Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- Bill Hess has some serious Alaska credentials.

The bright-eyed 58-year-old Wasilla resident spent decades chronicling the culture of whaling in Barrow and North Slope villages, images that ended up in his book, "Gift of the Whale." A pilot, he often flew to work, as evidenced by the wrecked Citabria in the family's yard off Seldon Road. Hess walked away from a crash at subsistence activist Katie John's place in Mentasta in 2001.

But, in May, he turned his skills to a truly bold challenge summed up in two words not usually spoken together by Alaskans: Cat blog.

Of course, there are plenty of blogs dedicated to felines in the Lower 48. People who blog about cats tend to converse in phrases like "posts fur the day" and "linkies." Others let cats do the blogging, such as Max, aka "Psychokitty," who enjoys whapping stuff off furniture and motivating "the Woman" to get off her "considerable backside" and get him his fill of "Stinky Goodness."

But Hess' "No Cats Allowed -- the Kracker Cat Blog" is different.

You'll find no felines "writing" their own blogs or humans telling fru-fru kitty stories. Hess is a story teller. He writes about his cats, Royce, Jimmy, Pistol-Yero, Chicago, Martigny.

But he writes about his family too -- wife, Marjorie, their children, the grandson staying with them for a bit. Even Muzzy, their massive St. Bernard, occasionally makes an appearance.

EACH ENTRY HAS A TAIL

For the people involved, Hess employs pseudonyms, spelled a bit off to avoid any pesky phone calls from cracker company lawyers. A few examples: Tryskuit, Nabysko, and Grahamn Cracker, as Hess calls himself.

Why Kracker Cats? Well, "Hess Cats" didn't sound as cool.

Why start the blog? Hess took photos of cats he'd seen while traveling around the world and in the Bush. He amassed a portfolio that could be a book someday, but this spring decided to give that newfangled Internet a try.

His readership is limited so far, but widely scattered with posts about people's cats as far away as Salt Lake City and even India.

The only rule: Each entry must feature a cat somewhere.

There's the lady in Nigeria who finally could afford to get her cats spayed after Hess posted a PayPal link and a single generous donor came through with the $250 she needed.

There's the chronicles of Romeo, a black-and-white cat that belonged to political candidate Diane Benson, who just lost to Ethan Berkowitz in the U.S. House democratic primary. Romeo helped Benson cope with word her son lost his legs in Iraq, as well as the joy of his homecoming. Romeo's funeral last month finishes out the series.

Jimmy, the black cat, is photographed in front of a television screen filled with Gov. Sarah Palin's face to catalogue the big news of her naming as John McCain's vice-presidential pick last Friday.

Most personal of all, Hess chronicled his own difficult times this summer. He mangled his shoulder shooting photos in Barrow in June. Trying to get a better vantage in a gym, he stood on a wheeled stool like he had many times before. Only this time, the stool slid out from under him.

INJURED AND STILL BLOGGING

A nurse tried to take away his camera for the medevac flight to Anchorage. Hess kept it.

"I kept taking pictures, all the way," he said.

He had to have shoulder replacement surgery later after a late-night catfight woke him up, he said. He shot up in bed and the original surgery fell apart.

He still wears his right arm in a sling. He has temporarily replaced his bulky professional Canon EOS with a small point-and-shoot that's easy to handle.

The blog kept him occupied as he recovered, Hess said. "I've probably spent more time on it than I should have."

Before his accident, Hess had hoped to start a more permanent blog this fall, split into three categories: The Kracker Cats, Cats Met Along the Way (because every cat has a story), and Cat Lies, All of Them Absolutely True.

But now, due to his medical bills and not being able to work, he's strapped for cash and not quite sure what the future holds.

Hess said he would love to bring more people to the site, which averages just 40 to 50 unique visitors in a day.

"But the people that find it, find it from all over the world," he said.

Find Zaz Hollander at www.adn.com/contact/zhollander or 352-6711.

To visit the Kracker Cat blog, go to

nocatsallowed.blogspot.com

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