Authors

Formerly with Art & Antiques magazine and Museum & Arts Washington magazine, freelance Arizona arts writer Amy Abrams has contributed hundreds of stories to national and regional magazines and newspapers including Southwest Art, Native Peoples, Arizona Highways and Arizona Republic.

Amy Wilkins is an attorney practicing law in the Phoenix area. An Arizona native, she enjoys exploring Arizona's beautiful mountains, canyons and deserts and writing about her experiences.

A Greater Phoenix area resident since 1993 and a graduate of Arizona State University, Drew Gilstrap thrives as a certified English teacher and freelance writer/editor. Drew keeps his finger on the pulse of Arizona sports and politics.

These articles are brought to you by staff of the Arizona Office of Tourism, as well as local tourism organizations around the state.

Bill Huffman has been covering the game of golf in Arizona for 25 years, first as the golf writer for the Arizona Republic, and then for the East Valley Tribune. Huffman also wrote the book Arizona’s Greatest Golf Courses, and can be heard as co-host of Backspin, The Golf Show every Wednesday evening (6–7 p.m.) and Saturday morning (9–11 a.m.) on XTRA Sports 910 AM (Fox Sports).

Tucson resident Bill Norman is a freelance writer/photographer whose works have appeared in numerous general-interest magazines throughout Arizona and travel/outdoor websites worldwide. His hiking record includes most of the Arizona Trail and 30 rim-to-rim-to-rim treks in the Grand Canyon.

Native Tucsonan Bryn Bailer is an award-winning journalist, former newspaper reporter, current-affairs junkie, and a firm believer in indecision. (At least she thinks so.) Her work has appeared in various publications, including The Dallas Morning News, Arizona Highways, Arizona Daily Star, international news service Agence France-Presse, scads of lifestyle magazines, and curiously, the English-language financial magazine Czech Business Weekly.

Chris Becker lives in Phoenix and has been writing about recreation in the West for nearly 10 years. He prefers skis to snowboards and believes that beef stew made in a snowbound lodge might be the best meal on planet Earth.

An award-winning author and publisher, Christine Maxa has written for Arizona Highways, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor and National Geographic Traveler, among other national and regional publications, and has been featured on National Public Radio and local television. She has published nine books about Arizona.

Claire Walter is an award-winning author of hundreds of magazine and newspaper features and some 20 books. She specializes in writing about food, travel and snow sports with particular emphasis on the West. She maintains a blog at http://travel-babel.blogspot.com and can be reached through www.claire-walter.com. 

Dale Leatherman is a full-time freelance writer and president-elect of the Society of American Travel Writers. Her specialties are golf, adventure, equestrian sports and the Caribbean.

Arizona native David Hubbard, a long time Phoenix-based editor and writer, has always enjoyed exploring the myriad facets of the Arizona lifestyle through his work. His contributions to numerous regional and national publications continue to highlight the best of the Southwest.

David M. Brown has lived in and loved Arizona for 25 years. He writes about his passions: food and wine; travel and hospitality; architecture and construction; high-performance cars; technology; and the arts. A father of two, he is mentored by his border collie/pointer, who believes, with similar passion, that throwing tennis balls for her is the most important activity in the universe.

An enrolled member of the Xolon Salinan Tribe and a Phoenix-based journalist, Debra Utacia Krol is the book editor of Native Peoples Magazine and a regular contributor to many regional and national publications.

Dina Mishev lives and writes in Jackson, Wyoming, and wherever she parks her camper van in Arizona. Her work about travel, adventure, fitness and lifestyle topics appears in National Geographic Traveler, Sunset and AAA Via. She is a host of the Wyoming PBS show “The Wyoming Chronicle.”  You can find her blog at www.dinamishev.com.

Edie Jarolim is the author of Arizona for Dummies and her articles about the state have appeared in numerous national publications, including National Geographic Traveler, US Airways magazine and The Wall Street Journal. She is the Pet Travel Correspondent for KVOA TV in Tucson, where she is based, and her most recent book is Am I Boring My Dog: And 99 Things Every Dog Wishes You Knew (Alpha/Penguin).

Since moving to Tucson in 1988, freelance writer Elena Acoba has enjoyed traveling to the four corners of Arizona. Her favorites spots in her adopted state: the natural wonders and the rich historical sights.

Elizabeth Exline is a freelance writer and editor whose articles have appeared in Sunset, Robb Report, LUXE and various other local, regional and national media.

Born and raised in Arizona, Eric Van Meter is a freelance content developer, specializing in sales and marketing communications for web, print and radio (http://wordmoxie.com). On the side, he also gets a kick of out of writing about science, technology, travel and film.

Joyanna Laughlin is a freelance writer and poet who lives in Tucson with her partner, Glenn, and their three dogs Rocket, Rusty and Bear. Her journalism has appeared in numerous media including Sunset, Tucson Home, Natural Home and Gaiam Life. Landscapes deeply influence her work.

Julian Smith is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer specializing in travel and science. He is the author of four travel guidebooks, and his writing and photography have appeared in Smithsonian, Outside, Wired, National Geographic Traveler, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. He can be reached at www.juliansmith.com.

Although he lives in Oregon, for more than 20 years Karl Samson has been escaping his home state’s rainy winter weather to dry out in sunny Arizona. He is the author of the Frommer’s Arizona guidebook and has also written about Arizona for Sunset magazine.

Author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Girlfriend Getaways, and the creator of Arizona Spa Girls (AZSpaGirls.com) – a girlfriend-to-girlfriend guide for the new generation of spa enthusiasts – Lisa Kasanicky’s writing career spans more than 20 years. She is a recognized spa expert, having been interviewed on ABC News and Martha Stewart Living Radio. In 2006, she co-founded the annual Summer Spaaah Series, which tours Arizona spas to educate the public on wellness while supporting a local charity. For her work as the “Spastress,” Lisa was named among the coolest people in the Valley of the Sun by Phoenix Magazine in 2008. She and her husband (aka, the “spa boy”) currently reside in Scottsdale, Arizona. She can be reached at azspagirls.com and lisa.kasanicky.com.

Lora Finnegan is a former senior writer and senior editor for Sunset Magazine and editor of travel publications for Sunset Publishing. She currently writes for the blog California Travel Girl.

Lori Archibald is a freelance writer who has covered the arts, dining, culture and leisure in the Grand Canyon State for a variety of publications. She lives in Phoenix and is the editor of www.letspartymagazine.com.

Lori K. Baker is an award-winning journalist and nationally published writer whose work has appeared in some of the nation’s top magazines – Family Circle, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Parenting and others – as well as Arizona Highways, where she worked as a research editor. Writing about travel and health are her specialties. To learn more about her work, visit her Web site, www.lorikbaker.com.

As a longtime writer for the Tucson Weekly and other publications, Margaret Regan frequently covers Arizona art, architecture and history. Her recent book, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands (Beacon Press, 2010), has been named a Southwest Book of the Year.

A native of Arizona and an Indian arts dealer for more than 40 years, Mark Bahti grew up traveling the Indian lands of the Southwest with his father, Tom Bahti, who started out in the Indian arts business in 1949 in New Mexico. Mark has authored a number of books and articles on Indian arts and crafts, history and culture. He is currently completing his doctorate in American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona.

Mark Sanders is a journalist and archaeologist. He currently lives in Florida and can be reached through his website, www.diversionism.com.

A native of Phoenix, Melissa Wenzel is a freelance writer and public relations consultant. Her writing can be found in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Raising Arizona Kids Magazine and Veteran’s Magazine. Melissa and her husband continue to live in the Greater Phoenix area, where they can be found chasing (or being chased by) their three-year-old twin boys. To learn more about her work, visit www.melissawenzel.com.

Nancy L. Brandt is a freelance writer with a background in radio, television and print media. She had written extensively on Arizona history.

Nancy Yackel loves living and traveling in the American West. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, Nancy shares travel destinations on her website, http://wheretogotravelusa.com.

Nora Burba Trulsson is the editor of Sources+Design, a bimonthly design magazine. Trulsson’s articles on design, travel and lifestyle have also appeared in Sunset, US Airways Magazine, Western Interiors and Design, Renovation Style, Beautiful Homes, Arizona Highways and other publications. She is the co-author of Living Homes: Sustainable Architecture and Design, Desert Southwest Gardens and Desert Southwest.

Sam Lowe has been writing about Arizona since 1969, when he became an adopted son. His stories have appeared publications including The Phoenix Gazette, Arizona Republic, Arizona Highways, Arizona AAA Highroads, Chicago Tribune and Robb Report. He has also written five books about Arizona, including Arizona Curiosities and You Know You're in Arizona When...

Teresa Bitler is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Sunset and Valley Guide magazines. She is the author of Great Escapes Arizona as well as four Arizona-related iPhone travel apps and is currently working on her second guidebook, Backroads & Byways of Indian Country. She can be reached at www.teresabitler.com.

Tim Vanderpool is a Tucson-based freelance writer whose hankering for adventure and trusty VW van have taken him to the far corners of our great state. His travel writing has appeared in publications ranging from Sunset and The Christian Science Monitor to National Geographic Traveler.

Tom Danehy is a writer and radio talk-show host from Tucson. He is involved in a variety of athletic pursuits, and he coaches one of the top small-school high-school girls’ basketball teams in the state of Arizona.