FOR WHAT HE COULD BECOME is a compelling novel following the exploits of Bill Williams, a native Alaskan, as he leaves his village, works on a riverboat, helps build the AlCan Highway, and is drafted into World War II.

After WWII he returns to the village to find his brother stole and destroyed the letters he wrote to his girl friend and married her himself. Depressed and angry he flies to Anchorage where he is to learn that not all men are his brothers. Drink, unemployment, homelessness and lack of purpose force him to float on the surface of a small minority of natives who live desperate lives of dereliction. There is humor and shared experiences as Bill negotiates the ways of living without income in AlaskaÕs largest city, which includes hunting moose behind McDonalds and getting the most out of the rotund Captain Russell of the Salvation Army Corp.

The untimely death of his dominating brother causes the widow to come to town, find him, and give him a second big chance at love, life and happiness. Though he is hardly able to stand from drinking, she convinces him to drive the sled dogs his brother has trained for the last great race on earthÑthe 1000 mile Iditarod sled dog race.

Hung over and sick as the race begins, he first has to survive; then remember what his dad and uncle taught him about driving dogs, and then rise to the challenge of finding his way through a thousand miles of frozen hell. A money prize large enough to change his life awaits him on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, as well as a pretty widow who has hinted sheÕll be there when he crosses the finish line.

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