Our Contributors

Allen R. Gibson is a writer and media producer. He’s also a city boy who loves the country, and has been happily promoting rural Alberta since moving to Lethbridge from Vancouver. His company, StarMedia Services, provides branding and marketing advice to businesses and tourism organizations. He can be reached thru starmedia@uberskookum.com

Andrew Penner is an independent writer and photographer living in Calgary, Alberta. His work has been featured in Westerworld, UP!, Golf Magazine, Golfweek, NBC.com, and many other leading golf and lifestyle publications in North America. When not travelling or on assignment, he enjoys reading, movies, and just chilling out in the backyard with his wife, Dawn, and their four boys.

Website: www.andrewpenner.com

David Finch was born in pre-revolutionary Cuba, David Finch is the only son of Canadian missionaries. After completing a portion of his education in Canada and Venezuela, Finch came to Canada for good and earned a master’s degree in post-confederation Canadian history at the University of Calgary. David Finch researches and writes about Canadian history fulltime. His interests include social history, the technology westerners have used to develop the natural resource wealth of the frontier, and our economic and political institutions.

Website: davidfinchhistorian.weebly.com

Don Hepburn a retired Agrologist, resides in Cochrane, Alberta and is a volunteer with the Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation. He and his wife Arlene are horse owners and participate and compete in Reining Alberta performance horse competitions. Don’s interest in western heritage and history has fostered and interest in creating a number of western bronzes in his spare time.

Graeme Pole is the best-selling author of eleven books that describe the human history and the natural history of western Canada, including the Canadian Rockies Companion Guides – a trio of guidebooks to the mountains. Nine of his titles have been finalists in the Banff Mountain Book Festival. Graeme has been a sponsor of our Reader Contest in Experience the Mountain Parks for the past two years. He lives with his family near Hazelton, in northwestern BC.

website: mountainvision.ca

Lauchlan J. Currie  is President of ARC Financial Corp., the largest private equity firm in Canada focused on the energy business. He owns a family ranch in Okotoks, and is an avid outdoorsman and naturalist. Lauchlan organizes an annual trail ride of the Spitzee Cavalry in Kananaskis Country with 40 Calgary riders. He is married to his wife Karen, and they have three young children.

Rob Lennard (aka The History Wrangler) is a Calgary based singer, songwriter, performer, and award winning author. The Amazing Time Travel Adventures of Wild Roping Roxy and Family Day Ray was written to celebrate Alberta’s centennial in 2005. Rob received the 2005 Heritage Awareness Award and the Alberta Centennial Medal for his efforts. The sequel, entitled The Amazing Time Travel Adventure of The Iron Crow Brothers and Bree Sainte Marie, was released in 2011. Watch for the third book in this trilogy in 2014. Rob has performed his fun and educational The Past is a Blast Show at numerous events, including the 2012 Calgary Stampede. As the Director of The Alberta Heritage School Fair program, Lennard speaks with educators and students all along the Cowboy Trail.

Website: thepastisablast.ca

Tanya Koob is a Calgary-based freelance writer and lover of all things adventurous in the mountains. She spends her weekends gliding through snow or water on her light touring skis or stand up paddleboard. She has a 5 year old son and loves hiking, camping and exploring the backcountry with her husband and son. Visit Tanya’s Blog where she chronicles her adventures rockiesfamilyadventures.com

Website: rockiesfamilyadventures.com

Janet Kanters is a writer/editor and photographer living in her “little house on the Prairie” east of Strathmore. Her work has been featured in Canadian Geographic, Equinox, Calgary Herald, Alberta Venture, The Western Producer, Greenhouse Canada, Canadian Gardening, Canadian Cattlemen, Grainews, Top Crop Manager and The Furrow, in addition to dozens more publications. When not busy researching, writing and editing, Janet spends time photographing people, places and things, and engages in numerous sports and hobbies, such as gardening, fishing, camping, canoeing, archery, competitive shooting (trap) and curling.

Website: http://www.ifaj.org/freelancers/details/detail/18.html

Lee Hart is a long-time writer based in Calgary, Alberta. He began his writing career working as a newspaper reporter in his home province of Ontario before moving west 45 years ago. While the first half of his career he worked as a writer and editor with various weekly and daily newspaper, for the past 28 years he has specialized as a writer and editor for agricultural publications.

Website: hartwritingservices.com

Julie Walker has been a hiking/backpacking IGA certified guide for over 25 years, safely guiding people in the Foothills and Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta. Over the years she has learned to identify Prairie, Foothills, Montane, Sub-Alpine and Alpine plants and has stories about each one.

Julie has worked at Beauvais Lake Provincial Park, The Calgary Zoo and Weaselhead-Glenmore Park Preservation Society creating and running interpretive programs for schools. She started school programs with Full Circle Adventures and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society about 6 years ago. She is passionate about “Connecting People to Nature” in her role as Owner/Program Director and Guide at Full Circle Adventures.

Her latest ventures include wild food gardening and taking Chefs out wild foraging. You can check out the educational programs on wild foraging and
school programs at www.fullcircleadventures.com

Renée Delorme’s passions brought her from Eastern Canada to Alberta attracted by the beautiful big skies, the mountains and the free spirited people of the region. Renée set roots in Bragg Creek and pursued a career as a community development and government relation specialist for 26 years. She is now furthering her work for the benefit of Aboriginal communities and welcomes anyone interested to connect with her at renee.delorme@sage-action.ca. Renée also devotes time to her other passion, the art and science of wine as a trained sommelier doing private events and media work. You can visit her at www.tastingpleasures.ca.

Ray Johnson with his amazing wife Rose, own and live on the Box J Bar Ranch south of Leduc, Alberta. Ray has been a professional photographer and freelance writer since the 70’s and a photography teacher from 1983′ to 1988′ at  the University of Alberta Adult Education Program. He owned a studio, framing shop, photo finishing and custom processing lab in Drayton Valley, as well as a commercial photofinishing and rental lab in Edmonton.

Johnson has been a wedding and portrait photographer for several years, and specialised in news, sports, advertising and tourism  photography. Ray was the official photographer for the Calgary Olympics – Rodeo ’88 Challenge Cup and the only Canadian photographer invited into the arena, for the final National Finals Rodeo, held in Oklahoma City, OK in 1982.

Ray has been awarded assignments for Western Horseman, National Geographic World, Budweiser, Dodge Trucks, Bulls-eye, Coors, Brahma Boots, Copenhagen, Off Road Canada, Outdoors Magazine, and BMX World, and his work has been published in numerous  magazines and newspapers, various advertising media and promotional material.

His client list includes the Ponoka Stampede, Calgary Stampede, Canadian Finals Rodeo – Edmonton Northlands, Cloverdale Rodeo,  Canadian Western Agribition – Regina, Labatt Breweries, Wrangler, recording artists, and more.

Ray Johnson loves people and he loves what he does. For CMI Publishing, that includes freelance writing, photography and servicing our clients located in Central and Northern Alberta.