g. Susanna Eckl

Ms. Eckl grew up on the south side of Chicago. To her parents’ dismay, she possesses all the earmarks, predilections, and attitudes accompanying that particular culture.

For her amusement, she writes.

g. resides in a dark sky park where neighbors often see UFOs over her home.


Kathleen Harris

After working for several decades as a career naturalist at places like Peninsula State Park, Kathleen Harris jumped off the hamster wheel to work on herself: more family time, more nature walks, more writing, more laughs. To fill in the gaps, there’s always her part-time hustle as a local cemetery superintendent and tending to her neurotic, “sugar face” vizsla. She is the author of From the Lookout: Memories of Peninsula State Park’s Summer Camp for Girls.


John J. Smith

J.J. Smith was born on the south side of Chicago in 1919. He graduated from Morgan Park High School after only five years.

Immediately after graduation, he began working for The Chicago Daily News.

He was drafted into the U.S. Army in October 1941. Beginning in 1943, he fought in the jungles of New Guinea. He was injured in May 1944, sent home, and became the father of nine children.

He worked as a journalist in Chicago for over forty years.


Tony Smith

Toe Knee is a retired business schmo who lives in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. A few years ago, he started writing short stories about his life and fiction, which he reads at open mics in Door County and around Chicago.

Tony is the luckiest guy he knows.