Dena Lynn Winslow was raised on a potato and dairy farm in Mapleton, Maine where she lived with her parents Carl and Wilma Winslow and two brothers, Jeff and Willie Winslow. She graduated from Presque Isle High School; the University of Maine at Presque Isle with a BS degree in English; the University of Southern Maine with an MEd in Educational Leadership; and the University of Maine with a PhD in History.Dr. Winslow is the mother of three sons, Christopher, Thomas, and Eric York, and has a granddaughter, Camden York; and three grandsons, Alden, Aaron, and Dalton York.She taught high school, and taught at the University level, for many years and was selected as Maine's Teacher of the Year by the IBM Corporation in 1989. In 1998 she was selected for membership in Phi Alpha Theta at the University of Maine in honor of her academic achievements. She currently works as the Tribal Planner and Grant Writer for the Aroostook Band of Micmacs in Presque Isle.Dr.

Winslow has written three prior books: Mapleton Maine; A History of the Greater Ashland, Maine Area; and They Lynched Jim Cullen; as well as numerous magazine and newspaper articles. She has also been a contributing author for several other books.