Legendary leaders: where are they now?

AuthorBohi, Heidi
PositionNATIVE BUSINESS: SPECIAL SECTION

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WILLIE HENSLEY

Willie Hensley has just returned from auditioning for a part in the movie "Everybody Loves Whales," the Universal Pictures movie that begins filming in Anchorage and Barrow this fall. If he gets the part, he'll play a whale hunter who helped deal with the press when it descended on Barrow during the 1988 attempt to rescue three gray whales trapped in sea ice there.

"I'm trying to become a movie star," he says laughing.

Legislator, author, commissioner, government liaison, Alaska Native leader--at 69, celebrity is one of the few professional gigs he hasn't landed yet, but if history's any indication, don't be surprised if you see his name in lights soon. Since retiring two years ago, he's been promoted in the grandfather and household helper departments--his wife Abbe still works--and he never turns down the chance to go fishing, berry picking and hunting, but even in retirement, he can't seem to stop himself from always looking ahead to the next idea or involvement.

Since the national and statewide promotional tours for his book "Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People," have slowed down some, he now has the time to think about taking on new projects such as recording a personal reading of his book in Inupiaq, and maybe even writing a second book, this time a novel. Although, he says, he's not one of those people who are compelled to write, if he keeps telling people about the idea enough he will have to follow through with actually writing it. In the meantime, he says, he'll keep plugging away at the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle.

What's on his mind these days, he says, is Alaska's future. "We have come a long way since the territorial days and we are fortunate to have enjoyed a good quality of life, but it's a lifestyle that in the long run is unaffordable. Since the '70s, we have been blinded by good fortune, but it has been going downhill since 1988 and I'm afraid if we dilly dally too long, our options will only decrease."

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ALICE PETRIVELLI

After 36 years of giving her heart and soul to The Aleut Corp. (TAC), Alice Petrivelli, former president and CEO of one of the state's most successful Alaska Native regional corporations, says despite holding several top positions there for many years, looking back, her favorite job was her first one working as the receptionist in 1972.

"I loved it because I knew everything that was going on and learned so...

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