Since coming to Alaska over sixty years ago, Constance Taylor has been a commercial fisher, publisher, supporter of the arts, educator, mentor, public servant, author, and fishing and community advocate. Still going strong in her 80s, she continues to positively impact the lives of Alaskans. Taylor has made significant and lasting contributions to commercial fishing, public service/public policy, publishing, and community service; thereby accomplishing a number of important and enduring positive changes to the State and its citizens.
Taylor was born in California in 1942, the daughter of Archer and Hasseltine Byrd Taylor, both of whom taught at the University of California-Berkeley. Seeking adventure, she drove her 1954 Ford to Anchorage in 1963 and never looked back.
After moving to Cordova in 1966, Taylor unloaded fish tenders, fished for crab, salvaged copper, collected and sold cedar boughs for Christmas decorations and smoked herring, and even tried her hand at raising mink. After working as a deckhand for one crab fishing season, at age 24, Taylor continued demonstrating her “try-anything” spirit by trading two barrels of diesel fuel for a 24-foot wooden skiff. Initially using crab pots and gillnetting fishing gear scavenged from beaches and the local landfill, Taylor became a commercial fisher for salmon and crab. Later she trawled shrimp, selling them in Cordova as the “Shrimp Lady.” She qualified for Limited Entry Permits for seine and gillnet salmon when the State instituted the limited entry program. Based out of Cordova in what was a male-dominated profession, Taylor learned on-the-job, the ins and outs of this challenging and at times, dangerous work, proving her stamina and resourcefulness, while also earning the respect of her fellow fishers. In 1979, Taylor was selected by her peers to represent Cordova on a State of Alaska/United Fishermen of Alaska-sponsored trip to Norway, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands to bring information about other fishing methods back to communities in Alaska.

As the first female seine boat captain in Prince William Sound, and likely one of the first in Alaska, Taylor was a trailblazer, an important role model, and an example for other women who would themselves become commercial fishers.
During her 19 years as a commercial fisher, Taylor was also active in a number of important fishing-related organizations, including the Cordova District Fishermen Union (now the Cordova District Fishermen United, Member 1974-1988), Cordova Aquatic Marketing Association (Member 1974-1988), Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (Secretary/Treasurer, Director 1978-1980), Copper River/Prince William Sound Fish and Game Advisory Committee (Secretary, Member 1978-1985), and Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (Secretary/Treasurer, Director 1979-1985). Through her active participation on these Boards, Taylor not only worked on foundational fishing issues, she helped pave the way for future women fishers to become members of these organizations and contribute their own talents, perspectives, and expertise.
In 1977, Taylor ran for a seat on the Cordova City Council to help bring a fisher’s perspective to Cordova’s local government, where fishing was the main economic driver. She was subsequently elected to a three-year term that ended in 1980.
During the off season when Taylor was not fishing, she further demonstrated her business savvy and entrepreneurial spirit as the owner and operator of QuickDraw Printing (later called Fathom Publishing Company) and Fathom Gallery in Cordova. The gallery featured arts and crafts from artists throughout Alaska, including Alaska Bush communities, providing them with an important outlet for their work. Taylor was also the owner/operator of the Cordova-based bed and breakfast, Fathom Inn.
After a successful 19-year career commercial fishing, in 1988, Taylor sold her seine boat and limited entry permits so she could devote her energy full-time to her Cordova businesses in addition to the Cordova Chamber of Commerce, where she served, first as a Director and then as President, from 1979 to 1991. During her tenure, she worked, for example, to promote Cordova as a tourist destination, advocated for the repair of the Million Dollar (or Miles Glacier) Bridge and completion of the Copper River Highway, and organized weekly meetings with guest speakers who provided helpful information to Cordova business owners. Projects such as the proposed completion of the Copper River Highway were met with both vocal support and opposition. It was up to Taylor to bring the community together and find common ground, wherever possible, and she was adept at doing so.
On March 24, 1989, the T/V Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, just 43 miles from Cordova. The resulting oil spill caused significant impacts to Cordova, including when the herring and salmon fishing seasons were cancelled. The City of Cordova quickly established the Cordova Oil Spill Disaster Response Committee, which was responsible for identifying spill-related concerns of Cordova’s residents and businesses, brainstorming potential responses and solutions, and providing regular reports and updates to the City Council. Taylor was appointed to the Committee and initially served as Committee Chair. The Committee held daily meetings for a number of months, and then weekly meetings through the first year of the spill.
Under Taylor’s leadership, Cordova was the only community in Alaska where Exxon acknowledged that small businesses had been financially damaged by the spill and as a result, were eligible for financial compensation. These payments provided critical lifelines for local businesses including the laundromat and hardware stores, whose owners, because of Taylor’s efforts, were able to file a claim with Exxon for financial damages and remain in business.
Following her tenure on the Cordova Oil Spill Disaster Response Committee, Taylor ran for another term on the Cordova City Council and was once again elected. During this second term, she observed some members of the Council engaging in violations of Alaska’s Open Meetings Act by discussing in secret, matters the law required to be addressed in public session so the public could be aware of, and participate in, decisions made by their government officials. After efforts to convince those Council members they were in violation of the law, Taylor sued, seeking an injunction to require compliance. When the Council members again refused to comply, the case went to trial and the judge subsequently found that, in fact, there had been violations of the Open Meetings Act.
Taylor’s lawsuit was a landmark case in Alaska for the Open Meetings Act and its application to local governments. Because of her insistence that the Act be followed to ensure transparency for council member deliberations, not only was the resulting lawsuit precedent setting, it provided a statutory boundary for local governments that stands to this day and is key to helping protect the public interest in government actions.

While living in Cordova, Taylor purchased a printing press, which was the nexus for what would become a successful printing and publishing business. To date, she has published (through Fathom Publishing) over 60 books in a variety of genres including non-fiction, fiction, biographies and memoirs, poetry, and books for kids and teens. Through her publishing, important Alaska-related stories and perspectives have been preserved and made available to the wider public in Alaska and beyond. Additionally, Taylor has helped give voice to those writers, photographers, and illustrators, many of whom are current or former Alaska residents. Fourteen of these books have received awards, some multiple awards.

Starting with research that Taylor conducted during the lawsuit, Ann Taylor Schwing further researched and then wrote the definitive book on open or public meetings laws that cover all 50 States. All three editions of Open Meeting Laws were published by Taylor. This publication led Taylor to also publish law school texts, including Securitization and Investment Management Regulation, both written by Tamar Frankel, a Professor of Law at Boston University Law School.

In 2018, at the age of 76, Taylor became a published author with her first children’s book, Growing up in Alaska: A Baby Arctic Tern, which was illustrated with her photographs. This was followed in 2022 by Sik-Sik’s Summer: An Arctic Ground Squirrel and Midnight on the Alaska Highway. That same year, she began writing poems, some with Alaska-related themes. To date, her poetry and short stories have been published in Alaska Women Speak, Four Tulips, Litmora, Five Minute Lit, Literary Magazine, Diving into Poetry Forms, Lombardi Voices, The Stafford Challenge 2024-25 Anthology, and UCSF MERI Center Poetic Medicine Anthology.

During her publishing career, which is still going strong, Taylor adapted to the many changes, both technological and marketing that were required to keep her publishing company thriving. At age 84, Taylor is currently working on nine books to be published by the end of 2026. Of these, four have Alaskan themes, including a history of Alaska’s “short” railroads, poetry by an Unalaska poet, a Juneau-based young adult mystery, and an Alaska family’s history and cookbook.

In addition to publishing books, Taylor has served as the production department for “Oncorhynchus,” the quarterly newsletter of the Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society beginning with its first edition in April 1981.
Taylor’s zest for lifelong learning and community service saw her begin a new chapter at age 79, when she began leading writing classes with OLÉ!, which provides opportunities for lifelong education in Anchorage, and through the use of Zoom, to individuals outside of Anchorage as well. Since that time, she has led the following OLÉ! classes: Writing Life Stories; Unusual Poetry Forms; Tell a Story, Hear a Story; and Flash Fiction Writing.
Although the majority of her students have been based in Anchorage or elsewhere in Alaska, Taylor’s classes have attracted students from Washington State and Georgia. The classes have served as an important source of learning and camaraderie for participants and have provided a warm and nurturing environment for new and existing writers. With Taylor’s encouragement, class members have developed their writing skills, tried new writing forms, and successfully submitted their written work, photos, and illustrations for publication.
Since Taylor began her OLÉ! writing and poetry classes, as of August 2026, class participants have had 35 stories, 36 poems, 17 photos, and 1 illustration published in Alaska Women Speak, a quarterly journal devoted to the expression of ideas, literature, and art of Alaska women. In addition, their work has also been published in Cirque; Poetry Breakfast; Anchorage Daily News; UCSF MERI Center Poetic Medicine Anthology; and A Place for the Birds, The Legacy of Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
Last, but not least, Taylor has been an active supporter for over 20 years of the Benton Bay Athletic Lions Club in Anchorage, which is dedicated to service and community and the mission of Lions Club International. As such, she has built (and still maintains) the website for the Club, managed many of their online fund raisers, and provided them with graphic design support. In 2025, Taylor worked with a member of the Club to develop and maintain a website that includes Lions Club events in Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon. In addition, she built (and still maintains) the website and serves as Zoom host for the Anchorage Lions Joint Sight Committee, which provides vision screening in Anchorage schools as well as vision clinics and eye exams and glasses for those without insurance.
Taylor’s wide-ranging and important accomplishments continued positive influence on the lives of Alaskans, and long-standing dedication to helping other people learn, flourish, and excel, underscores her enduring contribution to our State.
Her work has been honored by Cordova Arts and Pageants as well as the City of Cordova, Cordova Chamber of Commerce, American Fisheries Society, Benton Bays Athletics Lions Club, and Lions International.
References

Alaska-British Columbia-Yukon Lions Club Calendar website: md49lionevents.org
Alaska Superior Court at Anchorage, Alaska, November 26, 1991, Tape No. 3AN-R3070, 3071, Case No. 3CO-90-46 Civil. Judge Peter Michalski presiding
American Fisheries Society, Alaska Chapter newsletter website: afs-alaska.org/newsletter
Anchorage Area Lions Joint Sight Committee website: anchoragelionsvision.org
Anchorage Benton Bay Athletic Lions Club website: bentonbaylions.org
Ann Taylor Schwing, 2011, Open Meeting Laws 3d.
Connie Taylor, Cordova Times, May 17, 1979, “Behind the Seines”
Ginna Brelsford, 1983, Alaska Commission on the Status of Women, Profiles in Change: Names, Notes and Quotes for Alaskan Women. Section on “Connie Taylor: ‘carry your own weight’,” p. 107
Ron Strickland, 1992. Alaskans, Life on the Last Frontier, Connie Taylor, “A Helping Hand,” pp. 238-242
Fathom Publishing website: fathompublishing.com
Fathom Twist website: fathomtwist.com
Tamar Frankel website: tamarfrankel.com