ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Massachusetts, Doug Capra came to Alaska in 1971, and taught school in the Aleutian Islands and in Seward. He retired after twenty-two years, and then spent eighteen years as a ranger guiding visitors through the fjords and along the glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park – headquarters in Seward. Over the years he served as Lead Fjord Ranger/Supervisor, Lead Exit Glacier Ranger/Supervisor, and Operations Supervisor for the Division of Interpretation. He traveled extensively in Alaska and knows the state well.

For six years Doug served on the board of the Alaska Historical Society and has written extensively, including a weekly newspaper column about Alaska history. His most recent book (2014) is The Spaces Between: Stories from the Kenai Mountains to the Kenai Fjords. His previous books are A Handful of Pebbles: Stories from Seward History, and Something to be Remembered: Stories from Seward History. Doug has written forewords for several books, including two books by American artist Rockwell Kent, Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska, and Northern Christmas, published by Wesleyan University Press/University Press of New England. He is currently writing That Infinite and Unfathomable Thing: Rockwell Kent Alaska’s Wilderness. Kent and his young son lived on Fox Island in Resurrection Bay during 1918-1919. Doug has also written, produced and directed a play about Kent (still in progress) called And Now the World Again. Its first workshop production was at the 2014 Alaska Historical Society Annual Meeting. He plans to have it stage ready for the 100^th anniversary of the publication of Kent’s book, Wilderness, in 2020. (He studied acting in London and worked for a time in professional theater.) Capra has also written, produced and directed a one-woman show about Alaska Nellie, Into Alaska a Woman Came, which ran for five summers in the state. He is writing a biography about Nellie. His photography skills allow him to produce illustrations for his published writing.

Capra has been a certified trainer for the National Association for Interpretation and has trained guides from all over Alaska. He is also an adjunct instructor for the University of Alaska. These days Doug writes, and works as a private guide and naturalist aboard cruise ships that sail from Japan to Russia, Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, Seward, Sitka and along the Inside Passage of Alaska and Canada. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from Northeastern University. His two children, Nathan and Emily, were born in Alaska and attended elementary and high school in Seward. They now live in California. Doug lives in Seward, Alaska, with his wife Cindy. They spend some time every year visiting their children and granddaughter in California.