"The name Alaska is probably an abbreviation of Unalaska, derived from the original Aleut word agunalaksh, which means "the shores where the sea breaks its back." The war between water and land is never-ending. Waves shatter themselves in spent fury against the rocky bulwarks of the coast; giant tides eat away the sand beaches and alter the entire contour of an island overnight; williwaw winds pour down the side of a volcano like snow sliding off a roof, building to a hundred-mile velocity in a matter of minutes and churning the ocean into a maelstrom where the stoutest vessels founder."

You may also like:

• 

  Budd Schulberg
  Screenwriter

• 

  Dan Gillmor
  Writer

• 

  Fritz Lang
  Filmmaker

• 

  Gene Hill
  Author

• 

  George S. Kaufman
  Playwright

• 

  Howard Dietz
  Publicist

• 

  James Emery White
  Author

• 

  Robert Ruark
  Author

• 

  Ring Lardner, Jr.
  Journalist