Mary Shields is an Alaska icon. Known by many as a musher, author, teacher, trail-mate, inspiration, and friend, her life was celebrated on Saturday through an afternoon of storytelling.

The Ken Kunkel Community Center was filled with people who loved and admired Shields; they gathered in her honor to share stories, laugh, cry, and eat popcorn, just as she’d wished.

Shields was born Oct. 12, 1944, in Wisconsin. She first came to Alaska in 1965 to work for the Campfire Girls organization.

In 1972 Shields made history as the first woman to finish the Iditarod. When she arrived in Nome, after proving many doubtful men wrong that a woman could finish the 1,000-mile race, she was welcomed by a banner that read “You’ve come a long way baby”

Shields is widely known in Alaska for her trailblaz

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