Whad’ya say? How about “I DO!”

When Jeff apple Benowitz heard that Michael Feldman was bringing his wildly popular public radio program Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? to Fairbanks, AK, it seemed the perfect opportunity for a wedding. The long-time Whad’Ya Know? fan proposed that Feldman officiate at the marriage of Benowitz and his fiancée, Anna Liljedahl.

“We've had people propose on the show, before, but this is the step I was never able to take until now. Only in Alaska!” said Feldman.

Benowitz, 36, met his betrothed when she attended one of his rock climbing classes; it was love at first site, “I am at the end of a long recovery of regrowing a leg I shattered three years ago during a mishap with gravity (mountain 1/ Benowitz 0). At some point between my third and fourth surgery I told a friend if I ended up falling in love then at least something productive would have come out of my accident. Well, some things are out of our control and I’ve found myself madly in love with a young lass from Sweden.”

“We wanted to go to the show but is was sold out. So what do you do?” said bride-to-be Liljedahl, 26.

Become part of the show and get married on-air, of course.

“We were planning to do it this summer anyway. Just like wake up a morning and do it,” added Liljedahl, a Swedish native who is pursuing a Ph.D. interdisciplinary degree in Hydrology/Climate Change at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Benowitz, a Ph.D. student in Geological Creative Non-fiction, Rock Climbing Instructor and Freelance Adventure Writer, proposed to Liljedahl after a strenuous hike through the alders of the Alaskan Range. “I answered yes when he asked me. He was pretty brave, (it) wasn't that much fun to hike -- crawl -- through all those bushes,” said Liljedahl.

In accordance with Alaska law, Feldman will receive a marriage commission in order to legally perform the marriage ceremony. “ We're looking at a nice little Jewish-ish ceremony, since he is and she isn't, and I don't want to be pushy,” quipped Feldman.

The happy couple plan to spend some honeymoon time in Liljedahl's native Sweden and New Zealand, then enjoy married life in their cabin near Fairbanks...unless they move to a cabin with running water.

Here's a photo of the happy couple!

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