Living For The Moment

Steve Hartman Reports In Everybody Has A Story

(CBS)  From time to time, CBS Correspondent Steve Hartman uses the random toss of a dart and a map of the United States to guide him in his quest to prove that "Everybody Has A Story." In July, he took a trip down memory lane with some of the many people he has profiled.

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For this "Everybody Has A Story" series, CBS News Correspondent Steve Hartman drove a couple of hours north of Fairbanks to where the road dead-ends into the Yukon River. As usual, he looked for a phonebook and this time he found a measly page of people. He chose a real doozy: Michael Mulkey.

"Alaska doesn't have people; it has characters," says Mulkey.
Mulkey used to live in Washington State until seven years ago when his girlfriend at the time had a vision -- that they should pack everything and move to Alaska.

And where is she now?

“She's in Maui,” answers Mulkey with a laugh. Apparently her vision neglected to mention the mosquitoes that keep Mulkey's corner of Alaska from being a paradise.

"It's just a natural thing," Mulkey says. Ironically, he, on the other hand, fell in love with the place, mosquitoes and all.

"The mosquitoes, actually if this place didn't have mosquitoes, do you know how many people would live up here? Lots. Lots,” he says.

Toda,y he survives in this remote wilderness partly by selling massages, which are about as easy to sell as ballet tickets in Alaska. That's why Mulkey also gathers his own food.

"If you grow a garden, the chickweed itself has more nutritional value than almost anything else," he says. "This plant here is lamb's quarter and it’s actually really delicious."

One thing to point out is that from all the plants he gathered, he says he planted none.

The guy is out there. His existence is literally hand to mouth. Fireweed for breakfast, maybe a grouse for lunch.

"You don't know what you're missing, folks,” he says.

Last week, he shot a bear and had it smoked.

"This bear was in my yard," he adds. And at 46 years of age, that's how he gets by.

He has less than $500 to his name.

"Is that bad?" he asks.

"Somehow he thinks money is going to come out of the air, I think," says his mother, Ramona. She lives 3,000 miles away in Southern California. She regularly bombards him with worry and articles about starting your own business.

"This one is 'Analyze Your Goals To Grow Your Business,’" she says. "To me it's only reasonable that you have to be concerned about your future."

"She's worried that I'm going to get to a certain age and I won't have any money to live off of," Mulkey says. And though he agrees she has a good point, for now at least, Mulkey refuses to concern himself.

And although it's easy to find fault with his devil-may-care approach. Here is a question: How was your day at the office?