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Paperback Tacos on the Tundra: The Story of Barrow, Alaska's Long-Time Resident, Fran Tate Book

ISBN: 0965482626

ISBN13: 9780965482622

Tacos on the Tundra: The Story of Barrow, Alaska's Long-Time Resident, Fran Tate

Biography of eccentric entrepreneur Fran Tate who went 300 miles above the Arctic Circle to open the world's northernmost Mexican restaurant, Pepe's North of the Border. This description may be from another edition of this product.

Recommended

Format: Paperback

Condition: Acceptable

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Customer Reviews

5 ratings

Practically a must-read if you're going to visit Barrow

This book lets you get to know Fran Tate, a character who has had a lot of impact on the way Barrow has developed in the past couple of decades. Fran's near-maniacal devotion to hard work and quality service is every bit as endearing as her complete lack of pretentiousness. If life were a rodeo, instead of sitting in the stands I believe that Fran would run out, jump on the biggest steer, get thrown off, jump right back on and repeat until the steer just got too tired to buck her off anymore. I wish I had read this book before I went to Barrow, it's unlikely I'll ever get a chance to go back and meet Fran in person. If I had never been to Barrow, I'd probably only rate the book 2 1/2 or 3 stars, though. It's mildly interesting on its own, but if you've been to Barrow (or plan to go there) you'll have a much better appreciation for the story. As I have been there, I give the book four stars.

The Tale of a True Alaska Character

Fran Tate has lived a truly amazing and interesting life. This book tells her story in detail, and what a story it is! Fran is a true character, and a really neat lady (I know her) who has worked very hard to build sucessful businesses and provide service to her adopted community. Barrow is a special and different place and Fran fits in well here. Her story is a good example of how hard work, creativity and sheer guts can get you where you want to go. It is also very funny! How can you resist someone who runs a business like Elephant Pot Sewage Haulers (before the town got sewers everyone had holding tanks or "honey buckets" and someone had to "clean up your act" as the slogan went) and sells the T-shirts in her restaurant to boot? Not only that, she does a great jazz show on the local radio station and sponsors ( & shoots, with her attorney/pyrotechnician) the New Year's fireworks.Pepe's North of the Border is a true Barrow experience, and really, the food isn't bad (I've had far worse in the Lower 48). There's always free pie & coffee to local seniors. The cooks are Mexican, too--Fran even wound up marrying one once at least in part to avoid his being deported. If all this sounds interesting, get the book!

FROM ONE WHO KNOW'S PEPE'S AND IT'S OWNER

I have read Fran's book before but I don't own a copy. I lived in Barrow for 3 years so I know first hand about that which Fran writes. However, as I was the district librarian for the school district my life wasn't quite as hard as Fran's. The food at Fran's probably wouldn't be eaten anywhere else, certainly not in the "Lower 48" and certainly not for the price one had to pay.Getting back to Fran, she tells it like it is, and she is the very colorful, local figure that she portrays. For those unfortunate souls who have never been to Alaska, let alone Barrow, this book is interesting and full of some strange but true stories.This book is for people who love to read about people who are "different" and who are probably braver and more interesting than the rest of us.

"Guaranteed to make readers laugh out loud."

Review appeared August 1997 Alaska MagazineIn 1975 Fran Tate tried to get McDonalds to open a franchise in Barrow, Alaska. The company, however, was interested only in a town with at least 50,000 and Barrow's population was 3,500. So Tate opened her own Mexican restaurant instead. "Tacos on the Tundra" is a lively and sensibly organized biography. It traces Tate's triumph over her lonely and impoverished childhood through sheer hard work. Author Lyn Kidder liberally quotes her subject's colorful, down-home speech. "Don't tell 'em I m a floozy," says Tate, an allusion to five failed marriages. This executive with an engineering degree scrubbed toilets to pay her bills. "People don't want to struggle that much anymore," she said. "They want to be president of the company, second day on the job." Hollywood almost made a sitcom from her life, a few years before the television show "Northern Exposure." She's too unbelievable a character for fiction, but this real-life book is guaranteed to make readers laugh out loud, and at the same time give them an insight into life in America's northernmost city.

Fran Tate sounds like a neat women.

You learn all about Fran Tate... owner of Pepe's North of the Border (the world's most northern Mexican restaurant.) It covers her childhood, when she was just opening Pepe's in Barrow, Alaska (very interesting story), and modern day Fran. She really sounds like an interesting person.
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