Steven Fortney started life in Rogers, North Dakota, and was born on January 2, 1937, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father was an Army Chaplain (and later Pastor); the military family lived all over the U.S. and, after WWII, in Germany and Austria.
Steven’s military service includes Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Reserve Navy, and Army ROTC. His post-secondary education includes graduation from UW-Madison in Classics and Philosophy (1959); one year at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota (1960-61 term); and graduation from the School of Education at UW-Madison (1964).
His varied employment includes as a newspaperman (adman, reporter, columnist, and printer) for four years; a high school teacher for 31 years; a union negotiator […]

Terry L. Barnhart first lived in Greensburg, Pennsylvania—a suburb of Pittsburgh. When Terry was thirteen, his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Terry attended Arizona State University and the University of Colorado, majoring in business administration and electrical engineering. In 1974, Terry founded Barnhart Advertising & Public Relations.
In early 1980, Terry first took flying lessons at the Centennial Airport in Denver and became familiar with Jeppesen navigation charts. He went on to get his license and flew high performance, single engine aircraft for over fifteen years.
In the 1990s, Terry and the Jeppesen Corporation’s affiliation began, and so did Terry’s interest in writing the story of Elrey B Jeppesen, “Capt. Jepp.” Over lunch one […]

Rocky Lang has been involved in the motion picture and television business all his life. Growing up as the son of veteran producer and Universal Studios executive Jennings Lang, Rocky knew early on that he wanted to write, produce, and direct.
Lang set himself on a track that has seen him produce and direct five documentary films including the award-winning “The Making of Tootsie.” He produced “White Squall” for Disney/Hollywood Pictures, starring Jeff Bridges. He also produced the Emmy-Award winning “Titanic,” a 4-hour mini-series for CBS, and recently Executive Produced “Racing For Time” for Lifetime Television, starring Charles Dutton, which received a Best Picture nomination at The Image Awards.
Lang is also […]

Robert Barr Smith is a Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma Law Center. His specialty areas are legal writing and trial and appellate advocacy.
He entered the U. S. Army as a private in 1958 and was commissioned in the following year. He served in Vietnam with 4th Infantry Division, twice in Germany—a total of more than seven years—and with troop units and on posts throughout the United States. He is a Senior Parachutist and holds the Legion of Merit (two awards), the Bronze Star, and other decorations. He retired from military service as a colonel.
He attended Stanford University, where he earned a BA in History and a Doctor […]

Olaf Danielson was born and raised in the small northwestern Wisconsin town of Falun, a town named for Falun, Sweden, where all of the first settlers originated. Olaf grew up amid the stories and folklore of Sweden, and some of that folklore can be found in his Defenders of the Earth Series. His interests in world history, bird watching, and travel have guided him on a somewhat nomadic lifestyle that greatly enhance his stories.
Olaf attended Ripon College, where he graduated summa cum laude, and received his doctorate at the University of Minnesota. Licensed to practice medicine in five states, Olaf now runs a successful emergency room staffing business. He […]

I grew up in the community of Brule, in northwestern Wisconsin, surrounded by the friends and relatives who gave me a deep sense of belonging. On Sunday afternoons, story telling about our ancestors and others who settled in the area was often my family’s entertainment.
Those tales plus my Grandma Jennie’s love for history gave me the desire to learn more about our region’s pre-settlement history.
I knew voyageurs traveled on our local Brule River during the fur trade era, but where they originated from and what their destinations were remained a mystery until I began researching for my first book, Pathways, The Earliest History of Northern Wisconsin’s Brule Region. My […]