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• Denali People

Jimmy Tohill
Photographer-Poet

Photographer and poet Jimmy Tohill has been capturing moments of Alaska’s endless beauty with his camera and poetry since he first came to Alaska as a river guide in 1987 from Colorado. He and his wife Vicki built their log home in Healy, and operate Old Sourdough Studio. Jimmy took the photographs on the front cover of 2007's Denali Summer Times Magazine, most of the ‘Big Five’ wildlife photos, plus many others. This photo of him was taken by his wife.

Nancy Russell
Publisher & Shuttle Bus Driver

An original publisher of the Denali Summer Times, Nancy Russell came to Alaska in 1978 to work at the park. She’s been a bus driver for many years. “It’s a great job. Who would not like getting paid for stopping and watching animals all day?” In 1994, she joined Sonja Schmidt in starting the Denali Summer Times, which they ran until 2006, to share their knowledge of this region with the public.

Elizabeth Usibelli
Coal Miner's Daughter

“I’m a coal miner’s daughter,” says 19-year old Elizabeth Usibelli, who goes back four generations on her father’s side at the coal mines of Healy. “The summer I graduated, I applied for a job at the coal mines. I loved it. My dad is a very successful mining engineer. He’s the one who inspired me to get my degree in mining engineering. I love the way I was raised here in Healy. This is the way I’m going to live my life.”

Sonja Schmidt
Schoolteacher & Writer

An original publisher of the Denali Summer Times, and a classroom teacher for 18 years, Sonja Schmidt teaches a range of high school classes in Healy. World traveler, Fulbright Scholar, and Alaska Teacher of the Year, she says: “My style of teaching is to integrate geography and art and a sense of place in all subjects. My own writing and art reflects this philosophy... it is with this view that the Denali Summer Times was created...” Sonja is interested in art, world textiles, and world puppetry. She is currently editing a book of stories about Healy.

Kevin Hamel
Birds On The Run...

Kevin Hamel is a local restauranteur who lives and works in Healy. He came to Alaska as a child, and went to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where he earned a degree in chemistry, and took photojournalism. Working all day at his cafe, he doesn’t have much time now for taking pictures – except while driving his truck to Anchorage to haul back eggs, bread and other provisions. Like many local people, he knows how to use his time creatively. Taking full advantage of his environment when he has the chance, he stops and photographs wildlife he sees along the way.

Native Americans
Guardians of Tradition

Half of the people who live in Nenana are Native or Native descendents. This is the westernmost point of the Tanana Athabascan Indian country. The Tanana, along with four other Athabascan Indian groups – the Dena’ina, the Ahtna, the Kolchan, and the Koyukon – lived in an approximate circle around the mountain. (A quarter of Cantwell’s residents today are Ahtna Indian.) To find out more about Nenana’s history and people, visit the Nenana Cultural Center. Drive into town and turn right.

Ray Atkins
Pilot & Guide

Ray Atkins came to Alaska in 1961, eager to go hunting for a brown bear – but it cost as much to hire a guide as to buy a new pickup truck – $2,500. He began his own flying service in Cantwell in the early 1970’s. “I don’t know another occupation that lets you travel around like this. You meet a lot of nice people from all over the world. You’re involved with hunting, fishing, flying little airplanes. You wouldn’t get to do that if you worked in a factory.”

Lucy Tyrrell
Park Researcher & Quilter

Lucy Tyrrell came to Alaska in 2000 from Wisconsin as Research Administrator for the park. She keeps track of park-related research projects, and follows up when a project is finished, making sure people know about them. “I’m excellent at de-jargonizing,” she says. Lucy lives north of Healy. She has sled dogs, and is also an artist. She paints watercolors, makes quilts, and keeps illustrated journals.

Mary Carey
Homesteader/Advocate/Author

Alaska legend Mary Carey came to this area as a widow in the early 1960’s and promptly homesteaded 100 miles from the nearest road at a spot with the best view of McKinley she’d ever seen. She was friends with the great bush pilot Don Sheldon and constantly advocated the building of the Parks Highway. When she wrote to then-governor Bill Egan about the project, he famously replied that, “Alaska already has two roads, how many do you want in one state?” When the Parks Highway was finally built by her homestead in 1973 she built a lodge at mile 134 and then proceeded to write 16 books, including “Alaska, Not For A Woman”.

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