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Stories
From the Last Frontier Fishing Tales Scrapbook Baked Alaska What's New? Order |
A LITTLE ABOUT US!
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Our story Our
names are Ed and
Milinda May. In the spring of 1999, we moved from Western North
Carolina to Alaska with our 3 month old son in fulfillment of a life
long dream. Our families couldn't
believe we were taking the newest family member over 5000 miles away to
"another country!". Yet this journey was one we had
to make.
We tried unsuccessfully several times over the years to travel cross country to Alaska; and each failed attempt brought tremendous disappointment, until finally, we figured we'd settle for the Blue Ridge mountains of Western North Carolina. There, we had just purchased a mountain view piece of property and had plans to build a house and a small family farm. Ed worked three jobs, seven days a week to achieve that goal. He worked full-time at a sock making factory and part-time at two different radio stations on opposite ends of the county. In his "spare" time he would work on the homestead; building the out house, putting up fences and fixing roofs.In our hearts and minds Alaska continued to beckon us. It was hard not to try again, but with a  new born child, we thought it to be
foolish to
embark
on such an ambitious venture at that time. Ed never gave up hope
though.
One day while he was doing his shift as host for Public Radio's Weekend
Edition
he discovered that a public radio station in Haines was searching for a
news
director. Ed applied for the job with one last hope for Alaska.We couldn't believe our dream was about to come true when a month later they called back and offered him the job! We thanked God for this miracle and blessing. We had two months to sell off most of our belongings (which included a 30 foot motor home and our property) and to pack our Ford truck with the remaining necessities, say good bye to our friends in North Carolina, drive up to Ohio to say good bye to family and lifelong friends there and then make the cross country drive from Cleveland to Bellingham Washington. We would then board a ferry and sail into the unfamiliar for three and a half days up the Inside Passage to Haines. Ed no longer works at the radio station and our son is now six years old. We were blessed with a beautiful old Alaskan homestead located about 26 miles from town. It isn't considered bush country but it is quite rural. We started a mini- farm with goats, geese, rabbits, chickens, and turkeys. Our four dogs keep watch so the bears, wolves, coyotes, lynx or wolverines don't eat the livestock. The eagles keep a special eye on our cat from high in their nest located at the front of our driveway. A beautiful quiet valley with a population of 2500 people, Haines is known as "The Valley of the Eagles". We enjoy subsistence fishing and hunting, gathering herbs and berries, dog sledding, ski joring, biking, hiking, boating, camping and sharing stories and new adventures with our diverse group of friends. There are some great storytellers in this state - maybe even some of the best storytellers in the world! Our family and friends back east used to think we made up stories about the people and their unique lifestyles here, but they were all true! In 2002 the idea for Insight Passage Productions was born. Preserving an oral tradition, Alaskan Life Portraits and Stories are told by the real life storytellers who live in the Last Frontier.
We hope you enjoy each personal narrative that we have preserved for you.
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