Reporter and one of the foremost writers about Alaska

Patty covered the state of Alaska for most of his 57 years as a reporter. He was a former assistant travel editor of The Seattle Times and on staff at the Times from 1954 to 1988. Before that, he was a reporter for The Longview Daily News in Longview, Wash., working there from 1949 to 1954. Patty’s Alaska stories for the Times have included the fight for statehood, construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, the campaign for settlement of Alaska natives’ aboriginal land claims, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964, the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was lead reporter for coverage of the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. Patty was twice runner-up for the Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas Grand Award. He is the author of Fearless Men And Fabulous Women: A reporter’s memoir from Alaska & the Yukon (Epicenter Press, 2004).