Slog Comments
The Kodiak Coast Guard Murders
4
I always enjoy the direct or indirect contributions of Stranger staff family members--it helps flesh you guys out, in the same way I like meeting family members of my friends. So, Brendan's dad, Ronald Holden ("Cornichon"), Bill Savage (Chicago Fan), Terry Miller, Schmader's hubby, ciennasmommy, Christopher's dad during Obama's inauguration, thanks. Did I miss anyone?
5
For two summers my friends and I worked at a bar in a town called Pelican on Chichagof Island. One of the long time residents would affectionately refer to it as an open air prison. The place was only 1/2 mile long and mostly built on a boardwalk.
Photo from the plane ride in: https://picasaweb.google.com/10996579338…
Emergency Services info Sheet that was next to the phone:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph…
Photo from the plane ride in: https://picasaweb.google.com/10996579338…
Emergency Services info Sheet that was next to the phone:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph…
6
@3, I was always a-scared to go there whenever the boat hit Dutch. I stuck to the boring old Unisea. Still plenty of trouble to get into, less bloodshed.
8
I love how where I grew up (Fairbanks) is a magical wonderland of prosperity and modernity.
There's the sarcasm tag..kind of..hanging out not sure what to do, Grant. Let's look at until it gets uncomfortable and goes back to the lower 48.
There's the sarcasm tag..kind of..hanging out not sure what to do, Grant. Let's look at until it gets uncomfortable and goes back to the lower 48.
9
Jimmy Buffett played the Elbow Room in the early 90s - not quite his "early days." He also played the "Road House" in Akutan - an island with no roads. He'd flown out to the Aleutians to get rated on the Grumman Goose - one of the few places in the world where that plane is flown commercially (still is, by the way).
11
Your anecdotes greatly enhance a mental portrait that began with the bartender's statement: "I just think they need to release all the information they have, so people don’t get crazy and paranoid, which might lead to violence".
14
@ 10. Sorry if it doesn't ring true to you—but that doesn't mean it isn't true. They're all stories told to me by my parents. I was too young to remember any of that first-hand. But per the first one, my mother worked in a town office as a secretary at the time and had the displeasure of having the fisherman and the town official happen into the office at the same time, shortly after the throat-slitting. The latter was wearing big bandages around his neck. "It was awkward," my dad says, "to say the least."
I'd get her first-hand account, but she's passed on.
I'd get her first-hand account, but she's passed on.
15
Brendon, I was working in Kodiak in the late 60's and later in the mid- 70's. What your parents told you was true. The events you described seem pretty 'everyday' for that island. BTW, the B&B, commented in the original story, was alive and well back when I was there.
16
This is your shot at the brass ring, Brendan. Smilla's Sense of Snow, Insomnia, the Millenium Trilogy, The Killing -- arctic/septentrional mysteries are a bankable niche. Don't call it Kodiak. That's too obvious and it sounds like chewing tobacco. Use some native word, like for a vengeful spirit animal or something. Have a treatment on my desk in two weeks and we'll talk. Love ya, babe.
17
On my short visit in Cordova island, I remember sitting in the town bar and listening to a man relate the story of local crimes that almost mirror Mr. Kiley's story.
I already posted Brendan Kiley's name on my e-note pad. I'll be keeping an eye on his first edition of wild Alaska stories.
I already posted Brendan Kiley's name on my e-note pad. I'll be keeping an eye on his first edition of wild Alaska stories.
18
Haven't heard yet from anyone who spent time in AK who'd doubt Brendan's Kodiak stories. Don't expect to, either.
19
I live in Kodiak, and have spent most my life here. Our electricity rarely goes out and there are only two groups of people here, locals and transient, Coasties fall under the latter as they are only temporary residents. Fisherman are often native as well, though the natives do cling close together they are quite accepting of the non native locals as long as they arent liberal looneytree huggers or PETA members. There are no longer as many bars as churches and alot of the locals hate the B&B because it is a druggy bar. Fisherman do have a saying that when they leave town, they don't lose their wife, they just lose their turn. The traffic killing of those two men shocked everyone, it is believed to have been an inside job because it happened in a secured location. People are understandably upset that the police don't release the identity of the shooter as he would then be unable to hide in such a small town and because he does pose a threat to all residents.
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