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FAIRBANKS — Author Lael Morgan believes Georgia Lee, one of the more interesting characters in Fairbanks’ past, deserves a proper marker on her grave in the Birch Hill Cemetery.

Morgan ordered a headstone and plans to host a graveside gathering Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. in the cemetery at Tier 3A, Row 9A.

For more than 35 years, Morgan researched the history of prostitution in Alaska and the Yukon, work that formed the basis of her book, “Good Times Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush.”

Lee, born in 1877 in rural Illinois, escaped poverty in her 20s by coming to Fairbanks, where a gold rush created opportunities of all kinds.

“Disowned by her family, knowing she could never go home again, she established herself as one of the most sought-after prostitutes, proving to be a highly successful business woman and a good citizen as well,” Morgan said in a news release.

She died in 1954, leaving an estate worth more than $100,000, which would be valued at many times that amount today.

Morgan said seven cousins admitted they were related to her, but “none of them left any money to finance a tombstone for their benefactor.”

Morgan said she enjoyed meeting survivors of Lee’s family in Illinois as part of her research, but was troubled that no one had marked the grave of one of Fairbanks’ “most interesting citizens.”

She said Sandy Harrington, who works in the office at Pioneer Park that once was Georgia Lee’s house in Nenana, will take part in the gathering.

Harrington is a secretary at Pioneer Park under park manager Jason Avery and operations supervisor Allen Shaw. The building was moved to the Fourth Avenue “line” in 1928 and was later preserved in the park.

Morgan, who partnered with Kent Sturgis to form Epicenter Press in 1988, said her decision to mark the grave stems from a statement she made to Sturgis when her book was published a decade ago: “If I ever make any money on this book, I’ll buy Georgia Lee a headstone myself.”

The publishing company has struggled throughout the years, but it published “Sarah,” a biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, that has landed on the New York Times Best Seller list. It was No. 6 this week, with 410,000 copies in print.

For more information, call Harrington at 459-1087 or Morgan at (207) 282-8024.

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ON THE GO: Steve Bainbridge, who has done a great job throughout the years as race director of the Equinox Marathon, is already looking ahead to next year.

I talked to him Monday, and he agrees that a shuttle bus system is a good solution to the Ester Dome traffic jam during the race. He said they’ll do it next year.

Runner Jeff Benowitz said he likes the idea. He also said that the next time he sees Bainbridge, “I’m going to thank him for all his hard work, making it possible for me to be utterly miserable for a half-day.”

“Now I have another year’s store of, ‘At least we’re not on the Equinox turnaround section, in a driving rain without a shirt and 12 miles to go’ to pull out during ‘here we are again’ situations.”

One of those situations occurred in July when he was on the Black Rapids Glacier doing rock studies for his Ph.D.

“I was on top of a peak when an electrical storm came in and my ice axes started to buzz. As I ‘ran’ down back to camp, the snow fell so quick it wiped out my tracks and I lost orientation. As I sat, wet and slightly electrified, waiting for a break in the weather to be able to orientate myself back to the tent, all I could say to the wind was, ‘This is bad, but at least I’m not on the Equinox Marathon turnaround section, in a driving rain without a shirt with 12 miles to go.’”

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READER CHALLENGE: “I challenge you to try calling the Permanent Fund office. Call 451-2820 and see what happens. If you get a real person, let me know. I have tried and cannot get a real person.”

I took up the reader’s challenge and tried four times. Each time, I heard a few minutes of relaxing music, followed by a busy signal.

Deborah Bitney, director of the dividend office in Juneau, said thousands of people are calling or stopping by the offices across the state. They responded to 7,000 phone calls or personal visits last week. The rush continued Monday.

“The division’s ability to respond to phone calls has been seriously hampered by a malfunctioning phone system,” she said, asking patience.

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MYSTERY CABIN: Regarding the cabin on the north side of Chena Hot Springs Road with the perennial “For Sale” sign, it turns out there’s a long story behind it.

A reader asked about this last week, and I received many phone calls and all sorts of reports, some of which appear to be true.

From what I gather, it was built by a group of guys who had a goal of selling it to someone who would have to take it apart and move it. The scribed logs were said to be so tight that you could not slide a dollar bill between them.

But that was a decade ago. Suffice to say, the business arrangements never worked out.

The owners were not able to move the cabin when it could have been sold. As time passed, they were not able to sell it for what they had in it.

Now, the owner of the land where the shell sits is considering putting it to use.

And regarding that other question — about the once-popular thick foam insulation on houses’ roofs — a lot of people with building expertise filled me in on the product.

Tom Marsh, a local architect with Jantz Associates, said sprayed polyurethane foam was once used by many people for exterior insulation, with mixed results.

“With a properly installed and maintained coating, a sprayed foam roof works fine. However, even if they are properly installed, they are rarely properly maintained. Ravens seem to particularly enjoy pecking into the foam,” he said.

Holes in the foam allow water to intrude.

“Water-filled foam makes lousy insulation and will rot a wood roof,” he said.

Others said the foam worked well on mobile homes if the coating was kept in good condition, though it didn’t exactly qualify a dwelling for Fine Homebuilding.

This reminded me of the car that used to be seen hereabouts that was covered in foam, one of the stranger applications of the product.

If you have a column suggestion or comment, contact me at cole@newsminer.com or 459-7530.

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