Heather Lende is a New York Times-bestselling author whose most recent book is Of Bears and Ballots. Her work, mostly about life and sometimes death in Haines has been distributed widely, from NPR to the Anchorage Daily News, from the Christian Science Monitor to Country Living. She is a former contributing editor at Women’s Day magazine and has written some five hundred obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News in Haines. The recipient of the Alaska Governor’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities.

Lende’s other books include If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name, Take Good Care of The Garden and the Dogs, and Find the Good, which was chosen as the 2020 Alaska Reads title. She and her husband, Chip, live in Haines, where they own a lumberyard and hardware store. They have five children and eleven grandchildren.

Heather's website is - www.heatherlende.com.