When Someone Dies: What You Can Do and
When Someone Is Seriously Ill: What You Can Do are also titles from her pen.

Davies' books have been the top-selling titles at many psychology and counseling conferences. They are recommended by Hospice and hospital chaplains and by the Centre for Living with Dying, and are used at the National Death and Bereavement Library and by Critical Incident Stress Debriefing team members in the U.S., Canada and many other countries. These self-help books are beautiful, appropriate gifts of compassion at the time of illness, loss of a loved one, or during other difficult life challenges.

Her writing career began after her thirteen-year-old son Derek was killed in a fiery commercial mid-air collision. Dylan, their first son, died shortly after birth, fourteen years before Derek's death. Due to her learning disabilities, her writings were intended only for her private — and possibly her family's — use and not originally for publication. Yet, as she slowly came to grips with these tragedies, Phyllis resolved to somehow share what had helped her family, in an effort to help others struggling with the death of loved ones or other life crisis. She shared her private journal with an ill and depressed stranger. That woman's physician encouraged the publication of GRIEF: Climb Toward Understanding. In addition to the healing story, the book has a personal survival guide with tools to help individuals, strengthen a family, and bring order into a very stress-filled time.

This crisp, insightful and powerful story portrays a journey toward peace and new meaning. Her comforting and encouraging writing allows readers to gently move with and through their own struggle toward healing. It also provides a resource guide she developed for her own extended family as they subsequently worked their way through a wide range of illness and death experiences. Included is a practical day-by-day checklist and hundreds of pro-active choices of what can be — or may need to be — done upon or prior to a death.

Much of Phyllis's life is devoted to leading discussions and workshops for health care professionals, The Compassionate Friends, Bereaved Parents of America, Hospice and other support organizations, or meeting with families and individuals as she travels. She frequently assists bereaved family, community and school staff members as they begin to cope with a traumatic event, as she did, after TWA flight 800 and other tragedies.

Phyllis is a 1966 California Polytechnic State University graduate in agriculture. She has been the university's Honored Alumnus. She is a frequent speaker on her lifetime interest in ways of solving hunger, energy, environmental and health problems with sustainable methods. This fascination was galvanized by the death of her own sons. She has led international study tours into remote areas of many two-thirds world countries. She uses and also teaches classes in how cook for a family by using only the sun as the energy source. Phyllis has worked in over 57 countries. She attended the United Nations Summit Forum in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 where she participated on the negotiating teams for the Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture Treaties.

Her daughter Dawna says, "My mother has her ear to the heartbeat of the world."

A broad range of experience contributes to her perspective, which includes 40 years as a property management specialist as well as a teacher. She taught in the Watts area of Los Angeles shortly after the 1965 Watts Riots. Her deep interest in agriculture led her to produce and direct a televised movie on the industry. She and her husband Bill Davies currently live near the California coast in the Los Osos Valley, where she enjoys being a grandmother, and solar cooking, motorcycling, working cattle and horses as well as gardening when she is not on tour. Their daughter Dawna and grandson recently purchased the family farm and Bill and Phyllis have downsized into a cottage on the farm.

This photo of Bill, Phyllis and Dawna was taken shortly after Derek's death when Dawna returned home from college.

Read what critics and readers have to say about her books.

Interview questions frequently asked of Phyllis.

Learn about her international involvement.

See the "Happiest Town in America" it's where the author lives.

Check out the Davies Company web site and see what Dawna and Bill are doing.