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On screen, she amused TV audiences as feisty nurse Maj. Margaret Houlihan for 11 seasons in the highly acclaimed late 70s/early 80s comedy war drama, M*A*S*H. But away from the cameras, Loretta Swit surrounded herself with paintbrushes and watercolors instead of scalpels and plasma. A collection of her paintings appears in "SWITHEART – The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit" (see www.SwitHeart.com). Published in January, SWITHEART is written by Mies Hora with the full s...
Throughout the month of February, we honor African Americans by celebrating Black History Month. Created in 1926, this event coincides with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12 and Frederick Douglass on Feb. 14. African American communities have celebrated these birthdays together for over a century. Honoring our shared history and reflecting on the past is one way we can remember that in America, we believe in freedom and democracy for all. Another shared belief is that we all deserve a comfortable retirement, free of economic...
When I first discovered the estate tax (or if you like, “death tax”), way back in the 1980s, the rate could be as high as 55 percent. That’s right, once you got above a certain level, Uncle Sam was taking more than half of what you saved. Nowadays the rate is down to 40 percent, which is still pretty high, but the estate tax doesn’t kick in until you are around $5.5 million, so it doesn’t affect very many people. There is another tax, though, which can affect even fairly small estates,...
Q. My daughter keeps encouraging me to get a smartphone, but I fail to see any need. I don’t need the Internet on my phone. Are there other reasons? A. Information can save your life. And the smartphone can be an essential tool for recording information about your health. A smartphone can log medications and remind you when it is time to administer the next dose. It can record vital statistics, sometimes in concert with external devices like bathroom scales and blood pressure monitors. And it can also provide emergency responders with a p...
I was recently asked, “How do you deal with all the hatred that is in the world?” The woman who asked me this question has a transgender son, and so I knew she was looking for support from me because I, too, have a transgender son, and there are so many states trying to implement laws against our children. I gave her a concise answer about looking for the blessings around me and focusing on what is positive in my life rather than focusing on the negativity that often consumes the news, but her question caused me to reflect even further. I am...
United States military involvement in the Vietnam War officially began on August 5, 1964; however, the first U.S. casualty in Vietnam occurred on July 8, 1959. Approximately 2.7 million American men and women served in Vietnam. During the war, over 58,000 U.S. military members lost their lives and 153,000 were wounded. There were 766 prisoners of war of which 114 died in captivity. The war was officially ended by Presidential Proclamation on May 7, 1975. Following is the latest updates from the...
While many Alaskans celebrated Christmas on December 25, others from the Pribilof Islands to Nikiski to Sitka observe Christmas in January. That's because they observe the Russian Orthodox Church calendar. The Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar, where each day occurs 13 days after the corresponding day on the modern Gregorian calendar. So January 7 is their day of rejoicing the birth of Christ. The Alaska Native people's relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church dates...
Drab, handbag-wielding TV character Gladys Ormphby never met a celebrity she didn't feel compelled to smack senseless at the slightest provocation. Short in both stature and patience, the feisty diminutive spinster's victims ̶ such as Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra ̶ were more likely to be paralyzed by laughter than fear. Portrayed by comedic actress Ruth Buzzi in the late 60s TV show "Laugh-In," Gladys soon found her way into the popular culture of the day, landing guest spots on other shows such...
Doing your own estate planning is not a good idea. There are a lot of mistakes people make when they try, and they usually don’t realize it. One example is what I call the “illiquid estate.” If you are an accountant, I apologize because I know you use the word illiquid in a more precise way, but I think you’ll understand my meaning. By an illiquid estate, I mean an estate plan where each major asset is designated to go to somebody in particular, and there is not enough left in the “residuary est...
Q. I have used the same HP1200 laser printer in my home office for a very long time. Last week it stopped working, and now I need to replace it. What would you suggest? A. The printer world has changed considerably in recent years. I started using HP printers in the 1990s, back when they had a sterling reputation. However, after testing a couple of current HP printers I have begun to look elsewhere. Today I use a Brother HL-L2360DW, and so do several of my friends. The printer, which generally sells for about $100, is a reliable performer for...
To all, death must come. The time to get your affairs in order is now and not impose another stressful duty on your loved ones left behind. Some of the items on your list should include the following: a living will, a last will and testament, your wishes for burial and access to your banking account by your executor to pay for the expenses. This article will focus on burial in an Alaska’s two national cemeteries, Fort Richardson and Sitka. As in any quest for your veteran’s benefits, locate and...
My two-year-old grandson is crazy about dinosaurs. So much so that we decorated his birthday cake with small brontosaurus, nanosaurus and T-rex replicas. He received an abundance of dinosaur-themed gifts, too, including dino sippy cups, dino books, dino imprinted T-shirts and a multitude of dinosaur toys. I went to bed that evening and dreamt about dinosaurs all night! When I woke up, I still was thinking about T-Rex and his buddies. Then something rang a bell in my memory bank about dinosaurs o...
Were you one of those kids who dashed home from school in the late 60s to catch the latest developments in the fantasy/horror TV serial "Dark Shadows"? When the show first aired on daytime television on June 27, 1966, Kathryn Leigh Scott was among the original cast of the landmark soap opera. Five years and 1,225 episodes later, Scott had left the series, but Lara Parker was on hand for the final episode. The actresses have been attending conventions and reunions all year to commemorate the show...
This month’s column is about the novelist Charles Dickens, and the artist formerly known as Prince. Yes, there is a connection. Bear with me. Dickens, as you may know, wrote a novel called “Bleak House.” It followed the travails of a group of people connected to a chancery suit (what we would call a “probate case” in America) which has dragged on and on for generations, sometimes ruining the heirs who keep expecting it to be resolved at any time. Because of Bleak House, Dickens is credited...
Q. I have used an iPod for years, but now that I carry a smartphone, I’d like to use it for music. What is the best way to do that? A. Any smartphone can replace an iPod. To get started, try installing the music you already own onto your phone using the same connection formerly used for the iPod. Moving from an iPod to an iPhone is very simple, since everything is managed via iTunes. Moving from an iPod to Android may require a new app, but generally it can be done. Where smartphones surpass the iPod is their ability to use streaming music s...
With the approach of the year’s end and a new one beginning, many of us frantically compile lists of things to finish up or initiate. Mine include holiday gift-buying, card-sending, planning a family dinner, household chores to complete before the arrival of guests, places to go and people to meet, not to mention activities related to my writing career. It’s enough to make me long to immediately take a nap. Or, if I actually try to accomplish everything, by Christmas Eve at 2 a.m., I’m cranky, exhausted and depleted of cheer. However, a secre...
Older Persons Action Group and Senior Voice Alaska recognizes and honors veterans every day for their service to our nation. But on Veterans Day, November 11, special thanks are needed. A reprint from the VFW’s website on the origin of the well-known red poppy is appropriate for this edition. Buddy Poppy The VFW conducted its first poppy distribution before Memorial Day in 1922, becoming the first veterans’ organization to organize a nationwide distribution. The poppy soon was adopted as the...
Anyone interested in the Klondike gold-rush era has heard of the infamous Klondike Kate, a dancehall gal who mesmerized miners with her moves. Kathleen Rockwell earned quite the reputation for her flirtatious dancing. But there was another girl named Kate who also traveled north and gained some notoriety as a cook, nurse and jailer. Ill-fated love led this Canadian girl to set out for the Klondike in 1898. When Katherine Ryan heard newspaper boys shouting out the headlines about gold found in...
American audiences were introduced to British actress Stephanie Cole when she portrayed grumpy, sharp-witted Diana Trent, a resident of the Bayview Retirement Village in the 90s sitcom "Waiting for God." A decade later, Cole was back on U.S. Public Television playing a more congenial matriarchal character in another popular British comedy import, "Doc Martin." Turning 75 last month, Cole's current work schedule might be the envy of many actors. "I'm in two popular series ('Man Down' and 'Still...
Winston Churchill once said that democracy was a crappy system, until you consider the alternatives (I’m paraphrasing of course). When I hear that, it reminds me of the controversy over powers of attorney (POAs, for short). I mentioned in last month’s column that the legislature recently gave us a new statutory power of attorney. It cleans up a number of problems from the old version. One of the most maddening issues we had before was that you were not supposed to check the boxes for the pow...
Q. My Windows 7 PC is showing its age and will need to be replaced soon. But I’m not sure which direction to go. Should I stick with Windows? Switch to a Mac? I think I might like a laptop. Any recommendations? A. Upgrading your PC will require considerable effort. Even the move from Windows 7 to Windows 10 comes with a significant learning curve. A new computer will be easier to use and more secure. Laptops are extremely popular. Yet despite four decades of improvements, I think computers are still needlessly complex for most tasks. Too m...
Editor’s note: This press release was received Sept. 14, 2016. The need for family caregivers in the U.S. is rapidly increasing, yet demographic shifts are causing the pool of potential family caregivers to decrease, according to “Families Caring for an Aging America,” a new report from The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Currently, nearly 18 million people in this country provide some form of care for loved ones age 65 or older. The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisc...
Suns, skies, clouds and flowers of June together cannot rival for one hour, October’s bright blue Alaska weather. – H H Jackson. If you think your prescribed meds are getting more expensive each time you get another order in, you are absolutely right. Just a couple of questions to my friends: Wouldn’t the world be a far better place if there were no insurance companies? Why do the people on Medicare Part D have to buy into an insurance company? When I saw my doctor last week, he told me his e...
You have decided you need a change of scenery and want to explore our wonderful country. You pull out the Rand McNally (I am aware I have just dated myself) and pick a section of the country on your bucket list. Then, reality strikes. You have VA medical appointments, meds about to run out and a lab test scheduled. Your next logical step would be to wait until all of those little situations are sorted before leaving. I have a news flash: There will always be some little appointment, event or...
When John Green Brady, governor of the District of Alaska, was asked to create an exhibit to publicize the Great Land for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904, he decided to showcase one of Southeast Alaska's most recognizable features: totem poles. Brady thought a display of poles carved by Alaska's Native people would draw crowds to the exhibit where they then could learn about the real Alaska – not an icebox, but a land that offered much for tourism, settlement and developme...
