Penning the past

Valley Life editor

Everyone has a story to tell at some point in their lives -- and for three Wasilla seniors, now is the time.

Elverda Lincoln, June Robinette and Denny Bache-Wiig are proving that when it comes to writing, good things come with age.

All three women are in their 80s -- don't try to get exact ages from them, because they aren't going to tell -- and all are aspiring authors.

"Just because we're seniors doesn't mean we aren't still active," Lincoln said. "We're not just talking about doing something, we're doing it."

All three have recently published books, including Lincoln's Alaska Animal Antics and Robinette's To the Top of the World and Back. Bache-Wiig recently completed and published Nothing Ventured… to complete the octogenarian trifecta.

"I've told bits and pieces of my story to people for years, and they always told me I should write a book," Bache-Wiig said. "So I did. It's the true story of life in the South Pacific, where my husband and I lived with former cannibalists and headhunters. We got to play Swiss Family Robinson. And notice that I said former cannibalists.

"I didn't write it with the intention of making money. It was just a story that needed to be told," she said.

All three women have led adventurous lives, and that comes through in their writings.

Lincoln and her husband owned a dairy farm where Snowshoe School now is. Her life in the early years of the Matanuska Valley is detailed in Udder Confusion, one of her first books, which is now out of print.

"I don't know if things have graduated or deteriorated since then, but things have definitely changed," Lincoln said.

Alaska Animal Antics was completed in 2002 and is a collection of funny stories about animals in Alaska. Since she was surrounded by animals during her years on the farm, many stories come from funny personal experiences.

Robinette's To the Top of the World and Back details her 1966 trip from Anchorage to Point Barrow, with stops in between in such places at Unalakleet. Such adventures gave Robinette a reason to write, even back then.

"I have always written through the years, but mostly in newsletters I would send my relatives about what we were doing in Alaska," Robinette said. "Just the other night was I was rereading one about Norman Vaughan that I wrote."

The three women will appear together at a book signing at the Wasilla Public Library on Saturday, Aug. 28, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about any of the books, interested people can call the authors.

Lincoln can be reached at 376-2902; Bache-Wiig's phone number is 357-5178; and Robinette's number is 376-2092.