A two-week vacation to Alaska in 1971 showed Joanne Hawkins what living in the Last Frontier was all about – self-sufficiency and community.

Hawkins, of Nenana, decided Alaska was where she wanted to be.

She went back to Milwaukee, sold her belongings, and bought a pick-up truck.

She drove to Alaska alone in the dead of winter.

She called Alaska the land of men and money, and after working on it for years, has finished writing a book with that title about her Alaska adventures.

She said she never would have known what she could do without trying.

Book distribution begins Wednesday.