The North Star Monthly

Feature Writers:

Donna M. Garfield, Lyndonville

Donna Garfield has been writing stories since she was a child. A native Vermonter, she graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy, where she was news editor of the Academy newspaper, "The Student", her senior year. She always thought she would write fiction but finds she enjoys writing about people in the Northeast Kingdom. Donna has worked as a Legal Administrative Assistant for Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC for 25 years and currently writes and takes photographs for "Voice & Vision", the law firm's monthly internal newsletter. She is a regular contributor to "The North Star Monthly" and has written articles for "The Caledonian-Record". Donna has won three photography contests. She won first place in St. Johnsbury Works! for her picture of evening grosbeaks and second place in St. Johnsbury Works! for her picture of autumn foliage. Donna placed second in a contest sponsored by "Arthritis Today" magazine. Her photo showed her husband reading a copy of the magazine while sitting on the fire tower at Burke Mountain. Donna lives in Lyndon with her husband, Reed, and their cat, Emma. They have three grown children who live in the Northeast Kingdom with their families.

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Jacob L. Grant, Bethlehem, N.H.

Jacob L. Grant is a published author and former journalist, editor, photographer, and columnist for The Caledonian-Record. He is a native Vermonter and was homeschooled from second grade through high school. His first book, “The Maker’s Child,” a medieval fantasy novel for teens was published when he was 17. His second novel, “The Stormcaller,” was released in 2007 and was co-authored with Mark T. Russell of Littleton, NH. Jacob served as co-editor and illustrator for the young adult mystery novel “Searching for Hannerester,” and has designed many book covers and illustrations for his current employer Raphel Marketing in St. Johnsbury, VT. Jacob is also a published photographer and graphic artist. Visit his website at www.isleofturmak.com.

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Helen Chantal Pike, Waterford

In 1976, Helen followed in her father's footsteps as a writer and photographer, starting with a newspaper job for the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. In the years that followed she received a master's degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, New York; lived among the remaining potato farmers and fishermen on Long Island's North Fork, and then covered the dazzling highs and crippling lows of the technology industry from Route 128 in Boston. In 1991, she started a freelance career, becoming an international travel writer and photographer, principally for The Boston Herald. Her work has since appeared in a wide variety of publications from the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and Washington Post to such magazines as Vermont Life, Northern Woodlands and New Jersey Monthly. Digital versions of her articles and editorials for a variety of print publications can be found by visiting www.helenpike.com. 

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Sharon Lakey, Danville

Sharon Lakey has always loved a story. Perhaps it all started by listening to Grandma Lula's stories (with all the gruesome details) on the plains of Colorado. After moving to Danville with her husband, Dwight, and three young children in the fall of 1979, she became interested in the stories that presented themselves in this beautiful place. In 1988, she and her husband reestablished The North Star with lots of help from community members who loved stories just as much as she did. In 1995 it was back to teaching English at Oxbow High School in Bradford, Vt., where she read, edited and published pages upon pages of stories from middle and high school students. After retiring from teaching in 2007, she was pleased to note that Danville and the surrounding area was still lush with stories and authors willing to ferret them out to share with readers. She gladly rejoined the ranks of North Star contributors in 2008.

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Justin Lavely, Danville

Justin Lavely graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy and Lyndon State College with a degree in journalism and writing. After a couple of years as an intern for the The Courier in Littleton, N.H., he also served as a reporter, assistant editor and managing editor. Prior to owning the North Star, much of his writing was focused on hard news, which included a gambit of legal, social and human interest articles for The Courier, The Union Leader and Boston Magazine.

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Dan Williams, Lyndonville

Dan Williams teaches journalism and English at Lyndon State College. He moved to the Northeast Kingdom from Atlanta with wife Susan and son Jimmy in 2006. A grown son, Martin, is an engineer in Boston, and daughter Gretchen is in medical school in Missouri. Williams entered the academic world after a quarter-century in print and broadcast journalism in the United States and Europe, including stints at CNN and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

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Columnists:

Bill Amos, St. Johnsbury

Bill Amos's 90+ years have been a continual series of surprises, pleasures and rewards, centered around his family, especially his beloved Catherine, and on his good fortune in being a biologist-naturalist - a profession and obsession that has allowed him to view the world from unpredictable viewpoints and to be fortunate enough to pass those observations on to many in numerous books and articles. Growing up in the Far East, wartime duty in the Pacific, teaching, travel, writing, photography, scientific research and retirement in the Northeast Kingdom have all contributed to a full and happy life.

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Denise Brown, Lyndon

Denise Brown's columns and articles on food and family life have appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines in Connecticut and Vermont. She teaches writing and research at Lyndon State College, and is at work on a novel.

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John Margolis, Barton

Jon Margolis, proprietor, writer, and grand pooh-bah of Vermont Newsguy.com, is the author of three books and was the national political correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He is also an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Vermont. He lives in Barton where, when not writing or teaching, he putters in his garden, walks in the woods, and, in season, attempts with modest success to fool brook trout into thinking that the fluff at the end of his fly-line and leader is an actual insect. Margolis has written articles for the New York Times Magazine, American Prospect, The New Republic, Mother Jones, High Country News, and 7 Days. Before joining the Tribune in 1973, Margolis had been the Albany Bureau Chief for Newsday.  A native of New Jersey, Margolis graduated from Oberlin College in 1962. He served in the US Army. He is married to the former Sally Thompson and they have two grown children, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and a grand-daughter.

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Marvin Minkler, St. Johnsbury

Marvin Minkler is a native Vermonter, who returned to the Northeast Kingdom in 1994, and will never leave again. He works for a mental health agency. An avid book collector and reader, he owns Marvin Minkler Modern First Editions, an on-line book business. His hobbies are reading, listening to music, writing poetry, book reviews, and collecting stuff. He lives in St. Johnsbury with his wife, Mary, little girl Lizzy, three cats and Buddy the dog.

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Lyn Bonfield, Peacham

Lyn Bonfield, "Letters from the Past" columnist, divides her time between Peacham and San Francisco. Since 1980 she has worked closely with the Peacham Historical Association. She has worked as an archivist at the Harvard University Archives, Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, Urban Archives at Temple, California Historical Society, and since 1985 as the director of the Labor Archives and Research Center at San Francisco State University. As an historian, she has published articles in Vermont History, California History, and other journals, and the book Roxana's Children: The Biography of a Nineteenth-Century Vermont Family with Mary C. Morrison. Currently she is working on a book about Vermonters in the California Gold Rush. Always on the lookout for original letters and diaries written in the 19th century describing farming, village life, or family activities, if your personal archives contain any of these, please let Lynn know at PO Box 200, Peacham VT 05862 or bonfield@sfsu.edu.

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Rachel S. Siegel, Barnet

Rachel S. Siegel, CFA, has been writing Follow the Money since 2001. Her columns and editorials have also been featured in The Ammonoosuc Times and The Forward. She has been a professor in the Business Administration Department at Lyndon State College since 1990, teaching finance, accounting, and, of course, economics. Siegel has a BA degree in English literature and an MBA, both from Yale University. She lives in Barnet, VT.

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Woody Starkweather, West Danville

Woody Starkweather grew up in southern Connecticut, went to the Hotchkiss School and then to Hamilton College, majoring in English and French. He worked in the publishing business for a number of years before going to graduate school at Southern Illinois University, where he received a Ph.D. in Speech and Language in 1970. He then worked as a Professor of Language and Speech Sciences, first at the City University of New York, then at Temple University in Philadelphia. He retired in 2000. In 2004 he and his wife Janet Givens joined the Peace Corps and spent two years teaching English in Kazakhstan. He is the author of a dozen books and numerous scientific articles on speech and language and is recognized as a leading authority on the problem of stuttering. While in the Peace Corps he wrote five novels and 20 short stories, of which the latter were published as a book in 2007. He is an avid musician and singer, performing with several local groups. He lives in Danville.

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Isobel P. Swartz, St. Johnsbury

Isobel P. Swartz was born, raised and educated in England but she thinks of herself as a world citizen! She came to the U.S. in 1965 and has lived in New York and Vermont -- Danville and St. Johnsbury. She taught high school science in the UK, Switzerland and the U.S. She was a childbirth educator for Caledonia Home Health Care for 30 years, a job she really loved. She has been married for 40 + years to a very patient man. She is the mother of three daughters, grandmother of four boys and two girls. Currently, she works at the Fairbanks Museum as a Radon Program Coordinator and as an archivist. Her interests are varied and eclectic: travel, education, history, politics, international affairs, health care, women's issues, environmental issues, gardening, biking, kayaking, the ocean, music, poetry, reading, and writing about all of these and anything else that stimulates her mind or gets her riled up! She also likes to cook, sew and quilt. In fact, most things interest her to some extent. Her columns are a reflection of her interests, concerns and personal history.

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Robyn Greenstone, Danville

Robyn Greenstone has a degree in Medieval/Renaissance Studies and is a long-time lecturer at The Cloisters, the medieval branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Her specialty is herbal lore. She welcomes your questions and comments at r.greenstone@yahoo.com.

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Lorna Field Quimby, Peacham

Lorna Field Quimby, a native Vermonter, was town clerk and treasurer of Peacham and president of the Peacham Historical Association.  Her articles about Peacham history have appeared in Vermont History, published by the Vermont Historical Society.  Her memoirs about growing up during the Great Depression first appeared in the North Star Monthly in 1995.

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Edmund J. Guest, Burke

Ed Guest  was educated at Rutgers University and now lives in East Burke.  He retired after 32 years working for the U.S. Government, mostly with specialized agencies of the Defense Department. From his base near Washington, D.C., his work took him to Europe and Southeast Asia, and he and Karen now travel for pleasure by train, plane, RV, and cruise ship. Besides travel, Ed likes reading and writing, old movies, baseball, jazz and classical music, walking and snowshoeing, downhill skiing, and the occasional glass of red wine..