Today's Featured Biography

Deirdre Helfferich

After graduating, I whiled away the time at UAF, living with a brilliant and talented (but alas, crazed) man for five years. Eventually he went off the deep end and I moved hastily to Seattle, where I lived for six years, eventually marrying another crazy man. I divorced the sucker and sold my half of our apartment building to him (designed by Frederick Anhalt) and decided to blow the money on a trip to Europe. In Seattle I had begun doing collage and taking short art courses in seriousness, and when I went to Europe, I studied French, living in Paris and spending a lot of time in art galleries. I met my future husband in Copenhagen during this trip.

Upon returning to the US, I moved back to Alaska, went back to school and majored in foreign languages (Danish, German, and French) and fine arts (painting). I bought a house in Ester, Hans moved over from Germany, we got married, and I learned publishing on the job at the University of Alaska Press. I started my own newspaper, The Ester Republic, which comes out every month. I now work in the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences as an editor, and continue to do art, gardening, and publishing. We have five cats and a lot of clutter.

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