Kay Guthrie's reason for heading north was not gold or oil. It was a lovely red-haired co-ed he met at Washington State College "Suddenly I heard angels singing," Kay recalls. The year was 1949. He followed his new love to a remote village in southwest Alaska. On the way, a bush pilot handed over his controls, instructing Guthrie: "Head for that mountain peak … wake me when you get there." Guthrie learned right away that Alaskans are different than other Americans. He founded the new state's first full-service advertising agency in 1959. The young ad man gravitated toward bruising political campaigns where he loved trying to outwit the opposition. Other memorable clients include an ill-fated German brewery that should have listened to his advice and Charles F. "Charlie" Willis Jr., the flamboyant CEO of Alaska Airlines whose office in Seattle resembled a whorehouse saloon. In a memoir rich with humor and history, Kay tells how he survived three marriages, political battles, cranky clients, and North America's most powerful earthquake.