Chris Valley Answers Our Questions

The Alaskan Riviera loves interviewing Northern Exposure fans, and people who have been inspired to work on a project related to the show.

This month, we interview two big Northern Exposure fans, Chris Valley and Stephanie White, both of whom manage some very popular Northern Exposure fan pages on Facebook. Chris created and co-administers the Northern Exposure Philosophy page, and runs the KHBR’s Chris and Bernard page (which was started by Stephanie White’s daughter, Beth).

You can listen to to her interview on our podcast here.

We asked her to fill out our questionnaire and she kindly agreed.

Chris reads Where the Wild Things Are over the radio. What was a book you loved as a child?
As a kid my favorite book was Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.

How would you rank the six seasons of Northern Exposure from favourite to least favourite?
3, 2, 1, 4…5………………………………………………. 6

If the producers of Northern Exposure asked you for an episode idea, what would you have suggested?
The episode in which Ed finds his mother. It would be a tear-jerker.

What meal would you like Adam to cook for you?
Definitely the dim sum noodles, but really anything that Adam modulated to create a perfect harmony…an A-sharp major concerto for the palate.

If you could request a song for Chris to play on KBHR, what would it be?
Chris would like The Mighty Imperials. I bet they would appeal to his affinity for Booker T style funky soul music. I would request “Thunder Chicken.”

If Ed asked you to select a film for his film festival, what movie would you choose?
To Kill a Mockingbird. The themes of good and evil, morality and social inequality are still very relevant.

Is there anything you discovered through Northern Exposure (philosophies, writers, films, etc.)?
Does music count? NX has really changed my taste in music. Because of the show I have a real appreciation for Django Reinhardt, Billie Holliday, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Booker T…the old stuff.

Would you like to see an Northern Exposure reunion?
Of course! But I think an interview style format like The Actor’s Studio would make more sense logistically than trying to get the surviving cast back to Roslyn. I did have a dream though, that Cynthia Geary and John Cullum were working the taps at the Brick as a charity event. Great idea, huh?

What do you think your favourite Northern Exposure characters would be doing now?
Well, in my mind Season 6 never happened and was actually a (very long) dream sequence, so Joel never left Cicely. He and Maggie are both still neurotic, not married, not living together, but together. They’re in love but wisely, they live apart. Maggie is still a bush pilot and Joel remains the town GP. Marilyn has been studying traditional and alternative medicine under Dr. Fleischman and Leonard and can now “stitch ’em up” legally.

Ed is married to the brilliant and lovely vacuum-cleaner repair-person Bonnie Norell. She helps Ed run Ruth-Anne’s store, while Ruth-Anne enjoys painting watercolors in her retirement with the love of her life Walt Kupfer. Ed is a full-fledged Shaman now, but also has produced several documentary films.

Bernard Stevens left his job at the IRS (again), moved to Cicely and he and his brother Chris purchased KBHR from Maurice. In a traditional double-ceremony, Chris and Bernard jumped the broom and married Amy (the pi-lady) and Anne, respectively.

Holling and Shelly still own and operate the Brick. Holling, at 85, is still a stud muffin with tight buns and Shelly still looks bitchin’ in her leopard print tights and purple high-heel boots.

Maurice has settled down with his wife Barbara Semanski-Minnifield. Together they enjoy target shooting and hikes in the mountains with their two black-point German Shepherds, Grissom and Aldrin.

Chris Valley is a New Englander, born and raised by the sea in a little town called Fairhaven in Massachusetts. At the age of 21 she threw some shorts and tees in a bag, hopped onto a ferry and headed for Martha’s Vineyard for the summer. Twenty-nine years, one little house and two daughters later she remains there. When she is not philosophizing with fellow NX fanatics on Facebook she can be found either at the computer in the small purchasing office at the local food distribution company, standing in tree pose at yoga class or exploring the Vineyard beaches with her Jack Russell Terrier Bonny.