Biography/Memoir

At the age of 12 my family and I visited my brother while he was stationed at Ft. Carson. It was the first time that I ever saw mountains and in my young mind I told myself that one day I would live by these mountains. It is now over 45 years later and I am. But I encountered lifetime of experiences before fulfilling my childhood dream. I am from the Midwest, a flatlander. I have been a probation officer, an explosive detection trainer, a trainer for an inmate telephone company, a research analyst, and an instructor at a college here in Colorado Springs. I have travelled the world, dined at the 125 year old mansion of the former Chicago Bears' owner George Halas, and waded in the Bohol Sea. I have experienced a number of tragedies - I survived a haunting divorce, endured a 35 year ordeal which started with my father getting shot and killed when I was 22 years old, and there are many others. But I have always fought back - with the help of my magnetic Colorado mountains I have come full circle - and now, I am living once more.

John Wesley Anderson, MBA, is a published author, storyteller, and TEDx speaker. He enjoyed a 30-year law enforcement career, retiring at the rank of sergeant after 22 years with the Colorado Springs Police Department, followed by 8 years serving as the elected sheriff for El Paso County, Colorado. After being term-limited as Sheriff, John retired from public safety and was employed in homeland and corporate security for ten years in the private sector. He retired from the Lockheed Martin Corporation in 2012 to launch a consulting business allowing him the freedom to pursue his love of history, writing and the arts. In 2022 John was honored to receive the Golden Quill Award from the Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District. Although John has traveled around the world, including several adventures on a catamaran sailing the Caribbean, three corporate security assignments into a combat zone on the Horn of Africa and landing on an aircraft carrier at sea in the Pacific Ocean, he remains most fascinated by the rich history and art discovered in his own backyard in the American Southwest.

Angela Ricketts is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir No Man's War: Irreverent Confessions of an Infantry Wife, which offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the tight-knit, sometimes insular community of military families and the sacrifices and hardships they endure. No Man’s War, published by Counterpoint Press, has been lauded in the pages of the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, and numerous other publications, and Angela appeared as a guest on NPR's “Fresh Air” and “Fox and Friends.” She earned an undergraduate degree from Indiana University and a master's degree in Social Psychology and Human Relations while living in Europe. She writes about women's issues and is a frequent university lecturer. Angela lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, their three fiercely independent children and beloved pets.

Anna Blake trains horses and riders communication skills and dressage, and writes parables about horses and life.

My family moved to Colorado Springs in 1961, so I have lived here most of my life. When married, I lived in Germany, Sterling, and Denver for 13 years before moving back to the Springs. My two children are now adults, my daughter is 36, my son 32. I have retired after working at Penrose Library for 19 years. I had been working on a particular book for 10 years and it was published on November 10th, 2015. It is mostly illustrations with text, akin to an art journal. I enjoy art, especially drawing, collage, mixed media, and painting.

The Colorado mountains serves as Elizabeth's inspiration for writing poetry and other inspirational works. She has been writing, speaking, singing, and inspiring people since the age of 8. Her heart's desire is to impact young and old alike to be their very best. The Pikes Peak Library District shows such total support for local writers that Elizabeth is inspired to reach out and touch those in the district whose lives have been altered by drug abuse or any other factors, and who are in need of encouragement.

Sandra Knauf was born in California and spent most of her childhood in Missouri. She moved to Colorado when she was a teenager and has lived there ever since. She is the publisher and editor of Greenwoman Magazine, a garden writing magazine, which she started in 2010. Her work has appeared in The Denver Post, GreenPrints, Colorado Gardener, and other publications, and she has been a guest commentator on KRCC's "Western Skies" radio show. (KRCC is NPR's southern Colorado affiliate station.) Zera and the Green Man is her first novel. She lives in Colorado Springs with her family, pets, and a big garden.

Esther Clibon was a Colorado native, born in a sod house on her father's homestead in Eastern Colorado.

Her obituary which appeared in The Gazette is available with the following link: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazette/obituary.aspx?n=esther-e-clibo…

T. Duren Jones gets out into the wilderness as often as possible, camping, fishing, hiking, desert trekking, and "bagging" peaks—and does he have stories to tell! He's hiked hundreds of trails, completed the nearly 500 miles of the Colorado Trail, and has summitted all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks. He's kinda crazy that way. Tim enjoys taking friends, family, and his wife Diane, on wilderness quests with him ... and most of them have survived his escapades. His first book is titled Tales from the Trails. The book is part adventure journal, part travelogue, part motivational encouragement, part stand-up comedy—and includes 26 nearly true outdoor stories from trails and climbs around the American West. Tim and his wife have raised four creative and equally adventurous children. He and Diane enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle together that includes biking, softball, snowshoeing, hunting, and hiking the many wonderful trails in their home state of Colorado. About the book -- Care to be entertained? Humored? Informed? Inspired? (All from wilderness trail adventure stories, featuring those who made it out.) Then this book— Tales from the Trails, published by WordFire Press— is for you! You can order a paperback and/or ebook on Amazon. Tales from the Trails—part adventure journal, part travelogue, part motivational encouragement, part stand-up comedy—includes 26 mostly true outdoor stories from trails and climbs around the American West. This book is for anyone who loves spending time in the outdoors, who wish they could be outdoors more, or who simply enjoy reading about other nuts who spend time outdoors. The author also has a web site and regular blog featuring stories from the Pikes Peak region and around the American West, and is published monthly in the New Falcon Herald Newspaper, as well as in four regional/neighborhood newsletters on the Front Range. He also publishes an annual calendar featuring author stories and photos from wilderness trails.

I've lived in the Colorado Springs area for over 40 years in a downtown Victorian home. We had fun updating and remodeling our home while keeping it to the original standards. We love the people and the community of Colorado Springs. Working in real estate, I've gotten to know the area and can't say there's anywhere else I'd like to live.

I work in real estate during the day and write in the evenings. I like to write stories that have a happy ever after so you'll find me on the shelves in under contemporary romance, paranormal romance, romantic comedy and romantic suspense. Also, I write some nonfiction as well. I am an award-winning, bestselling author on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.