Norman and Sylvia Wilkins
The cabin sits on a ridge overlooking Scooter Lake at Nelchina, Alaska
Sylvia was not so enthusiastic in the beginning. (Bear in mind, those first few years they lived in a one-room, 12’x16’ plywood cabin with no indoor toilet, no electricity and no running water.) Once, after they settled in Nelchina, Sylvia was asked how she liked Alaska, to which she replied, “I really like the people here, but you can take Alaska and give it back to the Eskimos!” They did eventually build a larger, nicer cabin (pictured here).
They did find gold in Alaska. They found it in the air, the mountains, the wildlife and especially in the people—the people they worked shoulder to shoulder with and shared their table with, each one weaving an independent piece of the tapestry of everyday life along the Glenn Highway during those years.
The contents of this book have been transcribed from Norman’s notebook-style pages as originally written with the exception of occasional edits and insertions for clarity. Books two and three are already nearing completion.
Every effort has been made to maintain Norman’s unique personal style so as not to lose the naturalness of the voice, nor the meaning of his words. His entries are simple, natural, and to the point—bringing to mind another well-known, long time Alaska resident, Dick Proenneke, whose self-documented story, Alone in the Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (written by Sam Keith), has been much celebrated among outdoorsmen and self-sufficiency enthusiasts.
Norman is well known as an honest man—to the nth degree. Case in point, the title of this book. He questioned it, so we did the math. The 1978 trip (August 11 to October 29) took 79 days. Eight months of work and planning prior to moving to Alaska permanently, totaled 240 days. June 29, 1979 until May 3, 2005 (when they moved back to Minnesota) encompassed 9,066 days. That gives us 9,385 days (not including trips to Alaska prior to 1978). I think we’re good with the numbers.
Norman and Sylvia currently live in Minnesota, but a big part of Norman’s heart remains in Alaska.
—Nadia Giordana, Cloud 9 Publishing
