nick Varney

Life

Unhinged Alaska: Winter ya gotta be kidding me

When is this erratic weather going to chill with the schizoid act?

Poopdeck Street, in Homer, became a reality in 1996, honoring Clarence Hiram “Poopdeck” Platt. (Clark Fair photo)

Life

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 1

Clarence Hiram Platt — who preferred to have people call him Poopdeck — may have been slowing down,…

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Life

Minister’s Message: Is it worth the risk?

What good is momentary fame, wealth, or admiration if it ultimately costs us what matters most — our…

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Life

Minister’s Message: Living in the community of faith

Many of us tend to stay within our own denomination for purposes of what we consider to be…

The Palm Springs Limelight-News used this photo in 1946 to announce the start of the Alaska Photographic Expedition, guided by Keith McCullagh (left) for his expedition partner and photographer, Harry Reed.

Life

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 5

After a bankruptcy, a divorce and an 18-year absence from Alaska, Louis Keith McCullagh headed north on vacation.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: January’s done

This has been the strangest January I can remember, and to hear others, apparently it’s pretty unprecedented.

This 1931 photograph from the Wrangell Sentinel shows the Wrangell public school where Jean Hofstad (the former Nellie McCullagh) taught during the 1940s.

Life

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 4

The two members of what the Cordova Daily Times had once called a “popular young couple” began carving…

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Life

Minister’s Message: Jesus’ social media profile

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, according to Luke’s Gospel, he essentially fills out his social media profile.

Keith McCullagh is photographed poling a raft down the Kenai River in 1911 during a forest survey. (U.S. Forestry Department photo by John “Jack” Brown)

Life

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 3

As Keith McCullagh sailed home from Europe in the spring of 1926, he may have believed himself on…

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Life

Minister’s Message: Trust the Lord Jesus to make things new

I read in the Bible the Lord’s claim in Revelation, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Nellie McCullagh feeds a pen-raised fox on her family’s farm in Kachemak Bay, in 1922. (Photo courtesy of the Peggy Arness Collection)

Life

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 2

By this point their lives were beginning to diverge.

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Life

Minister’s Message: Let’s get ready to …

The word, “fight,” usually conjures up aggression and conflict in a negative way.

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Life

Minister’s Message: Being a person of integrity and truth

Integrity and truth telling are at the core of Christian living.

Nellie Dee “Jean” Crabb as a young woman. (Public photo from ancestry.com)

Life

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 1

It was an auspicious start, full of good cheer and optimism.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: More of the same?

I have no particular expectations for the New Year

Mitch Gyde drowned not far from this cabin, known as the Cliff House, on upper Tustumena Lake in September 1975. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)

Life

The 2 most deadly years — Part 8

The two most deadly years for people on or near Tustumena Lake were 1965 and 1975

Spencer Linderman was a game biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game in 1975 when he and pilot Robin Johnson crashed while flying a goat survey in a glacial valley near upper Tustumena Lake. Neither man survived. (Photo from a eulogy in the Homer News)

Life

The 2 most deadly years — Part 7

The two most deadly years for people on or near Tustumena Lake were 1965 and 1975

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Life

Minister’s Message: The song of the season

There is another song of the season that the Gospel writer Luke records in the first chapter of…

Nick Varney

Life

Unhinged Alaska: The little tree that could

Each year I receive emails requesting a repeat of a piece I wrote years ago about being away…