“I have a lot of mixed feelings,” she said. “I really feel like the time is right. I mean, radio is my passion. And I think radio rules in Alaska, because of its remoteness. I have to admit that once I hit 70, I really got tired of the daily deadlines. But when I originally had decided to get out of everything, the writing and the radio, I really had some difficulty accepting that, because I still love what I do. I still learn something new every day.”

Welch came to Alaska in 1986 from Cape Cod, MA. She got a job producing the Alaska Fisheries Report at KMXT in Kodiak, where she learned the rhythms of commercial fisheries across the state.