Family and friends to remember Bob Tkacz

Bob Tkacz
Bob Tkacz. (Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)

Longtime Alaska reporter Bob Tkacz will be remembered Thursday at the state capitol for the years he covered the Alaska Legislature.

Tkacz died in May at the age of 61. For years he covered state lawmakers for various Alaska media, most recently the Alaska Legislative Digest and Alaska Journal of Commerce. He also wrote about the commercial fishing and seafood industry in his own subscription newsletter, Laws for the SEA, which he established in 1994.

Tkacz was known for his tenacious style of questions, especially with politicians he was covering.

Fittingly, the House Speaker’s chambers in the state capitol have been reserved at 3 p.m. for a time to share memories of Tkacz. Younger brother Tom Tkacz says it will be followed by a reception at St. Ann’s Hall on Fifth Street, which begins at 6 p.m.

“As Bob wanted, he didn’t want to have a lot of moping around, he wanted to have a party so that’s what we’re going to have,” Tom Tkacz says.

He has been in Juneau to close up his brother’s office stuffed with years of covering the issues and events of Juneau and the state.

He says he’s heard a lot about Bob’s determined journalistic style.

He’s been described as a bull-dog reporter; a tenacious pursuer of honesty and the truth.

But he says his favorite memories of his brother are the times they shared outdoors, including hiking and climbing.

 

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