One of Alaska’s foremost historians has died. Claus-M. Naske passed away last week at age 78, after a long battle with cancer. Naske was a professor of history at the University of Alaska –Fairbanks who wrote or co-authored nearly a dozen books about Alaska history.

It’s only fitting that a man who survived some of the most violent cross-currents of history should develop such a passion for the subject. That’s what many observers believe drove Claus Naske to devote his life to history, including Julia Parzick, an administrative secretary at UAF who befriended Naske and worked closely with him throughout his years with the university’s history department.

“Claus loved history,” Parzick said. “He loved Alaska. He was a very prolific writer about Alaska. I should know – I was the one who typed most of the papers he gave and retyped his books for him!”...