Author, photographer, and outdoorsman Frank Baker will begin his presentation with a 10-minute slide show of the four seasons. He will follow with a discussion of how his outdoor adventures paralleled those season while dealing with age-related health issues, injuries, and other challenges. Frank will describe his motivations to write and photograph these adventures and what living and working in Alaska for three-fourths of century has meant to him.

A resident of Eagle River, Frank arrived in Seward from Pennsylvania in 1946. He received a B.A. degree in Journalism from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1974. Soon after that he began a career as a writer in Alaska’s oil industry that spanned more than 40 years.

Following his retirement in 2015, Frank contributed articles and opinion columns to publications and websites both inside and outside Alaska. He has published three books of poetry. Frank also produced a weekly radio program on Anchorage’s KLEF 98.1 FM radio station from 2002 to 2007.

Participants can join the Zoom meeting at 11:30 a.m. for conversation and to troubleshoot connections. Please sign on by 11:50 a.m. to be prepared for start of the program at noon. Get details by sending a message to sherrie@arctic.net.

Frank Baker

Being a savvy media consumer means knowing the differences between fake news and legitimate reporting.

Paola Banchero is a professor of journalism and public communications at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She teaches journalism, strategic communications, and media literacy.

Paola worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Kansas, Arizona, and Alaska, as well as in strategic communications for a large agribusiness. She also co-authored a documentary titled “River of Bears.”

Paola serves on a university-wide curriculum committee and has served on the Alaska Public Media Community Advisory Board for many years. She holds a Master of Journalism degree from Northwestern University and an Executive Master of Business Administration from Benedictine University.

Participants can join the Zoom meeting at 11:30 a.m. for conversation and to troubleshoot connections. Please sign on by 11:50 a.m. to be prepared for start of the program at noon. Get details by sending a message to sherrie@arctic.net.

Paola Banchero

Scott McKinnon is an Instructor of Innovative Media at Henderson State University, where he also earned his MLA in Art History.

McKinnon is also a documentary filmmaker whose most recent short film “The Man From Boggy Creek,” co-directed with a fellow Henderson State faculty member, is currently screening at film festivals around the country. He also filmed several drone shots for an upcoming documentary about the emergence of White-Nose Syndrome in bats and the race to save them from it.

He has been flying drones since 2016 and received his FAA UAS certification in 2017. In addition to using drone videography for his documentary film work and promotional materials for his university, he also teaches a class on alternative videography that includes using drones.

McKinnon lives in Arkadelphia, AR with his wife and 2-year-old son Finn.

Scott McKinnon

Michael Ray Taylor chairs the communication department at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and has written for Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and many other publications in addition to working on documentaries for Discovery and National Geographic. His latest book, Hidden Nature: Wild Southern Caves, was published in August 2020.

Michael Ray Taylor

LoLo Paige is an award-winning author whose works include novels, short fiction, and nonfiction. She will talk about her journey into the realm of commercial fiction.

Initially a nonfiction author, LoLo’s nonfiction story about escaping a runaway wildfire won a 2016 Alaska Press Club award. More recently, her romance books have been recognized in several Romance Writers of America contests and found commercial success. Her debut novel, Alaska Spark, ranked No. 1 on the Amazon Bestseller List for romantic suspense in global markets.

LoLo Paige is the pen name of Lois Simenson.

Participants can join the Zoom meeting at 11:30 a.m. for conversation and to troubleshoot connections. Please sign on by 11:50 a.m. to be prepared for start of the program at noon. Get details by sending a message to sherrie@arctic.net.

LoLo Paige

During more than 40 years of practicing law in Alaska, John McKay has represented Alaskan and national news organizations, photographers, artists, and others on libel, privacy and copyright issues, access to government proceedings and records, subpoenas to journalists, secret settlements by public agencies, cameras in courts, and many other matters.

He taught Media Law at University of Alaska Anchorage for more than 30 years. In 2007, John was the first recipient of the Alaska Press Club’s First Amendment Award, and in 2011 on the 40th Anniversary of ACLU of Alaska he was recognized as one of “40 Heroes of Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties.” He is the author of a legal guidebook for Alaska news reporters, and of publications on privacy law and open government law.

He earned a master’s degree in Journalism in the last century, and an MFA in Poetry in this century. John has two sons, Martin, 33, and Cameron, 30, whose mother, Suzan Nightingale McKay, was a member of Alaska Press Women (the former name of Alaska Professional Communicators). John and his sweetheart, Cristy, live in Anchorage.

Participants can join the Zoom meeting at 11:30 a.m. for conversation and to troubleshoot connections. Please sign on by 11:50 a.m. to be prepared for start of the program at noon. Get details by sending a message to sherrie@arctic.net.

John McKay

Francesca Du Brock, Chief Curator at the Anchorage Museum, will discuss a current exhibit at the museum that features the vital roles of both indigenous and newcomer women in northern communities.

In her role as curator, Du Brock focuses on developing projects and exhibitions that reflect the diversity of people living in the North. Bilingualism, visual literacy, food culture, Indigenous representation, and women have been topics of recent exhibitions, projects, and programming.

Du Brock previously worked at Kurimanzutto, a contemporary art gallery in Mexico City, and as an arts educator in San Francisco, Boston, and Alaska. She is a born-and-raised Alaskan and brings a passion for learning from and through the arts to her current work. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Bowdoin College, an M.F.A. from the San Francisco Arts Institute, and an M.Ed. from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Participants can join the at 11:30 a.m. for conversation and to troubleshoot connections. Please sign on by 11:50 a.m. to be prepared for start of the program at noon. Get details by sending a message to sherrie@arctic.net.

Francesca DuBrock