Genie Chance

Genie Chance (born Emma Gene "Genie" Broadfoot; January 24, 1927 – May 17, 1998) was an American journalist, radio broadcaster, and Alaska state politician. She is most well-known for her coverage of the 1964 Alaska earthquake, which netted her numerous journalism awards, and for her contributions to Alaska legislation. She had one brother, Lt. Albert S. Broadfoot Jr., and two sisters, Jessie Butler Broadfoot Garrett and Alice Virginia Broadfoot Freeman. In 1946, Chance graduated from North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas) with a degree in Speech, then conducted graduate studies at Baylor University. Chance became an instructor at North Texas State University where she taught speech, radio, English, and government. In 1959, at 32 years old, she moved from Texas to Anchorage, Alaska.

Broadcast career

Following her move to Anchorage in 1959, Chance worked as an editorialist and journalist, first at KENI radio and television and then at KFQD radio, After essentially being designated the public information officer by Anchorage police chief John Flanigan, she shared instructions for purifying snow for drinking water, requests from the local hospital for supplies, and pleas from community leaders for electricians and plumbers. Chance would spend the next twenty-four hours almost continuously coordinating response efforts, connecting available resources to needs around the community, disseminating information about shelters and prepared food rations, passing messages of well-being between loved ones, and helping to reunite families. Later, Chance would say that her dedication and calm demeanor was due in part to her responsibility to reassure people that the world had not come to an end. Chance was also a member of the Alaska Press Women, renamed Alaska Professional Communicators, and served as their president in 1967. She later asked KENI radio for a raise, a request that was denied on the grounds that she was already being paid the maximum salary for a woman in her position. As a legislator, Chance introduced and sponsored progressive legislation with a focus on education and women's issues. Together, they had two sons, Albert and Winston Jr., and a daughter, Jan. she married William K. Boardman, former Speaker of the House (1968–69), with whom she had served in the Alaska House of Representatives. They had married despite the fact that she was a prominent member of the Democratic Party in Alaska while Boardman was a Republican. Together, they moved to Juneau, Alaska in 1986, where Chance stayed active in her political endeavors, and remained married until Boardman's death in 1993. Mooallem expanded the performance into a book that was released on March 24, 2020. This is Chance! explores Chance's role in helping the community recover in the aftermath of the earthquake.