Heather Lende came to Alaska from the east coast 1982. They have five children between 15 and 22, three dogs, and a small flock of hens. A graduate of Middlebury, Heather writes obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News and an award winning weekly column for the Anchorage Daily News. Her work has also appeared on National Public Radio, the Christian Science Monitor, Alaska Magazine and the New York Times (okay, just once so far, but she thinks that counts.) Her first book If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News From Small-Town Alaska (Algonquin 2005) won the Alaska Library Association's 2006 Alaskana Award.