In 1976 Al Carlisle was one of a team of psychologists who performed a 90-day diagnostic evaluation of Ted Bundy while he was in the Utah State Prison. He'd been convicted of attempted kidnapping. As far as anyone knew, this was his first crime.

Al, my father, spoke to Ted a number of times while doing the evaluation. He also contacted his family, neighbors, and former girlfriends. At the time, few psychologists looked into a criminal's past when doing an assessment.

If I remember correctly, this was because of a professor at BYU. Dr. Alan Rowe mentioned this when he was interviewed for "Violent Minds: Killers on Tape," a 10-part documentary about my dad and his research on violent offenders. After Ted was extradited to Colorado, Dr. Carlisle corresponded with other psychologists, reporters, and authorities about Ted. He also participated in a multi-agency meeting about Bundy.

Dad kept much of the information that was presented to the court at the end of the evaluation as well as reports, interviews, and other data he gathered over the years. All this was kept in a box. He tried to find it when he wrote his first book on Ted, but could not. He therefore assumed it had been destroyed along with other boxes of papers after his basement flooded.

Dad wrote "I'm Not Guilty! The Case of Ted Bundy" and published a number of copies to sell and distribute at the 2012 World Horror Convention. It was here he met Steven Booth, publisher of Genius Books. Booth published his book in 2014.

Dad published three other books with Genius. "The Mind of the Devil: The Cases of Arthur Gary Bishop and Westley Allen Dodd" and "Broken Samurai: A Combat Marine's Journey from Hero to Hitman" (Later subtitled "One Marine's Journey from Hero to Hitman" in 2020) and "Violent Mind: The 1976 Psychological Assessment of Ted Bundy" (later "Violent Mind" was dropped from the title).

Dad passed away in 2018. Fortunately, he told me in a phone conversation that he wanted me to take over his books after he died. He expected to live for several more years. He passed away on a Tuesday. On Saturday, he house was cleaned out. In that time, I convinced my brothers to let me take all my dad's information on serial killers, including his tapes, documents, manuscripts, letters, transcripts, etc. I also got permission to republish his books as his contracts with Genius expired on his death. I stayed with Genius until January 1, 2020 and then published his books under Carlisle Legacy Books. 

This is why I have a page on Literary Estates. I want other writers to understand how important it is to make plans for what you want done with your work after you die.

After dad died, one of my brothers found the Bundy box in the back of a closet in his house. The information in that box was published as "The Ted Bundy Files: A 1976 Companion" this year. It would not be possible without his years of dedication to studying the development of the violent mind and, in particular, Ted Bundy.

The League of Utah Writers is a state-wide organization. Awards are given out every year as part of their Quills Conference. I submitted The Ted Bundy Files for a Quill Award under the category of nonfiction. I'm thrilled it won the Gold Quill award.

It means even more because this book was for my dad and the award is for him as well. My name is on the award, as dad is no longer here, but it belongs to him as much as it does me as the editor and publisher.

It's a great honor to receive this award, and for me, it's another way to honor my father and his legacy.