In the tradition of Heather Lende and Seth Kantner, these dispatches from the Kuskokwin are insightful and funny and fully human. Dan Branch has written a heart-breaking book that is also filled with wit and wonder. A true joy to read.

—Brian Castner, author of Stampede

Dan Branch, “ignorant but lucky,” turned what began as a one-year lawyering commitment in Bethel, Alaska into a lifetime of learning, adventure, compassion, and reflection upon what makes a “good” life. His memoir in essays provides a fascinating personal and historical record of western Alaska in the 1970s and ‘80s. While much of what he experienced as lawyer and magistrate is heart-breaking, Branch balances his account with admiration for those he learned from, humility for his own missteps, and a big-hearted sense of humor.

—Nancy Lord, former Alaska writer laureate and author of Fishcamp, Beluga Days, and pH: A Novel

From the frozen sloughs and tundra of the Kuskokwim River country to the deep forests of Ketchikan, Branch takes us on a “stranger in a strange land” journey with the boundless empathy of a perpetual outsider wanting only to understand what it means to be an Alaskan.

—Richard Chiappone, author of The Hunger of Crows, Water of an Undetermined Depth, and Liar’s Code

The first time I met Dan Branch he wowed me with his storytelling over more beers than I could count. I literally couldn't get enough of his tales of rural Alaska. The last time I saw him, I spent eight hours on an Alaskan ferry begging for more, and Dan delivered every minute of the way. And such is the case with Someday I'll Miss this Place Too. The depth and breadth of Branch's experience, along with his masterful storytelling makes for a great ride, whether on a ferry, or on the page.

—Jonathan Evison, author of Small World, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, and All About Lulu

Someday I’ll Miss This Place Too is a stranger-in-a-strange-land memoir, the story of a newly minted California-educated lawyer who finds himself doing legal aid work in the remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The year commitment stretches to twelve. To say the author comes of age there is both a given and an understatement. His profound respect and compassion for the people he serves, mostly troubled Yup’ik Alaskans, haunts both him and the reader. Branch invokes in me a curious sense of fernweh, a feeling of longing for a place I have never been. This is as Alaskan as any book we have, both culturally significant and deeply moving.

—David Stevenson, author High Places, Sacrifices, Mysteries, and Forty Crows