10 years ago – April 7, 2016

Kluane bike relay registration fills up in 8 days

The window for team sign-ups for the Kluane-Chilkat bike race is now a matter of days.

Race coordinator Mike Kramer said the June 18 relay race between Haines Junction, Yukon, Haines reached its cap of 1,200 team riders within eight days of opening March 15, with some teams signing up before 5 a.m.

“It’s great that the event has become so popular, but it’s heartbreaking to get an email from somebody who’s done the race for years and find they missed the deadline,” Kramer said.

In previous years, registration filled up in three weeks.

Kramer attributed the accelerated registration to the number of riders in previous years who missed the deadline. “This year, they had their alarms and phones set.”

Solo riders can continue to register until May 13. “In theory, there are as many solos as people want to ride,” Kramer said.

24 years ago – April 11, 2002

Local effort to reprint classic text pays off

Citing a Haines woman’s efforts to encourage interest in Tlingit culture, the University of Washington Press will reprint its popular 1991 reference book, “The Tlingit Indians.”

The book, by historians George Thornton Emmons and Frederica deLaguna, is widely considered the definitive history of traditional Tlingit culture at its peak in the late 19th century.

The first edition of 5,000 sold out shortly after its release and remained highly sought after, bringing as much as $200 through online booksellers.

The book’s scarcity prompted local resident Susan Brouillette to mount a telephone and letter-writing campaign among Alaska Northwest retailers, museums, and individuals to persuade the publishers to reprint the book.

It didn’t take long to prove that a market exists for a second printing, she said. “Most of the people I talked to knew that there weren’t any more out there. I wanted to show the press that they could sell 400 or 500. After word got out about what I was doing, I had people coming up to me on the street saying ‘Include me, I’ll buy four copies,’… stuff like that.”

Bookstores provided most of the numbers needed, Brouillette said

Sitka’s Old Harbor Books owner Don Muller said the classic reference would sell at least 100 copies a year at his store. “It’s not a best seller, but as long as there are Tlingit Indians or interest in Tlingits, it’ll sell. At least here.”

Muller said the book is too good to keep out of circulation. “It’s an amazing book and it’s amazing that they let it go out of print. If we had to buy 100 to get it reprinted, we’d do it.”

The Sheldon Museum bookstore will order 20 to 30, curator Cindy Jones said.

University of Washington Press assistant marketing director Mary Anderson said high costs and perceived low demand for the 500-page book, which retails for $75, made the press reluctant to launch a second edition.

But Anderson said Brouillette convinced the company to move. “We learned that there’s a greater demand than we thought at first. I commend her. It was a wonderful effort. Sometimes publishers are like that. They need the feedback.”

Anderson said the second edition, like the first, will be printed in hardcover instead of less expensive, glossy paperback, reflecting the book’s high value.

“We will be reprinting in hardcover, mainly because the people who buy this book want to buy it forever. It’s the kind of book that’s handed down. It’s not like a paperback that’s thumbed-through and read. It’ll be passed down through generations,” Anderson said.

Anderson wouldn’t say how large the press run will be. “It’s fetching a high price. I’m hoping we can produce sufficient numbers to meet the demand.”

She said the edition is on schedule for production this summer, with release set for this fall. It will be featured in the University Press’ fall catalog, and be featured at the upcoming National Book Exposition in New York City.

Brouillette said she’s telling everyone who’s interested to buy a copy of the book at the local museum this winter. “I am so elated. I’m thrilled as can be. Now I see how you can make things happen if you want to. That’s pretty cool.”

50 years ago – April 3, 1975

Drama festivals will take place next week

From Kodiak and Fairbanks, Petersburg and Skagway, Juneau and Sitka – even from Portland and Seattle – actors will gather next week at the Chilkat Center for the Arts for the biennial Alaska State and Northwest Regional Community Theatre Festivals.

The participants will each present a maximum of 60 minutes of drama, and will be judged by an outstanding group of theatre arts leaders, chosen specially for the Alaskan and regional festivals.

The Alaska State Festival will have one matinee (Thursday), and three evening performances of two plays each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Saturday, Oregon will perform in the afternoon, and Washington and the Alaskan winner will appear in the evening.

Tickets are available for individual performances, for the whole state festival, and for the regional one, too.

This will be the second state festival held in Haines, which has been named the permanent festival city. It will be the first time that the Northwest Regional Festival will have been held in Alaska.