MaryJo Comins
MaryJo Comins lived in Anchorage from 1951 until 1995, graduated from AHS in 1961, attended the University of Montana, married and began raising a family before completing her BA in English with a sociology minor from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1974.
She taught writing and creativity classes in Anchorage and Eugene, Oregon. Among her writing credits are the Anchorage Times, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Magazine, Cruising World Magazine, and Alyeska Pipeline’s in-house magazine. MaryJo received writing awards from Alaska Press Women and an honorable mention from Writers Digest. She enjoys acting with community theater groups in Anchorage and now Eugene.
The Illusive Portage Glacier
In the early 1950s, many people thought Alaska was remote, practically inaccessible.
I was seven years old the summer of 1951 when my father quit his job as a Northwest Airlines pilot and moved our family from Seattle to Anchorage to begin flying for Pacific Northern Airlines.
Racing The Tide
Turnagain Arm has the largest tidal range in the United States and the fourth highest in the world with an average of 30 feet during its 12 and a half hour tidal cycle.
The day the Turnagain Arm clay nearly claimed me, I was about 10 years old.
