Album Notes

Many are called but few choose to hear and give of themselves completely. Celia Hunter heard the call of the wilderness at an early age and answered it with her adventuresome spirit, loving heart and thoughtful mind.

In December 1946, she and pilot friend Ginny Hill were hired to fly two Stinson airplanes from Seattle to Fairbanks. They decided to stay and work in the tourism industry.

This experience inspired Celia, Ginny Hill Wood and Woody Wood to build Camp Denali, a wilderness camp just outside the original boundary of Mt. McKinley National Park. For more than two decades Celia and Ginny shared the wonders of the Park with visitors from all over the world. Now inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Camp Denali celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2002 and continues to welcome tourists.

In 1960, Celia and Ginny helped found the Alaska Conservation Society. Working together, Celia and Ginny have tackled all of Alaska's major environmental issues. In the late 1970s, Celia's leadership moved to the national level when she served as Executive Director of the Wilderness Society. Dedicated to the conservation movement, she also helped found the Alaska Conservation Foundation in 1980 and, along with Ginny, received its lifetime achievement award in 2001.

Every other Thursday from August 1999 until November 2001, the public radio show Alaska Edition featured Celia Hunter as a "Fairbanks Pioneer." In each segment, Celia shared an episode from her life - adventures in the air, camp tales, dog stories, and observations of Alaska and Fairbanks as they grew and developed. Before Celia died in December 2001, she and radio producer Amy Mayer began planning a CD compilation of the Fairbanks Pioneer stories. This CD is the culmination of that idea, in honor of Celia, and with generous support from many people and organizations she touched.

Celia leaves a tremendous legacy of conservation accomplishments. Her vibrant spirit will live on in the wilderness she loved, in the lives of those she inspired and in the legislation that holds her tireless efforts to protect what she truly loved. The earth and all its living things are grateful. Alaska will forever remember Celia.

written by Debbie S. Miller, author of Midnight Wilderness