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John Straley will sign copies of his new book, “The Big Both Ways,” today from 2-4 p.m. at Gulliver’s Books on College Road.

Gulliver’s also has copies of Straley’s other books, which feature private eye Cecil Younger, the most famous shamus named Cecil.

Straley’s new mystery, set in 1935, takes place before Cecil’s time. The tale is dedicated to Bob DeArmond, 97, who lives in the Pioneers’ Home in Sitka. DeArmond is the dean of Alaska historians, editors and newspaper columnists.

As Straley notes in his dedication, DeArmond “has opened windows to the past that will stay open forever.”

Traveling alone, DeArmond rowed a dory from Sitka to Tacoma in 1931 to attend college, an account he described six decades later in “Voyage in a Dory.”

In Straley’s new work of fiction, there is a trip by dory in the other direction, a tribute to DeArmond’s achievements.

I talked to Straley on the phone Friday before he left his home in Sitka. He said something about how he was looking for a clean shirt to iron. This was at the urging of his wife Jan, who said the rumpled look wouldn’t do for his commencement speech at the University of Alaska Fairbanks graduation ceremony Sunday afternoon.

He might be the writer laureate of Alaska, but he is no stuffed shirt.

Straley was a horseshoer in eastern Washington who knew he had to find a new career after getting a look at Sitka in 1977, he writes on his Web site.

“The first thing I noticed was that it rained all the time and the second thing I noticed was: There weren’t any horses anywhere around,” he said.

Straley is a private investigator, a first-rate storyteller and a speaker who takes mercy on his audience.

He said his speech Sunday will have something to do with how reality and its mysteries are more complex than the virtual versions.

UAF plans to award honorary degrees to Straley, Fairbanks pilot and businessman Richard Wien, refuge manager Larry Aumiller and Native art expert Bill Holm.

Commencement commences at 1:20 p.m. in the Carlson Center.

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CLEANUP DAY: On a less ethereal note, garbage bags for those taking part in Cleanup Day activities will be available today at the entrance to the United Way office at 565 University Ave. Most of the fire stations outside the city might have some left as well.

I mention this because it’s not too late to help in this community effort.

If you pick up yellow bags, please fill them up with trash and leave them along the side of any major road. Don’t deposit them in the Dumpsters.

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PETS AND PEOPLE: Let me be the first to wish you a happy Pets and People Day. The festivities are from noon-4 p.m. today at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds.

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MARATHON TRAINING: The Team In Training group preparing for the Equinox Marathon holds its first training session Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Patty Center parking lot. Energetic people are invited to join. The team is raising money to fight leukemia.

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LOCAL SURVEY: Take a few minutes soon to fill out the online survey designed to find out how the community can deal with a host of critical issues.

You can find the survey at www.unitedwaytv.com. The deadline is Monday, so fill it out today.

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ON THE ROAD: Fred Knutson, the ambling carpenter, has made it past Talkeetna on his walk to Anchorage, covering 34 miles a day this week.

He progresses in leapfrog fashion, using his truck each day as a starting and stopping point, so you might see him headed either north or south, depending upon the time of day.

The Fairbanks retiree said his feet feel good, the bugs aren’t bad and the weather’s been great.

“I ran into a little bridge construction on the Big Su river, I guess they’re resurfacing it. They had to have a big conference as to whether they would let me cross the bridge or not. They let me go both ways,” he said Friday.

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GAS BAG: I meant to write that premium gas has topped $4 a gallon in Fairbanks, but in my column Friday I made reference to regular. I think I am a few pennies ahead of myself on that one.

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STATE AID: Gov. Sarah Palin plans to announce a “statewide, short-term energy relief plan” next week. Details TBA.

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HEALY COAL: Fairbanks Judge Bob Downes set a June 6 date on which to hold a conference to arrange a trial date in the Healy experimental coal plant dispute. This is a battle between a state agency and Golden Valley Electric Association over the future of the plant, which would provide cheaper power than oil.

The action Friday doesn’t necessarily mean a trial is going to happen, as the GVEA board and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority have more time to parley.

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AWARDS: Speaking of coal, the $10,000 Emil Usibelli awards, named in honor of the coal miner who ran the family mine starting in 1943, have been announced.

The recipients of the UAF awards are Marsha Sousa of Tanana Valley Campus for teaching, Gerald Mohatt of the Institute of Arctic Biology for research and John Kelley of the Institute of Marine Science for service.

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CANCELED: The Mother’s Day brunch at the senior center in North Pole has been canceled. Honor your mother in some other way.

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TAKING OFF: Alaska Airlines is having a sale. No, not that kind of sale.

Today, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. employees will hold a garage sale at the Alaska Airlines Air Cargo Office, which is near the airport post office.

Money earned from the sale and all donations will go to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life.