Must Read Alaska Interview

Melissa Cook speaks on Must Read AlaskaMelissa Cook speaks on Must Read Alaska

Must Read Alaska’s 200th Guest Talks about Alaska Life

June 30, 2022- John Quick of Must Read Alaska interviewed me, Author Melissa Cook, on his 200th show. We chatted about my twenty-year remote Alaska life and my memoir, The Call of the Last Frontier: The True Story of a Woman’s Twenty-Year Alaska Adventure. We also discussed Wyoming Writers, Inc. awarding me the Western Horizon Award for my first breakthrough publication. The book is one of three finalists for the High Plains Book Award 2022. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Billings, Montana, on October 8, 2022. 

We discussed how I obtained a job in bush Alaska and landed in Nelson Lagoon with pilot George Nathan. In 1995, Nelson Lagoon had a population of about 30 year-round residents. There were no stores of any kind in the village on the edge of the Bering Sea. We discussed a shocking announcement I heard over the VHS radio. “Pavlof Volcano was blowing its top and heading our way.” Guess what my reaction to the call turned out to be?

I revealed my favorite story about Alaska didn’t have to do with living in the Last Frontier. My best memories of writing the book are of speaking with family members of the people mentioned in my book who are no longer with us. I still choke up thinking about the heartfelt conversations I had with families of people who have long since been gone. Their memory lives on in The Call of the Last Frontier.

I am grateful to John Quick and Must Read Alaska for the coverage of The Call of the Last Frontier and the opportunity to chat about some of my favorite stories from my Alaska life. Thank you!

John Quick talking on podcast

John Quick from Must Read Alaska

Now, for the rest of the Alaska story.

Check this episode out on Facebook for the video (which begins 30 seconds in) and YouTube and Apple Podcast for the audio version. John Quick is so easy to talk to and handled my over-zealous personality in great stride. Thanks for having me on, John!

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