FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “DDC vs. Alaska: Tall Tales From A Large Man”

It’s been a decade since I spent a summer up in Anchorage. I used to work the rails up there washing dishes and cooking up hunks of salmon and prime rib. Did it for four summers, and man, the place is still deep in me. A cumulative two years of my life spent in the “Land of the Midnight Sun!”

And I’ve missed it ever since my last “summer on the rails” in 1999. Not the work. Not the forced friendships on the train crews. Not the golden oldies, grumpy after a long cruise ship ride up the coast.

I miss the spirit of the place. The raw beauty. The sense of being far away from everything, and how incredible that can be in such a beautiful part of the world. A grisly colleague from the train, one Cris Rosemond, had this to say one particularly rough dinner service my first summer up there: “I know you want to leave. I know you want to go back home. But let me tell you this, and listen good: Alaska is in you now. Forever.”

He was right. I went back the next summer, and again, and again, and each April, I get squirmy thinking about going back to work those trains. Still. A decade later.

A world where moose lurk in the woods on bike paths, ready to defend their routes. (Got kinda charged one time, skateboarding by the thing!) And other creatures, bigger, and meaner. And smaller, too. Right down to the mosquitoes. Those little buggers mean business in Alaska.

So I’m going back, at the invite of the Alaska AIGA chapter, with some creative wranlging by my Alaska buddy, and fellow designer, Mike Kirkpatrick. We struck up a friendship some years back, and we’ve been trading links and Field Notes and whatever else ever since. One hell of a guy. Family man. Rippin’ designer. He made this thing happen, and we thank him for it.

One week from tonight, I’ll be up on a stage telling my halfwit tales to Anchorage’s creative community. I promise to give my all! Tall tales from a large man. The spirit of “independence.” Just like Alaska.

Here’s the details, Anchorage:

AIGA Alaska presents: “DDC vs Alaska: Tall Tales From A Large Man.”

Rumrunner’s Old Towne Bar & Grill, Thursday, January 20th, 7-9pm. Be there!

Here’s the official AIGA Alaska link, with all the gory details. Don’t miss this one!

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STERN WORDS POINTED DUE NORTH: Tyler Fanning, you beast, you better be there. That goes for you too, John Crews! No excuses. One night only. Guests of honor. And dishonor.