MEDIA ADVISORY

TO:                      Assignment and Features Editors

FROM:                 College of Liberal Arts, Department of History

SUBJECT:            Alaska Living History Series: Author Jean Potter "The Flying North"

LOCATION:          UAF Main Campus

DATE & TIME:     Monday, April 29 - Wednesday, May 1, 1996

Jean Potter Chelnov, the 81-year-old author of the 1940s book on bush pilots called "The Flying North," will be a guest of UAF's Alaska Living History Series.

According to UAF history professor Terrence Cole, Chelnov spent about a year and a half writing the manuscript for "The Flying North" in a UAF Eielson Building office supplied by the university's founding president Charles Bunnell. Chelnov hasn't been back to Fairbanks since she wrote the book 50 years ago. She came to Alaska on a research assignment with Fortune Magazine at a time when the publication refused to allow women writers on its staff. She left Fortune to become a book author. Coincidentally while in Fairbanks, she met "Maltese Falcon" author Dashiell Hammell, who was stationed in the U.S. Army at the time.

"Jean Potter's 'The Flying North' is still the best overall account of the history of Alaska aviation," said Cole. The book provides a first-hand account of the experiences of some of Alaska's most famous pilots, including Noel Wien and Bob Reeve.

Schedule for Jean Potter Chelnov:

Monday, April 29

10:20 - 11:20 a.m. History of the U.S., 408 Gruening

12 - 1:30 p.m. Luncheon, Wood Center Conference Room

Tuesday, April 30

10 - 11 a.m. Advanced News Gathering, 122 Bunnell

Wednesday, May 1

11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Book Signing, UAF Bookstore

6 - 7 p.m. History of Alaska, 301 Gruening

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CONTACT: UAF History Department Chair Terrence Cole, 907) 474-7126, or UAF Public Information Officer Debra Damron, (907) 474-7581.

DPD/4-26-96/96-71med.adv.