By JILL FANKHAUSER
Alaska Star

Have you heard the story about a child who haunts the Anchorage Historic Hotel? Or told the one about the pipe-smoking ghost of Gakona Lodge? These stories are as much Alaska history as they are legend and lore.

Author Jody Ellis-Knapp is excited to have her new book "Ghosts of Alaska" on the shelves of booksellers. Star Photo by Jill Fankhauser

In “Ghosts of Alaska” Ellis-Knapp reveals some historic haunting stories many Alaskans already know- and a few may that may not be familiar.

The book, which hit shelves May 28, contains haunting tales from Barrow, Seward, Skagway and even Chugiak.

This is Ellis-Knapp’s second book; the first was a book she co-authored with popular Alaska chef Al Levinson.

Ellis-Knapp got into writing as a second career after taking an early retirement from a customer service job for Alaska Airlines. She was looking to do something new with the flexibility to stay home with her teenage daughter and preteen son.

She always wanted to write - and did sometimes for just for her own pleasure. She got a part-time job at an Anchorage restaurant and pursued her favorite pastime.

She picked up books on how to be a freelance writer and often wrote for free or very little money. She hoped to use her clips to get bigger jobs.

While interviewing Levinson for a magazine article, she came up with the idea of doing a cookbook with him. It was a good experience to work with a large publishing company.

Her first book helped her to land the second book deal.

She wrote “Ghosts in Alaska” under contract with Schiffer Publishing in Pennsylvania, after answering an ad from a writer’s Web site. The publisher specializes in books about haunted places in America.

Originally the company wanted a book on Anchorage, but Ellis-Knapp convinced them it was better to expand and include stories from around the state because Anchorage has only a few places with haunting history. They gave her free reign on the style of the book. She could write it as investigations or case studies - she opted to write chapters on the legends based on personal accounts with the area’s history intertwined.

The book took about six months to research - mostly conducted through e-mail, letters and phone conversations. She visited a few local spots including the Eklutna Village cemetery and Birchwood Saloon.

“I’m a lifetime Alaskan and I started hitting up all the people I know and just started talking to people. It’s amazing what people will tell you when you start asking questions,” she said.

Her conversations led to finding out more about her own family. Her grandmother and uncles own a lodge on Devil’s Mountain in Wrangell-St. Elias that has its own ghost stories.

She’s open to the idea there might be “something out there,” but has yet to experience anything too out of the ordinary. She said the people she interviewed were reputable and she would never want to discount their encounters or beliefs in legends and stories.

And despite her own lack of personal evidence about apparitions, she doesn’t think she’ll ever stay a night in the Anchorage Historic Hotel - she’s too scared.

So far Ellis-Knapp has enjoyed the author experience; she has a hand in the marketing the book by setting up her own book signings, something she’s currently working on.

“This one I’m really excited about because it’s all me,” she said.

Ellis-Knapp is somewhat surprised she makes a living at writing. She has a regular business column in a local business magazine and writes articles for several national trade magazines each month - plus she’s already got another book idea, but it’s too early to talk about it.

She’s getting a little more serious about her writing career and is looking for an agent. Her 10-year-old son Fischer introduces his mom as an author, she said, but he has a few qualms.

“He told me he didn’t want me to become a famous author because he doesn’t want to move to Hollywood. I said, ‘That’s OK, neither do I.’”

“Ghosts of Alaska” can be found at major booksellers or at Amazon.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, June 4, 2009.