JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It took roughly six months to do the impossible and quite a bit longer to tell the story about it.
Cathy Parker’s book, "Northern Lights," was released on Tuesday, completing a journey that began 12 and a half years ago. Parker, with the assistance of numerous supporters on the First Coast, helped get a football field in tiny Barrow, Alaska — now known as Utqiagvik — the northernmost town in the United States. It took six months of praying and networking and fundraising to make that happen.
That it happened at all is still difficult to believe.
Sharing that story has been a learning experience for Parker, a former St. Johns County resident who now lives in Baxley, Georgia. She's spoken about it publicly hundreds of times over the years, but telling that story in the long form that a book presents was something different.
Parker signed a movie deal in 2015 and knows that is the next step in the process. But a movie won’t be nearly as personal as writing the book was, and Parker said that she’s excited to share that journey with readers who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the story.
“I was so thankful to get it all done,” Parker said. “A movie’s a movie. Having everything down on paper, the thing is, it tells a story from start to finish. It was very important to get it all done. The book is definitely what happened and I’m so glad to be able to share it.”
A quick refresher on Parker’s journey.
During 2016, Parker saw an ESPN segment on the Barrow football team. The conditions that the Whalers had to practice and play in were unimaginable for Parker. The Whalers practiced on a dirt and gravel field and used flour to line the field. Polar bear sightings were common. Both drug use and the dropout rate of high school students were high.
Parker was so moved by the story that she went into immediate planning mode on how to pull off the impossible — putting a turf football field in tiny Barrow.
Parker, a mother of four, headed up the mission, originally called Project Alaska Turf, to raise the money and gather support to fund it. It started in February 2007 and the group managed to get everything done in time for Barrow’s season-opening game on Aug. 17, 2007. The Whalers won in the closing seconds.
Barrow coach Brian Houston said in a 2015 story that the field had done wonders for the team, including paying off in the classroom. Since the field was installed, the Whalers have played in three state championship games and won one of those.
The final bill on the project: close to $800,000.
And it’s been worth every penny.