“Live a Great Story”: Kippy Spilker spotlights travel journalist Therese Iknoian
Kippy Spilker, photographer and art director at Nevada Magazine, has an amazing project called “Live a Great Story,” in honor of her dear grandmother, who passed away in 2022 at age 101. Her gram fled Nazi Germany and remained feisty and philosophical to the end, Kippy told me. To honor her gram’s spirit, she began finding people who are “living a great story,” sharing her gram’s tale with them, and then bequeathing each a token emblazoned with the words “Live a Great Story.” Therese was honored to be her “LAGS” recipient in August 2025.
We’d like to share the story Kippy wrote. Don’t stop there. Take a look at her growing album of LAGS honorees, and be sure to watch the sweet video she created featuring her gram explaining the project.
LAGS #13 Therese Iknoian
By Kippy Spilker
I've heard, in the past, that I can be intimidating. Like, that people are afraid to approach me, or to send me friend requests, or ... whatever. I know that I have a strong personality, but I've never seen myself that way. Well, meet Therese Iknoian -- a woman who intimidated ME! She's a freelance writer and photographer, and I got to know her a little through work. In June 2025, she was going to be in Reno before heading out on a statewide photo trip, so we planned to meet for dinner. I was so nervous! Not because she's a scary person, but because she is so crazy talented and impressive. She is a world traveler (even before being a photographer), speaks multiple languages, is in great shape, and, well, is just kind of living the dream. I know people say that about me, too, and it's true -- I am definitely living a life I couldn't even have dreamt of when I was younger, but she has photographed Chernobyl, people! Chernobyl! But here's what I discovered during that dinner ... she is such a KIND person! She is as intelligent and talented and fascinating as I expected, but she's also approachable and personable, and real.
I'd brought my Gram's LAGS bag with me, just in case, and I'm glad I did. I asked her to be my #12 and she said, "Oh darn! I wish I could be #13, because that's a lucky number for me!" Well, guess what? This is my project and so I thought, "I can bend the rules if I want," so I gave her spot #13. Ha. From the moment we bent that rule, her trip went south, and I don't mean southern Nevada. You can read all about her series of (mis)adventures here in her newsletter she runs with her husband -- just click through to read for free or consider subscribing! And you can read the story for Matador Network that came out of the first part of the trip here.
A couple of weeks after our dinner, when I was home with our dog Gerald after his surgery, she was heading home, and she reached out to see if I wanted to get a coffee on her way through. I invited her to the house instead, where she got to enjoy a couple hours of A/C (read her story to truly understand the significance of that), a cleaner toilet than a gas station's, and a water bottle full of fresh ice and water for the ride home.
She wryly pulled her LAGS challenge coin out of her pocket and said, "I had this in my pocket the whole time!"
I said, "Well, you have a great story to tell, now!" Ha.
You can see some of her photography work on her website here, and you can also find the HI Travel Tales travel and photography blog she runs with her husband (also a great photographer!) by going here.
