Barry MacAlpine lived life exactly the way he wanted to, and at the center of his world were 35 dogs.
The 70-year-old died Sunday in a fire that destroyed his no-frills 12-by-12-foot cabin surrounded by birch trees and aspens. No plumbing, no electricity. Piles of stuff in the yard. He had called this corner of Birchwood his home since 1961.
Recently employed by a print shop, MacAlpine also worked as a surveyor. He earned just enough money to take care of his canine brood.
"Everything went to his dogs," said his son, Norman MacAlpine.
Charred evidence of Barry MacAlpine's life now litters the burned-out shell of his cabin. More of a shed, it fit right into the area where expensive new homes sprout up beside trailers and yards are often marked by out-of-commission cars and all-purpose blue tarps.
Still, his place stood out: It had the tarps, the dead cars and piles of what looks like junk to most people. But it also had all those barking, baying huskies.
They made quite a racket Monday afternoon, as dogs all across MacAlpine's lot pointed their moist snouts skyward and howled.
Most were tethered to trees or little square doghouses.
Neighbors knew the names of some dogs. But in most cases, their identities died with MacAlpine.
A few huskies roamed loose. No one had been able to catch them since the fire, said Donna MacAlpine, Barry's former wife.
The pair remained friends after they separated. She caught the first flight out of McGrath this morning to help care for the dogs and settle her ex-husband's affairs, she said.
"I would call him a very gentle spirit, who was kind to all animals, to everybody," she said.
They met decades ago. The Air Force brought MacAlpine to Anchorage, and he stayed. He played saxophone in a jazz band when he met Donna.
His musical talents impressed her, she said.
She also liked that he spoke Latin.
MacAlpine loved math. He owned hundreds of books, and many were about mathematics.
"Also music, art - everything, really," said neighbor Val Jokela, who was at MacAlpine's place Monday to help with the dogs. "I just thought, what a collection of books. And they weren't frivolous books. They were hard-core intellectual books."
The MacAlpines had four children - Robin, Kenneth, Norman and Heather. They raised them in a Birchwood home nearby. It burned down in 2001, the cause never determined.
Jokela and other mushers in the area had a soft spot for MacAlpine by then. They banded together to build the cabin he died in.
"And he just sort of settled here with his dogs," Donna MacAlpine said.
Norman MacAlpine stood near the scorched shell of his father's house, thumbing through photographs that recorded that construction effort.
Few photographs exist of his dad, he said. MacAlpine, a private person, was happy to be left alone.
People described him as eccentric, but a gentleman.
Neighbors gathered at the wreckage of his home Monday afternoon. Some carried water and food to the dogs. Others just stood around, talking, sharing stories about him - how he used to ride around Birchwood on a bike with five dogs tethered to it.
There were guesses about how the fire started. Maybe he was cooking? Or smoking cigarettes? They don't know, and the fire marshal is still investigating.
A steady stream of people stopped by, asking after the dogs. The family is trying to get them adopted out - most likely to mushers or others with kennels, since the huskies are used to being outdoors and tethered.
One woman handed Norman MacAlpine $25 and asked that it be used for dog food.
"I just want to do something to help," she said, before getting back in her car and leaving.
By Katie Pesznecker – Anchorage Daily News
Monday, June 18, 2007
Gentle Spirit
