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Writer's pictureNeil Gordon

the dirty skillet

July 7th, 2023 @ 5 PM - Book signing for the Goldfield Trilogy


Come and meet and greet the author—Neil Perry Gordon, at the Dirty Skillet next Friday. Neil will be signing copies of his three books from the Goldfield Trilogy. The book signing will take place from five until seven in the evening.


How the idea of the trilogy was CONCEIVED:

In 2019, I visited Hope, Alaska, a small town hugging Turnagain Arm on the Kenai Peninsula. This was not my first time at this former gold mining site, but it was to become a significant one. During this two-week vacation, I visited my close friends—Tom and Barbara Miller, and their sons—Sam and Jack- when inspiration created a story. Jeannine Jabaay, the fabulous Hope City restaurant owner of the Dirty Skillet- told me how Hope City got its name.


"What I know for pretty sure: Even before the Yukon, Hope was the original place where gold was discovered in the north. More than 8,000 folks came to Hope with the dream of finding their fortune in the Six Mile and Resurrection Creeks. Hotels, social halls, banks, restaurants, and brothels quickly dotted the small community, with new arrivals coming daily by boat, foot, and wagon. But there was no town name. Some township leaders decided the place would be named after the next person off the ship. When Percy Hope stepped off the boat, he had no idea he was about to leave his legacy. Hope, Alaska is named after a young man who wanted to stake his fortune in Alaska. Little else is known about Percy Hope. His name seems to disappear from the history books." " What I'm not quite as sure of but are gonna say as fact anyways: After landing in town, Percy Hope tried his luck for many months in Resurrection Creek and Six Mile Creek waters. Although he managed to pan a few gold flakes, he never did strike it rich. He did, however, gather enough gold to purchase an old dirty skillet. Percy Hope made his name with that skillet by providing hearty, heaping, home-style cooked foods for the other prospectors and their families. Percy Hope's legacy lives on here at Dirty Skillet."

The Bear Creek Lodge & The Dirty Skillet Before Jeannine could finish, an idea for a novel was born, and less than a year later, Hope City - The Alaskan Adventures of Percy Hope was published. Curious to know more about Percy's fabulous adventures, I wrote Cape Nome as its sequel, and just this year, I completed the story of this young man's journey by publishing Denali, the final book in the Goldfield Trilogy.


With three books in hand, I am returning to Hope, the source of my inspiration, to promote the trilogy with a book signing at the Dirty Skillet.

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