Alaska
Before he rose to fame and sparked controversy, L. Ron Hubbard was a seafaring radio host in Alaska
Last week, this column covered the curious path of hard-boiled crime writer Dashiell Hammett, who was near 50, sickly, a celebrity and a Communist Party member when he went from Hollywood fame to Army enlistment to his posting in remote Adak. Of course, Hammett was far from the only celebrated author with ties or at least a significant visit to Alaska. From Jack London to freshly minted Pulitzer winner Tessa Hulls, Alaska has lured and inspired numerous writers. Next week’s column will cover two particularly diverse examples: Shel Silverstein and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. And this week is yet another disparate character, L. Ron Hubbard.
When Lafayette “you may call him L” Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) washed ashore at Ketchikan on Aug. 31, 1940, he was a generally well-regarded author of pulp magazine tales. Today, he is overwhelmingly recognized as the inventor/founder of Scientology, and of shakier reputation. But 1940 Hubbard was years away from Xenu and his volcano, “Dianetics” (1950), the science-fiction novel “Battlefield Earth” (1982), and the maligned film adaptation starring Scientologist John Travolta that bombed in 2000, long may its memory fade.
Back then, he was best known for his prolific writing and numerous pseudonyms. During the 1930s, a heyday of Wild West, detective and other pulpy genre adventure magazines, it seemed like every other issue contained a Hubbard story. His official biographies make outlandish claims that he wrote more than 7 million words during the decade, but the actual output of around 160 articles published from 1933 to 1941 still represents a rather fevered pace.
Hubbard was sailing around Alaska as part of what he grandiosely referred to as the Alaskan Radio Experimental Expedition, though he indeed carried the prestigious Explorer’s Club flag, a distinction typically reserved for scientific expeditions. And Hubbard accordingly claimed he was testing various instruments and methods of radio position finding.
In 2018, the Church of Scientology held an awards banquet for 70 of their most significant benefactors at the Cape Fox Lodge in Ketchikan, part of their pattern to hold events in places where Hubbard visited, worked, or lived. Per the church, Hubbard “came up to study the Tlingit Indian tribes, and send back a finding of the research of the tribes and the ethnological factors of the Indians here.”
Back in 1940, The Ketchikan Chronicle offered a humbler description of his arrival and intentions. “Capt. L. Ron Hubbard, author and world traveler, arrived in Ketchikan in company with his wife aboard the vest pocket yacht, Magician. His purpose in coming to Alaska was two-fold, one to win a bet and another to gather material for a novel of Alaska salmon fishing.” The bet was whether the 27-foot Magician, which Hubbard nicknamed the Maggie, would survive the voyage north. The further reality was a shot engine and empty pockets, meaning a large part of a winter stranded in Ketchikan.
Russell Miller’s critical 1987 biography, “Bare-Faced Messiah,” notes Hubbard’s friends called the voyage “Ron and Polly’s trip.” Miller also quotes Hubbard’s Aunt Marnie: “Ron dreamed up the trip as a way of outfitting the Maggie. His brain was always working and when he was trying to figure out how he could afford to outfit the boat he wrote letters to all these different manufacturers of instruments and equipment offering to test them out.”
Suffice to say, accounts vary. No matter, there is little reason to believe Hubbard and his wife spent months in Ketchikan except for the need to earn enough money for boat repairs and subsequent escape. But a dashing young author, near enough a celebrity as far as locals thought, stood out around town. The 29-year-old writer soon found work with the KGBU, now KTKN, radio station, an announcer and as the host of his own program, “Mail Buoy.” It would be more accurate to say that the station eagerly offered him a position and hoped he would never leave.
Longtime Ketchikan historian June Allen (1929-2016) recalled the opening to the show in a 2005 SitNews article. “Station owner Jimmy Britton’s well-remembered and breathless, asthmatic voice grandly intoned over the airwaves: ‘KGBU brings you the Mail Buoy, a program especially designed for Alaskan boatmen. It is the hope of this station that the exchange of information regarding the sea and ships will be found of benefit to those who wish to brush up on their calling, to those who wish to study the fine art of fighting the sea, and to those old-timers who can help the world to remember how to make all things shipshape and Bristol-fashion by keeping close tally on the data contained in this presentation.’” After describing the host, Britton declared, “Here now is Captain Hubbard,” followed by four bells and a jingle.
True to concept, the show was focused on practical maritime matters, with episodes on “Handling Your Hull” and “Anchors.” Other episodes answered listener questions, such as the “crackling and hissing” static heard on radio broadcasts, which he blamed on older radios and interference from electrical appliances. As might be expected, Hubbard was smooth on air, quick with a story and instantly a popular listen.
He also later claimed that he utilized his radio expertise to assist the FBI in tracking down a Nazi saboteur. No official records have been found to verify this tale, but Hubbard did write a short story inspired by his time in Ketchikan. In “Chee-Chalker,” first published in 1947, a tenderfoot FBI agent unravels a string of murders and uncovers a heroin smuggling ring, while entangling himself with a halibut heiress, as one does. A “chee chalker” is Hubbard’s version of a “cheechako.”
Years later, Hubbard said of notoriously vice-ridden Ketchikan, “They have there in Ketchikan, the only stream in the world where the fish and the fisherman go up to spawn. It’s a red-light district. It stretches up around the curve, a very beautiful stream. But the buildings have trap doors — most of Ketchikan is built over water. The fishermen — it’s mostly fishermen that come in there with any money — wear rather heavy rubber boots, and water gets into these boots rather quickly, and they go down rather fast. But when the police do find a fisherman drowned or floating there in the straits without anything in his pockets, they look him over very carefully and say, ‘Hmmm! Suicide!’”
During his radio broadcasts, Hubbard always found a chance to mention that he and his wife were stuck in Ketchikan because Regal Company of Bremerton, Washington, made a defective crankshaft and refused to replace it. Over and over, it was Regal Company’s fault. And when a new crankshaft arrived that December, he was believed it was only due to his on-air admonishments. Regardless, the Hubbards left as soon as the engine was fixed and arrived back in the Lower 48 on Dec. 27, 1940.
In addition to the gifted crankshaft, he also borrowed money around town, for living and repair expenses. Most notably, he owed First National Bank $265, about $6,000 in 2025 money. When World War II began, Hubbard went in the Naval Reserve. The bank thus tracked him down via the Navy. He agreed to pay the interest on the principal but claimed hardships prevented him from paying more. In an Oct. 29, 1942 letter, he wrote, “You are again informed that the reason of non-payment of this note is the sharp decrease in pay which I was willing to take to help my country. Until this war is ended and I can resume my former profession I can make only small and irregular payments.” It is unclear when or if the debt was settled.
There was one last relevant intersection of Hubbard and Alaska. Per an official proclamation by Alaska Gov. Steve Cowper, March 13, 1989 was to be L. Ron Hubbard Day — that is, until interrupted by then-Daily News reporter, and now novelist, Stan Jones. In a scathing article, Jones recounted the many allegations, scandals and lawsuits regarding Scientology, including the claim by Hubbard’s own son that his father created the religion “off the top of his head while he was under the influence of drugs,” the latter from an interview originally published in Christianity Today. “Hubbard Day” was quickly canceled, with the governor deciding he “does not identify” with the church or Hubbard.
Cowper’s press secretary, David Ramseur, told Jones, “Those proclamations come through the press office and I approve them. The governor does not sign off on proclamations unless they’re of enormous consequence. Or of more significant consequence than this.” Ramseur additionally noted that such proclamations were signed by a pen. Therefore, Cowper never actually saw the Hubbard Day proclamation and knew nothing about it. Jones asked Ramseur how much research was conducted before the declaration was approved, to which the press secretary replied, “Not much.”
A Daily News editorial stated, “If anybody in the governor’s press office had known the difference between scientology and Shinola, L. Ron wouldn’t have got a minute, let alone a day.” That said, it continued, “Gov. Cowper could do Alaskans a favor by tossing all those proclamations in his shredder and declaring Monday ‘No More Proclamations Day.’ The governor — and for that matter the legislature — has proclaimed enough.”
Anchorage Mayor Tom Fink‘s press office was more familiar with Scientology or more diligent in their research. They also received the suggestion for a “Hubbard Day” but rejected it out of hand. Fink aide Yvonne Alford told the Daily News, “Part of it, of course, is the controversy that surrounds the Church of Scientology and, further, Dianetics is a commercial enterprise. We do read the information that comes in for proclamations.”
Sometimes, usually, it is for the best that the future is unknown. At the least, it would have complicated matters for the denizens of a small fishing and lumber town to know where their local radio host would go, what he would become. Had he wanted to stay, he would have been welcomed, but greater fortunes awaited. His stint in Ketchikan was relatively brief and of little import, particularly compared to the self-created tumult of the decades that followed. Yet, he never forgot Alaska. References to his time in the north abound in his official biographies, and his Ketchikan tenure is an appreciated aspect of his personal journey. All to say, it proves that the immensity and grandeur of Alaska affects us all, affects every sort of person.
Key sources:
Allen, June. “L. Ron Hubbard’s Alaska Adventure.” SitNews, January 19, 2005.
“Church of Scientology meets in SE.” Sitka Sentinel, April 27, 2018, 6.
Jones, Stan. “Governor Gives Day to L. Ron Hubbard.” Anchorage Daily News, March 9, 1989, A1, A14.
Miller, Russell. Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard.
Persily, Larry. “Scientologists Refute Reports.” Anchorage Daily News, March 14, 1989, B1, B3.
“Whereas and Therefore.” Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 1989, B4.
In exchange for living in what is perhaps the country’s most beautiful state, Alaskans sometimes have to do without: professional sports teams, Trader Joe’s and, well, sunlight for half the year. But we make up for it with the Iditarod, reindeer sausages and chasing the aurora borealis. In other words, we often have to make our own fun. And by “fun” I mean “beer.” Those words are interchangeable, right?
Beer is a big part of life for Alaskans. We hike with it, camp with it, boat with it, cook with it and pair it with foods like the stuffiest of sommeliers. We throw it monthly birthday parties like the First Tap events at Broken Tooth Brewing Co. (otherwise known as Bear Tooth Theatrepub and Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria), complete with national musical acts like Modest Mouse, Clinton Fearon, and Norah Jones. We even occasionally do yoga with it (at downtown’s Williwaw Social). In other words, we take it everywhere and we take it seriously.
Beers from the state’s biggest brewery, Alaskan Brewing Co. based in Juneau, might already be in your refrigerator if you live in one of the 25 states where it’s available. Established in 1986 by Marcy and Geoff Larson, it was the 67th independent brewery to open in the country. With a steady line of signature brews, including their most recent “Wildness” beer, it’s the most well-established of all the state’s breweries. Expect seasonal specialties that incorporate ingredients like cranberries, raspberries, locally roasted coffee, locally grown white wheat from the Matanuska-Susitna area and even Alaska spruce tips. Ubiquitous around Alaska, this is our Papa Beer, if you will (I’ll show myself out).
But Alaskan Brewing is just one out of the more-than 50 breweries, distilleries, meaderies and cideries in the state (for an excellent list visit brewersguildofalaska.org). And while almost half of them are in Anchorage or within a short drive of our state’s largest city (including the relatively populous communities of Girdwood, Eagle River, Palmer and Wasilla), some of our most remote ports of call and tiniest towns are also in on the brewing action (I’m looking at you, Cooper Landing Brewing Company in Cooper Landing, population 231).
The ever-expanding Denali Brewing Co. in Talkeetna (population 997) may be a small-town hero, but it’s anything but small. Their four signature beers — Mother Ale, Chuli Stout, Single Engine Red and the ever-popular Twister Creek IPA, as well seasonal brews like Slow Down Brown and Flag Stop Milepost #3 — are year-round mainstays of summer barbecues and winter bonfires around the state.
This brewery is also home to the more recently established Alaska Cider Works, Alaska Meadery (featuring “Razzery,” a mead made with raspberries, sour cherries and apples) and Denali Spirits (featuring vodka, gin, whiskey, and “smoke” whiskey), because when you’ve fermented one, why not ferment them all?
(Denali Spirits’ canned cocktails, especially their blueberry mojito, have been so popular in Anchorage that at one time there was a Facebook page largely dedicated to tracking them down. Luckily, supply has since caught up with demand.)
Some breweries are even more remote. Ports of call and island hopping here can be one way to get your fill of hops. Breweries can be found in Ketchikan (Bawden Street Brewing Co.), Kodiak (Kodiak Island Brewing & Still, Double Shovel Kodiak Cidery, and Olds River Inn), Homer (Homer Brewing Co. and Grace Ridge Brewing Co. for beer, and you can also check out Sweetgale Meadworks & Cider House for hard cider and locally sourced meads featuring ingredients like nagoonberry), Sitka (Harbor Mountain Brewing), Seward (Seward Brewing Co. and Stoney Creek Brewhouse), Valdez (Valdez Brewing and Growler Bay Brewing), and Skagway (Klondike Brewing Co. and Skagway Brewing Co.).
Of course, many trips to Alaska begin and end in Anchorage. And if, during your travels, you’ve foolishly left some beers untasted, you can make up for lost time in our state’s biggest city which boasts — let’s face it — a ridiculous number of exceptional craft breweries.
Downtown’s Glacier Brewhouse specializes in oak-aged English and American West Coast-style beers, 13 of them, from blondes to stouts. Beneath the floor of the Brewhouse is a “Wall of Wood” comprised of casks of special release beers that are conditioned in oak barrels once used to age wine and bourbon. The history of the oak imparts “mother tongue” flavor characteristics, like vanilla and coconut, into these limited edition brews. Opt for one of these unique beers or choose from their flagship choices like raspberry wheat, oatmeal stout, imperial blonde, Bavarian hefeweizen or a flight that includes them all.
Down the street is 49th State Brewing Co., which expanded into Anchorage from its original location in Healy, at the edge of Denali National Park and Preserve. If you are unable to visit their flagship location, where you can sip beer while playing bocce or horseshoes on the lawn, you can catch up with them here. There’s a unique selection that includes beers like Smok, a smoked lager, as well as seasonal offerings like the Tiger’s Blood Sour, an homage to shave ice described as ”ferociously fruity.” Or there’s “Apple Fritter Ale,” with hints of cinnamon, icing, caramel, and vanilla. This location also boasts some of the best views in Anchorage and an expansive outdoor rooftop patio.
Just about all of the full-service restaurants in downtown Anchorage proudly feature some variety of Alaskan beers. In the heart of downtown, Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse prides itself on a huge selection of beers, both international and local. Tent City Taphouse offers a diverse and carefully curated list of 24 rotating local brews, including their house beer, Tent City Tangerine IPA brewed by Glacier Brewhouse. Tent City regularly hosts “Taste of the North” beer dinners featuring Alaskan brewers. One, in collaboration with Grace Ridge Brewing Company, featured smoked salmon canapes with Black Pepper IPA, classic beef Wellington with an Oystercatcher stout and roasted honey lamb chops with a Winter Cranberry Ale.
If you have transportation around the city, treat yourself to a brewery tasting-room tour. Found in unassuming little side streets in the more industrial areas of Anchorage, some of our best beers can be sipped and savored at the source. Finding these funky little spots can feel like being invited to a secret party. And it’s a glimpse into Anchorage’s most authentic beer culture.
In midtown, Onsite Brewing Co. has unique, small-batch brews in a funky relaxed environment. Further south, King Street Brewing Co., Turnagain Brewing, Cynosure Brewing, Magnetic North Brewing Company, Brewerks, and one of our newest, Ship Creek Brewing Company are all within a stone’s throw of one another. If you’re lucky, you might run into one of Anchorage’s popular food trucks parked outside, so you’ll have something to wash down with your flights. Depending on the day, you might find reindeer sausages, pad Thai, cheesesteaks or pupusas. On the weekends, Anchorage Brewing Company features a top-notch in-house pop-up restaurant, called Familia, with a rotating menu featuring local Alaskan ingredients.
One of the newest and furthest south breweries, while still in the Anchorage bowl, is Raven’s Ring Brewing Company, which is a brewery/winery and meadery. From a traditional IPA to a Concorde grape wine called Grape Juice to a rotating Vintner’s pour like Sweet Peach Jalapeno mead, this ambitious operation is challenging the notion that you can’t please everyone.
Other Anchorage points of interest for non-hoppy but still home-grown adult beverages include Anchorage Distillery, Zip Kombucha, Double Shovel Cidery and Hive Mind Meadery.
If your travels are over and you still haven’t had your fill, check out the Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Co. inside Terminal C at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on your way out of town. An offshoot of the flagship Silver Gulch brewery in Fox, Alaska (about 10 miles north of Fairbanks), this location has a bar and restaurant, and a retail shop carrying growlers of their own brews as well as those of other Alaskan brewers and distillers. Last-minute souvenir shopping never tasted so good.
Before you start your great Northern beer safari, bear in mind that tasting rooms often have limited and varying hours, so always double-check before planning a visit.
Whether your travels take you to fine-dining restaurants, low-key alehouses or even rustic cabins in the woods, make like an Alaskan and fuel your adventures with one of our beloved, home-grown brews. When in Alaska, drink as the Alaskans do.
Mara Severin is a food writer who writes about restaurants in Southcentral Alaska for the Anchorage Daily News.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that the first two Arctic Security Cutters will be homeported in the State of Alaska. Anticipating delivery of the first Arctic Security Cutters by the end of 2028, the Coast Guard has begun planning to ensure necessary infrastructure and support are in place to receive two icebreakers. Ensuring these vessels are supported by trained and ready crews, and ready homeport facilities including housing, will be essential to delivering full, enduring operational capability required to meet emerging Arctic security challenges.
“Homeporting these two Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska is a decisive step forward in securing America’s Arctic frontier,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “I want to thank President Trump for his bold leadership and vision in directing this critical investment, as well as Senator Sullivan and the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation for championing the funding that made these icebreakers possible. These vessels will deliver the enduring operational presence our nation needs to protect sovereignty, deter foreign adversaries, and safeguard vital resources for the American people..”
The homeporting of the first two Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska builds on the historic expansion of the Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet and underscores an unprecedented investment in the Arctic. This announcement marks a national milestone in U.S. Arctic capability, following contract awards for up to 11 Arctic Security Cutters. Fueled by $3.5 billion in funding in the Fiscal Year 2025 Reconciliation Bill and facilitated by a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and Finland in October 2025, the acquisition of Arctic Security Cutters will fulfill President Trump’s directive to rapidly deliver America’s newest icebreaker fleet.
“Homeporting Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska underscores the United States’ leadership as a maritime power in the Arctic,” said Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. “By strategically positioning these state-of-the-art icebreakers in Alaska, the Coast Guard will maximize our ability to defend our northern border and approaches, while reinforcing America’s maritime dominance in a crucial region of strategic importance.”
Through contract awards to Rauma Marine Constructions Oy of Rauma, Finland, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, L.L.C., and Davie Defense, Inc. of Vienna, VA, the U.S. will immediately benefit from our Finnish partners’ icebreaker expertise while coordinating the onshoring of that expertise and shipbuilding to the United States. Under the MOU, Finland will construct up to four ASCs for the U.S Coast Guard. U.S. shipyards will build and deliver up to seven additional ASCs. Delivery of the first Arctic Security Cutters is expected by the end of 2028.
Arctic Security Cutters will form the backbone of a revitalized U.S. icebreaker fleet, strengthening American maritime dominance in the Arctic. Fielding specialized capabilities, these icebreakers will defend U.S. sovereignty, secure critical shipping lanes, protect energy and mineral resources, and counter foreign malign influence in the Arctic region. A robust icebreaker fleet will enable the Coast Guard to control, secure and defend U.S. Alaskan borders and Arctic maritime approaches, facilitate maritime commerce vital to economic prosperity and strategic mobility, and respond to crises and contingencies in the region.
Acquisition of Arctic Security Cutters supports the Coast Guard’s ongoing modernization, through which the Service is transforming into a more agile, capable and responsive fighting force.
Memorandum on ASC Homeporting
###
Alaska
‘We never forgot her’: Friends, family of longtime Alaska teacher gather for 100th birthday celebration
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Phyllis Sullivan has certainly led a life worth celebrating.
Born in 1926, Sullivan moved to Alaska with her husband and three children in 1959 to teach, first in the village of Kwethluk in Western Alaska and later at Wendler and Mears Middle Schools in Anchorage.
All the while, she left strong impressions with countless students and acquaintances, some of whom gathered in the basement of Anchor Park United Methodist Church in Anchorage Saturday to celebrate Sullivan’s century of life.
“Education has been the primary thing in her entire life,” her son Dennis Sullivan said. “She’s always been a school teacher and she’s been one of the sweetest people in the entire world.”
As a slideshow featuring vintage photos from her life and time in Alaska played, Phyllis, wheelchair-bound but high in spirit, stopped to chat with every new person who entered the room, some of whom she hadn’t seen in years.
“It’s impressive that this many people are here,” she said. “That’s very encouraging. Makes me think maybe I did something right along the way.”
Aside from family members, most visitors were there because of the impression Phyllis Sullivan left on them during her many years in the classroom.
“She gave us this one assignment: to memorize a poem,” former Mears student Tina Arend recalled. She said Phyllis Sullivan was her 8th grade English teacher.
“And when she gave us the assignment, she said, ‘I’ve had students come back many, many, many years later and recite the poem to me.’ And we actually still remember the poem,” Arend said of her and her husband, who was also in attendance. They both went on to become teachers at Mears as well.
Matthew Nicolai, whom Phyllis Sullivan taught in Kwethluk, has similarly fond memories.
“The Bureau had ordered that teachers do corporal punishment for speaking Yup’ik,” Nicolai remembered. “Even though we spoke Yup’ik, she never did that, never cracked our hands. Other teachers did, but not her. That’s why we never forgot her.”
In addition to teaching, Phyllis Sullivan also found time to open her home to those in need. She and her husband once took in a family with seven kids who had been displaced by flooding in Fairbanks in 1967.
“It touched our heart because they bought us a lot of stuff that we needed because we lost a lot of stuff during the flood,” David Solomon, one of those seven kids, said. “We stayed there for over three years.”
Phyllis Sullivan said she is enjoying life and is doing fine.
“My mother made it to 103,” she said. “So, I’ve got a while yet.”
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