Natalie Ann Jubin Norris, born January 25, 1922, in Lake Placid, New York to John Chester and Edgarita Jubin and died in Willow, Alaska on August 28, 2016.
She demonstrated her passion for sled dogs early in her life. At 13, she raced a five-dog team in a snowstorm in the Adirondacks while other dog drivers got lost or didn’t finish, she casually crossed the finish line. Norris had shown stamina and perseverance that would be one of her lifetime hallmarks.
As a teenager she sold some of her well-trained dogs to Admiral Byrd for the US Antarctic Service Expedition and more when the US military recruited sled dogs to rescue soldiers during WWII.
Norris’s father was the secretary/treasurer of the Lake Placid Club, the plushest winter resort in America at that time. One of the attractions was hauling wealthy tourists by dogsled. A boy who was too busy to meet his hauling commitments to the local hotels agreed to let her be the driver of his team. She also had the responsibility of feeding and caring for the dogs. The hours were long and many times it was midnight before she returned home. Her reputation as a dog driver was such that in 1940, she exhibited her dog team at a sport show in Madison Square Garden.
She graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in Sociology and Political Science where she was a Tri-Delta Sorority Sister and did a radio show, but her love of sled dogs brought her to Alaska where her true calling lay. She was the cover girl with her dogs in Sunday supplements of which were included in many newspapers.
The radio station had arranged for her to be on the Vox Box Game Show, and the prize was the game show would make one of your dreams come true. She won, and they paid for her trip to Alaska with her dogs.
Earl F. Norris and Natalie Jubin met through that cover story and photo that was published in the Sunday magazine section of the Anchorage newspaper. Earl thought “what an attractive young lady who loves sled dogs and is coming to Alaska with her dogs.” He contacted Natalie through the newspaper saying he would take care of her dogs and so after traveling cross-country by train and then steam ship with seven Malamutes and two Siberian Huskies, she arrived in Anchorage, Alaska in 1946. They married a year later. That same year they formed their Anadyr (a geographical name referring a mountain range in northeastern Siberia, Russia. The name originally derives from the indigenous Yukaghir word any-an, which means river) Siberian Husky Kennel/Howling Dog Farm and to focus on breeding and racing purebred dogs. That kennel is today the longest working Siberian Husky kennel in the world.
Both were involved with the formation of the Alaska Sled Dog Racing Association in Anchorage in 1949 and the Alaska Dog Mushers Association in Fairbanks in 1948 plus the Siberian Husky Club of Anchorage.
Natalie Norris ran the Fur Rendezvous Open World Championship five times being the first woman to run in 1947 plus 1949,1951, 1952, and 1953. In her five races, her highest placement was 2nd in 1949 and a 4th in 1952. In the 1970’s she won all three heats of the Women’s Open North American race in Fairbanks, Alaska. To finish on the podium in fourteen of sixteen speed races is a remarkable accomplishment.
She mentored the first woman to enter the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Mary Shields.
Her daughter-in-law and granddaughter followed in her shoes. Her daughter, Edgarita, runs the Howling Dog Farm Bed and Breakfast in the former historic home and kennels of parents.
Norris put out the first ASDRA Fur Rendezvous Magazine in 1952 and then as an editorial advisor. It has currently been combined with the Annual Fur Rendezvous Souvenir magazine.
Both Natalie and Earl Norris worked full-time jobs in the US Weather Bureau during the late 1940’s. Yet they made time to organize equally for both show and racing their dogs. They were involved in the formation of the Alaska Kennel Club in 1949 and the Anchorage Obedience Club in 1953. The Norrises founded the first area club of the Siberian Husky Club of Alaska. Natalie had been from time to time for more than 20 years been a member of the national organization.
Beginning in the1950s because of her knowledge of working dog conformation and her graceful presentations through written material and lectures, Norris became a judge for the American Kennel Club and traveled throughout the world judging thousands of dogs. She had been invited to Scandinavia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She has authored many articles in local, national and international journals and magazines.
In 1973 she organized the annual meeting of the International Sled Dog Racing Association held in Alaska.
Norris and her husband raised three children, John Paul known as JP, Edgarita, and Ted on a homestead in Anchorage before moving to Willow in 1968.