Meet the Author!
Hi! I’m Laurel Downing Bill, author of the “Aunt Phil’s Trunk” Alaska history series. The series developed after I inherited newspaper clips, research and rare Alaska history books from my Alaska historian aunt, Phyllis Downing Carlson, who died in 1993.
Aunt Phil wrote many articles about Alaska’s past for national newspapers and magazines during her lifetime. And she won national awards for many of them.
Once I saw the quality of her work, I knew I had to bring them to light for the world.
I returned to college to get the tools needed for the big project ahead. I graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2003 with honors and a degree in journalism and a minor in history.
Critics and readers love the Aunt Phil’s Trunk series!
Newspaper and magazine reviews, along with television and radio interviews and customer comments, reveal that people love the Aunt Phil’s Trunk Alaska history series. The short-story format, and more than 300 historical photographs PER BOOK, make it an easy-to-read adventure through Alaska’s colorful past.
“… the four-volume series, ‘Aunt Phil’s Trunk,’ offers an impressive compendium of superbly presented stories, tales, anecdotes and reminisces of the people, places, events and history of Alaska profusely illustrated throughout with black and white historical photos … personal, community and academic libraries would be well advised to acquire the entire set …”
– James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review, December 2012