OUR AUTHORS
Daniel J. Rice
Editor-in-Chief of Riverfeet Press
Author of: THE UNPEOPLED SEASON, and
THIS SIDE OF A WILDERNESS
Daniel J. Rice was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1979. In 2011 he resigned from his position as a Hydrographer for the U.S. Geological Survey in Wyoming, to dedicate time to writing. While spending four months living alone in a tent, isolated in a northern Minnesota forest, he wrote the novel, This Side of a Wilderness, and the journal, The Unpeopled Season. Currently he lives in Montana, and is an avid Fly Fisherman, Outdoorsman, and Hockey Player, and all these come through in his writing.
Timothy Goodwin
Author of: WITHIN THESE WOODS, and ECOLOGICAL IDENTITY
After teaching secondary science for 20 years, Tim Goodwin now serves as Chair for the Department of Professional Education at Bemidji State University. With a M.A. and Doctorate in Education from Hamline University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from St. Olaf College, Dr. Goodwin’s research involves work in environmental education, ecological literacy and ecological identity. His scholarly investigations led to the development of a unique, thematic biology curriculum. In addition to teaching, writing and illustrating about his Northwoods experiences, he is also a musician. You can learn about the biology curriculum at www.exploringbiodiversity.com, and find his blog, music and other information at www.timothygoodwin.net. Dr. Goodwin lives in beautifully biodiverse Bemidji, MN, with his wife and two children.
Marcus Bruning
Author of: RELENTLESS
Bruning retired in 2013 to a home on the Mississippi River near Bemidji, Minnesota after 28 years in Law Enforcement. Marcus served the last 20 years with the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office in Duluth, Minnesota where he retired as Supervising Deputy Sheriff (Rank of Major).
Marcus Bruning is known for the real world practical education and training he provides for law enforcement professionals across the country. Bruning is nationally recognized as an expert on law enforcement response to intimate partner abuse, sexual assault and stalking and has presented training in all fifty states.
Major Bruning has published articles in the National Sheriff’s Magazine and has been quoted in Oprah’s "O" Magazine.
Jen Wright
Author of: RELENTLESS
Wright is the author of the popular Jo Spence mystery novels. She lives in Clover Valley, a small community located northeast of Duluth near the north shore of Lake Superior. She shares life with her partner, Carol, and their loving canine companions in a community of friends.
Wright is Superintendent of the Arrowhead Juvenile Center, Arrowhead Regional Corrections where she has worked for ARC for 29 years. She has trained in the areas of Domestic Violence, Gender responsive services, Drug Courts, and Juvenile Probation issues
Jen has a BA degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology and course work towards a Masters in Public Administration.
Barry W. Babcock
Author of: TEACHERS IN THE FOREST
Babcock lives off the grid in the Mississippi Headwaters Country of northern Minnesota. His lifestyle is one of simple and self-sustaining existence. He gathers what he needs from the land by gardening, hunting, harvesting, and his only electricity is harnessed from the sun, his water from a well which is pumped daily by hand. He lives an intimate balance with the natural world.
He has pursued a way of life distanced from the economic and consumptive norms which he believes can hinder a persons connection to the natural world. He truly lives on the perimeter of society.
With a deep love and respect for the land, he has been active in curbing the transformation of northern Minnesota which has been enacted by extractive industry, motorized recreation, and development. For over two decades he has been active with the Tri-County Leech Lake Watershed Project, and is the founder of the grassroots organization Jack Pine Coalition. Since the delisting of wolves from the Endangered Species Act, Babcock has been pro-actively fighting to protect this animal. This has included speaking to legislature in conjunction with the non-profit group Howling for Wolves, and assisting with the production of the documentary film Medicine of the Wolf.
Michael Meuers
Author of: ROAD TO PONEMAH
Meuers lives with his wife, three cats and a dog on a four-acre peninsula overlooking the Mississippi River just after it leaves Lake Bemidji. They have two adult daughters and two grandchildren. He grew up in the Twin Cities moving to Minnesota’s Great North Woods in his early 30’s. He first lived near Northome, MN where he built a house having more time than money. A few years later he had the house moved 55 miles to it’s current location on the Mississippi River near Bemidji, MN.
He worked for a local public television affiliate before taking a job with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. He has worked as a public relations person with the Band for 22 years taking photos and writing stories about the Red Lake Band.
He has worked in a variety of ways to help bridge Indian and Non-Indian culture of north central Minnesota, by encouraging learning, the celebration of diversity, and to open a dialog that would begin this conversation.
He spearheaded Bemidji’s Ojibwe Language Project. Nearly 200 businesses and organizations within a hundred miles of Bemidji post a variety of common signage in both English and Ojibwe through his efforts.
Meuers received a Spirit (Indian) name in a ceremony conducted by the book’s subject, Larry Stillday, in the summer of 2013. Biidaanakwad Izhinikaazo. (Gathering Cloud is His Name).
Meuers operates a blog, titled: Indian Country, Through the Eyes of an Irishman. You can find it here:
Tyler Dunning
Author of: A FIELD GUIDE TO LOSING YOUR FRIENDS
Born and raised in Montana, Tyler Dunning developed a feral curiosity at a young age. This disposition has led him around the world, to nearly all of the U.S. national parks, and to the backcountry of his own creativity and consciousness. He’s dabbled in such occupations as professional wrestling, archaeology, social justice advocacy, and academia. At his core he is a writer.
Find his documentary "A Field Guide to Losing your Friends" - which premiered at the 2017 Telluride Film Festival - on his website: www.tylerdunning.com
Chris La Tray
Author of: ONE-SENTENCE JOURNAL
Chris La Tray, an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a writer and photographer who lives just outside Missoula, Montana. His work has appeared in various magazines, collections and anthologies.
It has been suggested that, because of the nature of his work, Chris La Tray must smell like Yukon gold dust, spruce tips, and cedar waxwings. He hopes it’s true.