The Alaska Pen: An Illustrated History of Unga

The Alaska Pen: An Illustrated History of Unga is an extraordinary story about the last four decades in the life of a remote Alaskan village. Unga and its rich history were kept alive by The Alaska Pen, Unga High School’s monthly news magazine, and the only printed periodical in the entire Alaska Peninsula district. The collapse of the cod fishing industry, closure of the Apollo Mine, and the second World War all led to the decline of Unga and by the end of the 1960s the last few families were forced to leave, and Unga village ceased to exist. The Alaska Pen: An illustrated history of Unga’s editors, Thor Lauritzen, Peggy Arness and Edward Melseth, all spent their formative years in Unga. They tell a compelling story of a village that enjoyed a great community spirit. It is a story about a hardy people who eked out a living from the sea, whose lives were constantly challenged by the harsh environment in which they lived, whose isolation bred independence, whose joys were generously shared, and whose heartaches were felt by all. This is a story about Unga, told through the eyes of the children who once lived there, but a similar tale could be told about many of its Aleutian neighbors, which suffered the same fate.
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