bil paul grew up in rural Wisconsin and migrated to California during his college years. He photographed for underground newspapers during the 1960s and 70s, and many of those photos were used in his first book, the photo-essay "The Tri-X Chronicles." His day job with the Postal Service brought about his next book (which he edited), "Mailmen's Dog Stories." This was followed by a series of bicycle touring guides ("Crossing the U.S.A. the Short Way: Bicycling a Mississippi River Route," "Bicycling California's Spine: Touring the Length of the Sierra Nevada," and "The Pacific Crest Bicycle Trail." paul's most recent book used his experience as a reporter and columnist. "The Train Never Stops in Dixon: Carissa Carpenter promised to turn the town into Hollywood North; some took the bait" was published in March, 2015 and is also available in a Kindle version. paul likes projects, and his next book is expected to be a cookbook.