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| Alaska history – fun for readers old and young
Welcome to "Aunt Phil's Trunk" Alaska history Website. I am the author of this four-book series and a third-generation Alaskan, seen here with a customer at my Downtown Market and Festival summer booth in Anchorage.
Filled with hundreds of historical photographs that complement dozens of lively short stories, this delightful history series is flying off shelves from Barnes & Noble to Wal-Mart to bookstores and gift shops across Alaska. I hope you enjoy exploring my site, and please feel free to order my wonderful books! |
What do readers think about 'Aunt Phil's Trunk?'"These are the first books I've read in years, and I couldn't put them down once I started!
-- Cindy Yates, Anchorage, Alaska "I have enjoyed all these immensely -- but then I love adventure. Congrats on such wonderful, mind-stimulating reading. Just the right mix of pics and words in short stories. The stories are as big and satisfying as Alaska itself! -- Steve Wharton, Bloomington, Indiana Read more comments under News and Reviews ____________________________________________________________________________ |
A small sample from my stories are shared below:
Klondike Gold GlittersThe sleepy, old Russian town of St. Michael awoke on June 25,
1897, when the steamer Alice arrived with 25 miners from Dawson carrying $500,000 among them in gold dust. That was enough to liven up just about any town. But the party wasn't over. Two days later, the Portus B. Weare carried in another group of successful men who staggered off the small steamer with pokes of gold estimated to be worth around $175,000. And more miners followed. St. Michael became the hub for those with visions of nuggets dancing before their eyes, both coming from and going to the rich Klondike fields in the Yukon. (On average, once these hopeful prospectors from the Contin- ental United States disembarked their steamships in Southeast Alaska, it took them about three months to reach the Klondike.) Excerpt from Aunt Phil's Trunk, Volume 1, Early Alaska to 1898 For more about Volume 1 -- Click here ______________________________________________________ Magnificent Flying Machines
Man first ventured into Alaska's skies on July 4, 1899. Juneau residents
were treated to a spec- tacle when "Professor" Leonard ascended to 1,000 feet in a hot-air balloon he designed, according to Robert W. Stevens, author of "Alaskan Aviation History." But after Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight on Dec. 17, 1903, many other people's imaginations took flight, too. By 1911, flying events and air shows across the country were making news. And that's when one Nome resident decided to build Alaska's first airplane .... Excerpt from Aunt Phil's Trunk, Volume 3, 1912 to 1935 For more about Volume 3 -- Click here _______________________________________________________ More books for your enjoyment include "Sourdough Cookery," "Alaska Trivia and Word Puzzles"
| Tombstone Temporarily Transplanted
 Famous lawman Wyatt
Earp built this saloon in
Nome around 1900.
Notorious lawman and gunslinger Wyatt Earp made his way to Alaska in the early 1900s. He built Nome's Second Class Saloon, shown left.
Earp made a name for himself in Nome as a gambler, saloon-keeper and sometimes trouble-maker. "Wyatt got a drink or two too much and got the idea he was a bad man from Arizona and was going to pull some rough stuff," reported B.D. Blakeslee, a civil engineer who was mapping the Nome region. "U.S. Marshal Albert Lowe slapped his face and took his gun away ..." Marshal Lowe told Earp to go home or he would "run him in." Excerpt Aunt Phil's Trunk, Volume 2, 1899 to 1912 For more about Volume 2 -- Click here ________________________________________________________ Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor
 Japanese bombs destroyed the Dutch
Harbor hospital.
Dutch Harbor families awoke early on June 3, 1942, unaware that their world was about to explode. But soon the drone of Japanese Zeros cracked the silence of the dawn.By 5:45 a.m., more than a dozen bombers and fighters were screaming over their town.
"Out of the blue, real bombs began to fall," recalled one longtime resident. Excerpt Aunt Phil's Trunk, Volume 4, 1936 to 1960 For more about Volume 4 -- Click here _______________________________________________________ Alaska Trivia and Word Puzzles
If you love Alaska trivia and you love solving easy to medium puzzles of all kinds from word searches to crosswords to sudokus, then these books are for you. While you challenge your mind, you'll expand your knowledge of Alaska history because each puzzle involves a bit of Alaska lore.
For more about the Alaska Trivia and Puzzle Book -- Click here |
"Raven's Friends" Children's Book Available May 2012
Written and illustrated by Alaska-born artist Kim Sherry,
this exciting book, filled with awesome poems and colorful
drawings of Alaska wildlife, will please parents and children
alike.
Follow Raven as he travels across the Last Frontier sharing facts
about burly polar bears, furry seals and many other Alaska
animals.
For more about "Raven's Friends" -- Click Here
this exciting book, filled with awesome poems and colorful
drawings of Alaska wildlife, will please parents and children
alike.
Follow Raven as he travels across the Last Frontier sharing facts
about burly polar bears, furry seals and many other Alaska
animals.
For more about "Raven's Friends" -- Click Here