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businesses, ultimately employing scores of people. Their efforts in free enterprise became an economic engine in rhe region.
    The Palin-Kallstrom family was also the most generous I have ever met, willing to give the shirts off their backs for those in need. Todd’s morher, Blanche Kallstrom, ran her businesses that way and has been materially blessed for being so generous to others.
    Todd has always had great respect for Alaska’s environment. Through meeting him and his family, I began to truly appreciate not only Alaska’s natural diversity bur irs social diversity, too. Todd came from a different world than I, with this huge, exotic family that splintered off in several directions and was impacted • 3 5
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    by some of the societal ills that plague Native villages in Alaska. Though his upbringing was unconventional and tough at times, Todd bnte down and built a reputation fot wotking hatdet than men twice his age-men who had fat mote tools and advantages than this kid who shuffled among patents’, grandpatents’, and gteat-gtandpatents’ homes. Todd had what is uniquely beautiful in out Native cultute-“cousins” evetywhete. It’s tradition that even a second ot thitd cousin is tefetted to as “cousin,” and his family seemed to have hundteds.
    Todd witnessed things that many Ameticans nevet will. Thete ate tough conditions in some villages, and the hatsh citcumstances lead some to abuse both alcohol and each othet, and societal ills that include despondency and suicides. Todd saw it all. He also saw oppottunities to teact to citcumstances in productive ways.
    Despite his steel cote, Todd was shy and quiet in demeanot, typical of Yupik men, who, unlike some others, don’t feel the need to fill up the air around them with words all the time. He was also incredibly well-mannered and polite to my parents, who were smitten with his work ethic and his constant offers to help anyone who needed anything. He stacked firewood for Dad and drove my mom out to the mountains so she could find the perfect skiing conditions. He picked up Molly and me for practices so we wouldn’t have to walk. Todd and Dad hit it off because not only could Todd fix anything, but Dad had never met anyone who had an even greater respect for Alaska and her wildlife than we did.
    My family fell in love with Todd right along with me. Coming from a family full of very strong,
    women,
    Todd didn’t find me a surprise in that way. But he tells me that he was most attracted to my solid family. He was crazy about my parents and knew that if they were such good family people, we had the potential to continue that tradition. As we grew up and
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    Going Rogue
    grew togerher, our prioriries became apparenr. Neither of us was inro heavy-duty materialism. We weren’t into fancy food, fancy clothes, fancy anything. He was very practical: he bought his car because he needed transportation; he bought his truck to haul his snowmachines.
    We certainly had differences.
    I was broke. I was nerdy. I played the flute.
    He cussed. He chewed. He didn’t go to church.
    But when he told me he had become a Christian and had been baptized at a sports camp a few years earlier, rhat was the clincher for me.
    Amidst our hometown group of friends’ shared inrerests, difference after difference struck me with Todd. He seemed so much more enlightened than the rest of us and had such a sense of justice. He hated gossip and pretension. He hated prejudice. He opposed any physical disrespect of the land, from litter to irresponsible developmenr. He talked about respect for nature, especially for the warers he was born and raised on. He truly was a conservationist and was adamant about using every part of any animal he hunted.
    I admired Todd’s great reverence for his elders, especially his wise grandparenrs. At the time, I felt I barely knew my grandpar ents, and I envied his Native culture, which taught him to know well and honor those who had