Jorgy and Jean Lester to participate in 3rd Annual Alaska Book Festival

The theme for this year's Alaska Book Festival is "Historically Alaska", and, appropriately, Jorgy's memoir is to be one of the featured titles. Jean and Jorgy will be reading from the book and answering questions from the audience during the aviation readings panel along with Dermot Cole on Friday, June 12, at Pioneer Park at the Exhibit Hall at 3:30 to 4:30.

Upcoming events in Anchorage and Fairbanks

Several events are planned for the next month at which either Jorgy Jorgensen or both Jorgy and Jean Lester will be featured:

• Book signing at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum starting at noon and going on until 3 or 4 pm, June 20, Friday, 4721 Aircraft Drive, Anchorage.

• Book signing at Title Wave Books at their downtown store, 415 W 5th Avenue, from 3:30 to 5:30 pm, June 21, Saturday, Anchorage.

• Book signing at the Fairbanks Barnes & Noble, at 421 Mehar Avenue, Sunday, June 29 (time to be announced), 2 to 4 pm.

• 2008 Salmon Bake at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, on July 4th, Friday from 4 to 9 pm, Anchorage.

Jorgy's book is now available in Nome, at the Arctic Trading Post!

Talk at Noel Wien Library

The talk at Noel Wien Library went well; Jorgy, Jean, and I dressed up, Melinda came all spiffied up (with a little airplane pin on her black velvet lapel), and around 62 people attended the talk, with a few more coming in afterward for the book signing. Richard and Sally Wien came, and Richard introduced Jorgy with the tale of giving him a check ride when Richard was 17 years old. After the talk, people asked questions about things like the FAA, Jorgy's flight to the T-3 ice island research station, going to countries in Asia and Africa, whether he preferred large to small planes, his first flight, seeing his first airplane, and so on. It was a good turnout, and interesting.

Upcoming events and a new review

Another review from LibraryThing:

Jorgy Jorgensen is definitely a remarkable individual who overcame long odds to rise to a well respected position in his chosen profession. The book conveys his laconic voice well although, to some extent, it is a victim of his accomplishments in that, even when Jorgy's not bragging, the book seems to be.

The book holds obvious appeal for fans of aviation and those interested in the behind the scenes stories of the Alaska bush. While I am neither of those, the book held my interest quite well too.

There are two upcoming events at which you can meet Holger Jorgensen and get a copy of his book. The first is a book signing at Gulliver's, Saturday, May 17, from 2 to 4 (and probably a bit later). The second is a talk on aviation and his life at Noel Wien Library, Wednesday, May 21, at 7 pm. Jorgy will give an overview and perhaps an anecdote or two, and he and Jean Lester will be available for questions and book signing afterward.

Alaska Airmen's aviation trade show

Jean Lester, Jorgy, Noel Jorgensen, Melinda Harris, and Deirdre Helfferich (publisher) went to the 2008 Alaska Airmen's trade show, held May 3 & 4, Saturday and today, in the Fed Ex hangar at the Anchorage International Airport. We'd apparently just missed the deadline for getting into the program, so people didn't know we were there at first--but friends and acquaintances of Jorgy's soon found out and several hundred of them came to wish him well and buy his book. It was (to put it informally) a blast. There were, of course, a ton of pilots, and old friends even from Haycock came by to say hello.

A few aviation stores in the Anchorage area now carry Jorgy as a result of contacts made at this conference: the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, the Lake Hood Pilot Shoppe, and Northern Lights Avionics. So, if you live in Anchorage but missed Jorgy's booth at the trade show, or were unable to make it to the event, you can get it at one of these places, or at Title Wave.

Where to get the book

At the moment, there are several options. You can order directly from the publisher or order through Alaska bookstores like Gulliver's Books, Title Wave, or the UAF Bookstore.

You can also order on line through Amazon, or, if you are looking for a distributor for this title for your bookstore, you can contact Partners West Book Distribution.

And, of course, it is going to be available at the Alaska Airmen's Association conference, the Valdez Fly-In, and other aviation events!

The book retails for $25 and is a paperback, with many photos, appendices, and an index.

At the Alaska State Aviation trade show

The annual Alaska Airmen's Convention and trade show is a huge aviation show and get-together in Alaska. Jorgy Jorgensen, Jean Lester, and the publisher will have a table at this event -- along with Jorgy's memoir! Come see us there!