Mary Jo Davis is an illustrator/artist and a designer at Davis Studio A+D on Bainbridge. This Seattle area native fills her sketchbook with hand-painted watercolors inspired by time spent outdoors with her family. Instagram: @maryjokovarikdavis

Jennifer Dorothy works as a copywriter by day and a memoirist by night. She lives on Bainbridge Island with her family. She's the senior copywriter and project manager at ConsciousClassroom.yoga and a mentor for future female writers. The title of her upcoming memoir is Thoughts No Mother Should Have: How PPD Tried to Ruin the Fun. Instagram: @jenniferdorothywrites

Kevin Dwyer is a Bainbridge Island writer. After a long career as a business journalist and Chamber of Commerce exec, these days Kevin mostly blogs about local happenings for The Island Wanderer. In our premier issue, Kevin catches up with the walking group Bainbridge Striders.

Rebecca Hall hails from the hamlet of Edison in the Skagit Valley. A sucker for course catalogs and low-interest loans, she holds degrees in psychology, architecture and creative writing. In “Talking the Walk,” she looks inside a sustainable townhome community on Bainbridge Island.

Brittany Kelley is an award winning Kitsap-based photographer specializing in the food and beverage industry. Her luscious photography illustrates our profile of Suquamish Seafoods and our Dining Guide. Instagram: @brittanykelleyphoto

After more than 30 years working as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Kansas and Washington, Leslie Kelly decided to retire to freelancing three years ago. Leslie, a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism, has lived in Washington for the past 30 years. In her spare moments, she gardens, reads, and pets her three kitties.

Rachel Knudson lives on Bainbridge Island, and has been a reuse arts facilitator for almost 20 years. Her work examines our cultures' pattern of over-consumption, and she challenges herself and others to find a use for leftover things. Rachel is the creative visionary and founder of two reuse art studios, including Scrappy Art Lab on Bainbridge. She is also a mother, a lover of nature, a lifetime artist/designer, multi-lingual, and a Master Gardener in Kitsap County. Instagram: @scrappyartlab

Paula MacKay is an avid gardener, nature writer and field biologist who studies wild carnivores. Her essay “Beyond the Bounty” explores the many reasons why we garden.

Sam McJunkin is a Seattle director and filmmaker. He has been creating award winning motion and video content for marketing campaigns, large events and advertising for over 20 years. His work has taken him around the globe capturing stories with an adept eye for compelling images and authentic human moments.

Margaret Millmore is a supernatural fiction author with eight published books. In addition, she writes The Island Wanderer blog which focuses on people, businesses and events on Bainbridge Island.

Jon Oleyar has worked the last 30 years as a fish/wildlife biologist where he monitors salmon populations and their habitats on over 20 urban stream systems throughout Kitsap County. His passions include backpacking, bicycling, gardening and photography.
Instagram: @Streamwalker1

Nora Phillips is an Indianola-based photographer specializing in outdoor portraiture. Her candid images illustrate our profile of Akuyea Karen Vargas. Instagram: @noraemilyphoto

Laurance Price is a certified life coach working mostly with men in times of transition. He lives with his kids and a small menagerie on a farm in Poulsbo. Originally from South Africa, Laurance ran a video company in Israel and Tanzania before finding his slice of heaven here in the northwest.

Richard Rosenthal has written for numerous publications covering sports, community and music for four decades. In “Let It Not Happen Again” he previews the expansion of the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on Eagle Harbor, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the 1942 internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II.

Pete Saloutos has been carrying his cameras to worldwide assignments for more than 50 years. He has received almost too many awards to count, including Nikon’s Legend of the Lens. An avid open water swimmer, Pete’s stunning photos grace both this issue’s cover and our cover story. Instagram: @petesaloutos