In my long list of accomplishments, the first and foremost role in my life is to be the best father I can possibly be to my son. He is a wonderful gift in my life and he has helped me to understand what it truly means to be a dad. He has been an inspiration and a motivating force in my life ever since his was born. There are very few things in my life of which I am completely certain of, and at the top of the list is my unwavering love for him.

Author writer I never set out to be a writer. I never attended  a writing class, nor have I ever harbored any deep desire to write the next great American novel. For many years my writing was, in fact, standard, boring, law enforcement reports such as, “I exited my police vehicle and made visual and verbal contact with the driver of the 2005 Ford Explorer.” I know, extremely riveting stuff.  It wasn’t until I realized the need to help parents in the police department’s Cybercrime Unit about ways to keep their kids safe on the Internet that I decided to write my first book on Internet child safety. It was only later, after prompting from friends, family, and people touched by terrible tragedies, did I decide to take a crack at writing my own true crime memoir. My four year journey included writing, rewriting, editing, and working hard to create something worthy of myself, my family, and the many victims of crime. Ultimately I am proud of my book, “Finding Bethany“, and I hope readers will experience the story as being something less about solving murders and more about the journey of discovering the connections we have with our past, our present, with each other.

Glen is also a CEO, detective, designer, and friend. Find out more about Glen at his website.

Glen Klinkhart

Born in Bridgeport, Conn., nature writer Bill Sherwonit has called Alaska home since 1982. He has contributed essays and articles to a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, journals, and anthologies and is the author of more than a dozen books. His newest book is a collection of essays, Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaska’s Wildlife, published in September 2014 by Alaska Northwest Books. Visit his website.

Bill Sherwonit

A third-generation Alaskan, David was born in Fairbanks before statehood. His family moved to Anchorage in 1963 just prior to the Great Alaska Earthquake.

David graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a degree in Journalism and Public Communications in 1989. That same year, he created Alaska Pet-ography as a home-based business.

Realizing that the portrait studio had outgrown the house, he and his wife, Carol decided to lease a storefront in 1997. Soon after, they purchased their current studio located in South Anchorage and called it David Jensen Photography. The studio has grown to include two properties with private park settings designed for portraits of people and their animal companions.

In 2013, David published his first book called It’s Important to Paws, Lessons learned from Animal Companions.  A coffee table book, it focuses on animal companions in Alaska – a collection of writings and hundreds of portraits featuring dogs, cats, horses and many other beautiful companions. It’s Important to Paws received the 2014 Independent Publisher’s National Gold Medal award in the category of animals and pets. The book is available for purchase in retail locations around town. Copies of the book have been sold nationally and internationally. His second book, When Age has no Leash, Lessons Learned from Senior Dogs will be published in the next few months.

David is a member of the Anchorage Lion’s Club, Antique Auto Mushers of Alaska, Midnight Sun Street Rod Association and Anchorage Nordic Ski Club. He also plays the trumpet and directs the Front Row Seats Band. His images of rescued cats and dogs have appeared in the Anchorage Daily News for nearly 25 years through a collaborative program with Friends of Pets.

When not relaxing at home with the senior dogs that rule the house, you might spot David exploring one of Alaska’s beautiful trails or mountain sides via hiking boots, skis or snowshoes. Layla is nearly always at his side with dog booties on, a tennis ball in her mouth and a twinkle in her adventurous. golden retriever eyes.[metaslider id=1017]

Kaylene Johnson is a professional writer and long-time Alaskan who lives in Eagle River, Alaska.

Her books include A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Sons in Alaska; Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down, Portrait of the Alaska Railroad and Trails Across Time: History of an Alaska Mountain Corridor. Her award-winning articles have appeared in Alaska magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Spirit magazine, Parish Teacher and other publications. She holds a BA from Vermont College and an MFA in Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Kaylene Johnson

Born in Berlin, Germany, Victor Fischer was a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention, served in the territorial House of Representatives and the Alaska State Senate, and worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A member of the faculty of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and Alaska, he was director for the Institute for Social and Economic Research. He continues to work in state policy, local government, and Alaska-Russia issues.

From the book: Son of the famous American journalist Louis Fischer, who corresponded from Berlin and Moscow, and the Russian writer Markoosha Fischer, Victor Fischer grew up in the shadow of Hitler and Stalin and watched his friends’ parents disappear after political arrests. Eleanor Roosevelt personally engineered the Fischer family’s escape from Russia, and soon after, Victor was serving in the United States Army in World War II, while his childhood friends fought in the Soviet and German armies.

As a young adult, Fischer went on to help shape Alaska’s map by planning towns throughout the state. This unique autobiography recounts his earliest days in Germany, Russia, and Alaska, where he soon entered civic affairs and was elected as a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention – the body responsible for establishing statehood in the territory. A move to Washington, DC, and further government appointments allowed him to witness key historic events of his era, which he also recounts here. Finally, Fischer brings his memoir up to the present, describing how he has returned to Russia many times to bring the lessons of Alaska freedom and prosperity to the newly democratic states.

For a brief time in history, when the world was in turmoil and the end was in doubt, the noblest of human motives shown through the night, and prevailed. Vic Fischer was a part of those times. He still carries the banner, a rebuke to cynicism and dishonesty and self-focus. Through this gripping autobiography, that is his gift to us. –Steve Cowper, former Governor of Alaska

For those of us who know Vic Fischer as a savvy, progressive Alaska state senator, this terrific book is a revelation. Stories of his roots in Russia, his time in Germany – where some still know him as one of the fabled Troika – and much more besides, make this a wonderful introduction to a fascinating life. –Peter Kenyon Foreign Correspondent, NPR

Vic Fisher’s book “To Russia With Love–An Alaskan’s Journey”

Don Rearden is the author of the award winning novel The Raven’s Gift and a produced screenwriter. His films have aired on Showtime, and TMC. He is the board president of 49 Writers and an Associate Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Visit his website.

Don Rearden

Shirley Mae Springer Staten, international keynoter, singer and workshop facilitator, moves people forward beyond their limiting ideas. A born storyteller and dynamic a capella vocalist, she brings an unrivaled blend of vision, passion and sheer virtuosity to her work.

From the age of five, Shirley Mae picked cotton in the fields of Georgia. Her transformation came with many challenges. A daydreamer and dyslexic, she graduated from high school not knowing how to read. By the early 1990s she had managed to work her way through college and earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Shirley Mae, like no one else, can weave words and music to empower her audience. She is a multitalented performing artist who motivates people to recognize and break through their self-imposed limitations. She can hold a group spellbound with stories of her struggles against the obstacles of the world. Her message will show you how to “keep movin’ forward.”

In her latest project, The Oh-ee-O childrens’ books, she recreates the characters and events that influenced her early years. Vividly illustrated by artist Dianne Barske, The Oh-ee-O Story reminds us that life is filled with choices – for both children and adults. Visit her website.

Dianne Barske says ahe has never decided whether she is an artist, writer or teacher, so she has been delighted that doing children’s books let her be all three. She has written and illustrated three children’s books, all related to animals at the Alaska Zoo and has taken them to classrooms to share with the children. This career path led her to many happy adventures, with short-term assignments to teach art in several Bush schools and some unusual art contracts.

She recently finished two big contracts for Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, which featured paintings of bed-bug prevention and the proper dumping of honey buckets. She was thrilled to teach both writing and art for three years to children in Shirley Mae Springer Staten’s Home Based After School Program in Fairview.

Currently, Dianne has a contract for a new children’s book for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, about their employees’ rescue of a baby musk ox along the Haul Road. Once done, she has the prospect of writing and illustrating books on lemurs in Madagascar, which she is sure will necessitate some exotic travel! Life is full of surprises!

Shirley Mae Springer Staten

Dianne Barske