Author Archives: Helen Hegener

About Helen Hegener

Author and publisher, Northern Light Media

NLM Books Catalog

Posted on June 18, 2026 by Helen Hegener

The full color, 64 page Northern Light Media books catalog is now available in a flipbook format, with a two-page spread describing each title. A wide range of titles by Alaskan author Helen Hegener has been published by Northern Light … Continue reading →

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In Memoriam: Julie Verrette

Posted on June 10, 2026 by Helen Hegener

Julie Verrette, author of “In Gentler Valleys Roaming: A Memoir of Sled Dogs,” published last year by Northern Light Media, passed away on Saturday, May 23, surrounded by her family. For some time Julie had been facing Parkinson’s disease with … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Memoirs, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races, Uncategorized, Yukon Quest | Tagged Aliy Zirkle, Iditarod, Julie Verrette, sled dogs, Summer Place Kennel, Susan Butcher | Leave a comment

Newest Book: Icy Hell

Posted on May 3, 2026 by Helen Hegener

The newest book from Northern Light Media is a reprinting of Will E. Hudson’s rare and hard to find 1937 book, Icy Hell. Experiences of a news-reel cameraman in the Aleutian Islands, Eastern Siberia and the Arctic fringes of Alaska. The … Continue reading →

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Alaskan Roadhouses

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Helen Hegener

Posted in News & Information | Tagged Alaska, Anchorage, Denali, Iditarod Trail, Kantishna, Knik, Old Knik, Richardson Highway, roadhouse, Roadhouses, travel, valdez-trail | Leave a comment

Alaskan History Magazine

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Helen Hegener

In the next issue of Alaskan History Magazine, Volume 5, Number 3: Missionaries • The Espicopal Church in Iditarod • The Alaska Railroad Record • Skagway • Anchorage’s Federal Building • Belmore Browne on The Dogs of the North Russian … Continue reading →

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Alaska and the Klondike

Posted on April 14, 2026 by Helen Hegener

Alaska & the Klondike, Early Writings and Historic Photographs, compiled and edited by Helen Hegener, is an anthology of selected writings by early explorers and travelers in Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada. Charting an unknown country, exploring a … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Explorers, Gold Rush History, Kindle eBooks, Memoirs, News & Information, photographs, Sled Dog History, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tagged Arthur Treadwell Walden, Denali, Ernest Ingersoll, Frederick Schwatka, Hudson Stuck, Josiah Spurr, Klondike, May Kellogg Sullivan, Robert Service, Ten Thousand Miles with a Dogsled, The Spell of the Yukon | Leave a comment

Salmon Canneries

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Helen Hegener

From Alaskan History Magazine, Volume 5, Number 2 In Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, salmon are a keystone species, playing a critical role in maintaining the structure of the ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Alaskan History Magazine, fishing, News & Information, Uncategorized, Western History | Tagged Alaska Packers Association, canneries, cannery, commercial fishing, Emard Cannery, fisheries, Karluk, Kodiak, salmon, salmon labels, Star of Iceland, Waterfall Cannery | Leave a comment

The Iditarod Trail

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Helen Hegener

The newest book published by Northern Light Media is a complete history of the Iditarod Trail, from long before its founding as a route to the Innoko-Iditarod gold fields, to its official designation as a dogteam mail trail from Seward to Nome, to decades of becoming overgrown and unusable, to its resurrection as a race route and the northernmost Congressionally designated National Historic Trail! Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Gold Rush History, Iditarod, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tagged Alaska, All Alaska Sweepstakes, Anchorage Mushing District, Col. Walter L. Goodwin, Crow Pass Classic, Helen Hegener, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Iron Dog, James Lennox McPherson, Joe Redington, Jr. Iditarod, Kuskokwim Reconnaisance, mushing, mushing history, National Historic Trail, National Trail System, Nome, Northern Light Media, sled dog race, sled dogs | Leave a comment

AHM Collection III – 2025

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Helen Hegener

Alaskan History Magazine Collection III All of the articles published in the magazine in 2025 All six issues published in 2025 are collected into this book, and every article, photograph and image appears just as they ran in the magazine. … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Alaskan History Magazine, Books, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Western History | Tagged Alaska History, Alaskan History Magazine | Leave a comment

The Knik News

Posted on December 13, 2025 by Helen Hegener

In June, 2024, Northern Light Media published a history of the first newspapers in the Cook Inlet region by Alaskan historian Helen Hegener, titled The First Newspapers of Knik and Anchorage. They were The Knik News – which later became the Cook Inlet … Continue reading →

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