Really -- you say the author's biggest memory was "not at all" the drug-dealer incident. OKAY lets break this down. I brought the story into Word so I could do a count on the different topics discussed.

The story is 749 words in length.

Native village: 41
Fjord/whale/moose/sitka: 39
Iditarod trail/ Palmer fair: 40
Conversations in Anchorage cafe: 222
Drug dealer next door incident: 302
Other text: 105

At 302 words, the drug dealer incident makes up over 40% of this commentary. Nothing else was discussed to the same extent. So apparently, it was indeed his biggest memory, making such an impression he spent much more time on it than any other subject. Do you have alternative facts to present? Welcome to Anchorage indeed.