Oh my God.
I literally, I have 74,000 questions for you.
We've got time for 75.
75.
OK, go.
We're both from right outside Chicago.
I just found that out today.
Yeah.
Where are you from originally?
I was born in Mount Prospect, Holy Family Hospital.
I lived there till I was young.
And between the late '60s, early '70s, Mom wanted to leave Dad.
Divorce was happening.
It was not popular back then.
So she gave me a paper bag and said, we're moving to Alaska.
Now moving there from Chicago, when you first got there,
did you go to a big city?
Yeah, that's really relevant.
For Alaska.
Three igloos and a dog, and you've got a town, you know.
Because Kavik is so--
I mean, you are essentially completely isolated
for most of the year.
To give you an idea, Kavik is 500 miles from the closest
town, 100 miles from any road.
I have my own runway, and that's how anybody gets in.
The last person I see in any year is around September.
The next person I see is the following June.
I'm the only person in 500 square miles.
Taking care of everything in the most extreme conditions.
Yes, and Kavik, maybe it's on the extreme end.
Who knows why I'm built the way that I'm built.
And I don't know why none of my husbands
ever figured out reverse psychology works on me.
[LAUGHING]
I outlived two of them, not that I'm a black widow.
[LAUGHTER]
Oh my God.
Now what-- I mean, because you are so isolated up there.
I mean, is it possible to meet people?
I mean, you've been married twice.
Unless someone's lost, it's really difficult.
But I did figure out the internet.
And through that means, I met a man.
[APPLAUSE]
I mean, literally where in the world
is this fellow that you've met?
He's a union electrician out of New York.
And 9, 10 years ago, he sent me a "friend request"
on a social platform.
And he's a nice looking guy.
But I noticed he's married at that time.
And I, of course, I'm being so subtle.
I'm like, you know, God doesn't give you
somebody else's spouse, right?
And he's like, oh, we're just fans.
So we became friends.
In the nine years, we started a book club.
We became friendly.
His marriage didn't last.
About a year and a half ago, I let
him know that I was maybe interested in pursuing more.
And he was like, I'm in New York, 4,000 miles away,
you know.
And I've got nine years before I can retire.
Those were hurdles to him.
And I'm like, this is great.
It gives us-- number one, I'm a loner.
I'm an emotional [INAUDIBLE].
I've got a lot of minefields I've got to traverse.
But it gives us time to work on other aspects
of our relationship.
Oh, well.
Good vacation planning, and.
And plus, plus.
Yeah.
And plus, plus.
Now I did hear--
is it true that you might have to move?
Well, they did something recently.
They opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to commerce and drilling.
And I am the only commercial place in that area.
I took an old oil camp, turned it
into a twisted bed and breakfast.
And I've got 15 foxes that are my little friends.
She's befriended foxes, guys.
Yes, I have.
But the government has deemed that they
may be able to get more revenue if they take away my lease
and re-auction it.
And so that's what's happening.
And I like to say-- and I don't want to get all emotional.
I will though.
I'm a guppy in a shark tank when it comes to the oil industry.
I've spent 18 years building this.
You're getting emotional, too.
I am.
I'm like, Sue, you can't leave Kavik.
Well, I like to say, I am Kavik.
Kavik is me.
And that's, you know, that's the beauty of the show that I'm on,
Life Below Zero.
When they asked me-- how did they find me?
I did a few other appearances.
They discovered that I do this unique lifestyle.
I'm really trying to be careful how I talk.
I normally have about that much filter.
And I say what I feel.
I think that's pretty good.
I think we could use a little more of that.
Well, you gotta get real.
We could all use a little of this.
And you can watch and catch the new episodes
of Life Below Zero this fall on Nat Geo TV and natgeotv.com.
We will be right back.