Gary Holthaus is a poet, author, and minister. For the past three years, he's served as the called minister of the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Originally ordained as a Methodist minister, Holthaus has also made a living as an educator and non-profit administrator. 

He's the author -- most recently -- of "Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional Cultures Teach Us about Subsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality" and "From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture." In this latter work, through interviews with men and women who try to make a living farming in southeastern Minnesota, Holthaus examined the stark downside of international free-trade agreements that maximize multinational corporate profits at the expense of American farmers, wage-earners, and the environment.

 Bill Sherwonit was born in Bridgeport, Conn. and 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. His website is www.billsherwonit.alaskawriters.com.