Fire at Back-Lake

Bob Durr finally gets around to writing about the fire in 1973 that burned down his cabin complete with irreplaceable personal items like original literary texts, guns, and "the book with the money in it." They managed to save only $1000 for a trip back to New York and loaned the attached sauna to a neighbor. Other than washing in a big tub-like bucket, this is as close to a shower as one gets in bush Alaska. As he says though, it isn't wise to attach them to the house because the heat required eventually catches them on fire. Tough lesson. I also wondered about the outhouse sitting directly beside the main cabin but that's another matter.

Money saved from what? Where is the story of earning that money? Or any money after the early fishing boat operations he writes about in his first book? They raised money from musical sessions at the Fairview Inn bar but this is in essence panhandling. Where'd the dough come from in the first place is what I want to know?