Who We Are

      Great Owl Press is a multigenerational family of writers, painters, photographers, botanists, birders, and publishers. Founded in 1984 by Elizabeth and Carroll O’Neill, teachers in Stockton, California, who spent a lifetime hiking, backpacking, climbing, and skiing in the nearby Sierra Nevada with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren--and writing books about the Sierra based on all that experience.

      In 1958, Carroll had a sabbatical leave, and the family spent the year traveling in a VW camper around Europe. They caught the travel bug and never recovered!

      The torch has now passed to the next generation: Adele Nova O’Neill and her husband David A. Carpenter, retired teachers, leading the online book store.