Alaskans seem to have a special relationship with fathers that goes beyond the breadwinner, protector, disciplinarian thing. Maybe it's because many of us associate our dads with larger-than-life Alaska adventures, with fish, snowmachines, airplanes, giant mountains, grand rivers and open seas. Maybe it's because, for many, the extended family is far away. Or maybe it's just an Alaska tendency to equate greatness with fatherhood. No one calls Joe Reddington "the founder of the Iditarod Race" or Jay Hammond "a proponent of the Permanent Fund." No, it's "The FATHER of the Iditarod" and "the FATHER of the Permanent Fund." Bill Egan didn't just chair the state's constitutional convention; he's gone down in history as "the FATHER of the Alaska Constitution."

This year the Anchorage Daily News has received a bumper crop of photos showing readers with their fathers. A good number of those photos seem to capture the specialness of being an Alaska dad. We present some here. Find more, and add your own pictures, at adn.com/dadandme.