Leslie Mass, author of In Beauty May She Walk

Leslie Mass was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts but grew up in Stratford, Connecticut. She graduated from Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and received her Ph.D. in Early and Middle Childhood Education from Ohio State University.

Leslie was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sheikhupura, West Pakistan from 1962-64, where she developed a community outreach program for women and young girls in twenty villages. She wrote about her hiking experiences so she might inspire other women to act on their dreams, to give them permission to do something just for themselves. She currently volunteers with Wildside Adventures, a group that advocates outdoor activities for women.

Leslie and her husband, George, live on several wooded acres between Columbus and Delaware, Ohio. They have two grown daughters, Amy and Megg, and one grandson.


Ralph Scherder, author of The Taxidermist's Son

Ralph has two passions in life—writing and the outdoors. He has been publishing articles and stories in magazines since he was 17. Many of those articles became the basis for The Taxidermist’s Son. In 2000 and 2003 he won the American Scholastic Press Association Award for Best Short Story. In 2004 he received Honorable Mention in Fiction at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference. Recent work has appeared in Bowhunter, Fur-Fish-Game, The Literary Review, Living the Country Life, North Dakota Quarterly, Ohio Valley Outdoors, and Words of Wisdom. Ralph was the Writer In Residence in Sanborn, Iowa last summer.

Ralph lives in Herman, PA, where he attended Butler County Community College and received an Associate’s Degree in 2001. Most of his spare time is spent harassing trout or hunting for stories.

Visit Ralph's website