MEET THE AUTHOR: Jan Harper-Haines
The author of "Cold River Spirits" visited Nenana City School District on September 19 and 20. All NCPS students had the opportunity to explore the book through author led readings, examine the writing process through author led discussions, and to interact personally with the author through question/answer time. Thank you, Jan, for traveling so far and sharing so completely your love of storytelling. If you have not had the opportunity to read "Cold River Spirits", come to the NCPS Library and "Check It Out!" Biogragraphical Information
JAN (PETRI) Harper Haines was born in Sitka, Alaska. She is of Koyukon Athabascan and French-Dutch descent and has written about her family and its rich cultural heritage.
In 1990 she began gathering stories about her Athabascan mother and Grandmother. COLD RIVER SPIRITS, her first book, grew out of these early stories.
Jan earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where her mother, Flora Jane Harper, was the University’s first Alaska Native graduate in 1935.
Other firsts in the Harper family include: Walter Harper, first man to reach the Summit of Denali/Mt.McKinley; Arthur Harper, who discovered gold on the Yukon, and Great grandfather, John Minook, the first man to find gold in the Rampart area, a discovery that established the town of Rampart.
Jan is listed in the 2005 edition of WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA in American Literature. She is a member of two Alaska Native Corporations: Doyon Corporation and Cook Inlet Region, Inc.
The author taught at Orion Junior High on Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage and had a twenty-year career in advertising/marketing in Honolulu and San Francisco. She lives in Marin County, California with her husband, Larry, an architect.
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