Happy 2026! I’ve been absent, I know. 2025 was an interesting year for me. I inherited glaucoma from my father and my grandmother. I’ve had it for several years, but it progressed very slowly. A few years ago, my optometrist suggested I start taking medicated eye drops to treat it, but none of the available medications worked, so he combined several medicines. This also didn’t work, and it left me with very red, sore eyes. Suddenly, my slow-moving disease went into hyperdrive, and my eye pressure began to increase rapidly. The optometrist referred me to an ophthalmologist, who did a laser treatment and tried other non-surgical options. Nothing worked, and last winter, I lost a good portion of my vision.
In June, I had three surgeries, and I will have a fourth in February. He put stents in my eyes to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure on the optic nerve, and my vision stabilized. However, the pressure in my right eye is increasing again.
This vision loss has dramatically impacted my life, and there are many things I can no longer do. However, I asked the doctor to replace my lenses with specialized lenses to sharpen my close-up vision. I also changed my computer screen to black with white text so I can see it and still write. As long as I don’t lose more vision, I should still be able to write books, my newsletter, and my occasional blog post. I am also still able to maintain my podcast. Unfortunately, though, I can’t do any of these things as quickly as I used to. Strangely, I can’t see black text on a white background, so I struggle to read books. Since I often need to read obscure books as sources for my true crime newsletters, this is a challenge.
On a positive note, my next book of Alaska true-crime stories is now entering the last rounds of editing before I send it to my publisher. I am still working on the back cover blurb, but this is what I have so far.
What did Captain Terauchi and the crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 see in the skies over Alaska, prompting the CIA to swear anyone with knowledge of the incident to secrecy? Why did the villagers of Portlock, Alaska, suddenly leave their homes? What happened to seven members of the Wilcox Expedition on July 18, 1967, during a catastrophic snowstorm on the summit of Mt. Denali? Each year, more than two thousand people disappear in Alaska, twice the national average. Is this due to the rugged terrain and harsh conditions, or are other forces at play?
Eleven of the thirty-three stories in this book cover mysteries, and the other twenty-two detail murders in Alaska from the early 1900s to the mid 2020s.
What did Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz) do in 1909 in a Juneau bar to land him in prison for the rest of his life? Who killed Cecil Wells in his Fairbanks apartment in 1953? Why did Denali Brehmer murder her best friend near Anchorage on June 4, 2019?
Learn about serial killers Louis Carignan, Charles Sinclair, Joshua Wade, James Dale Ritchie, and Brian Steven Smith.
Take another trip through time and space with true-crime writer Robin Barefield in Volume 2 of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier and read stories from Juneau to Fairbanks, Point Hope, Denali, Anchorage, Kodiak, the Aleutian Islands, and places in between.
Alaska is big and beautiful with stunning scenery, but it is also the most dangerous place in the US for women and the state where the most people disappear. Get a glimpse of Alaska’s dark side – if you dare.
As I said, it is a work in progress, but you get the idea.
Despite my vision loss, 2025 was mostly an excellent year. Mike and I took a spectacular trip to the Galapagos Islands in February. It was a trip I’ve dreamed about since I was in high school, and I was not disappointed. We also had a wonderful summer with our guests here at our lodge. I know 2026 will bring new surprises and challenges, and I look forward to meeting them head-on.
I wish you all good health and happiness, and don’t forget to take time out to read!