Every page of Blue Ridge Country is shaped by people who call these mountains home. Our contributors bring rich insight, insider knowledge, personal perspective and a deep appreciation for the region to the stories presented in each issue. With gratitude for their talents that make this magazine possible, we invite you to get to know them here.
If you're interested in joining our team of passionate contributors, please contact editor-in-chief Kurt Rheinheimer.
Angela Minor is a contributing editor and creator/author of the Birds of the Blue Ridge online series for BRC. She pens travel and nature articles as a freelance writer for U.S. News & World Report and numerous other regional and national publications and created the state park birding series for Bird Watcher’s Digest. Learn more about Angela at angelaminor.com and read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Bruce Ingram is the author of nearly 2,400 magazine articles, and has written five books on river fishing, plus “Living the Locavore Lifestyle,” and two young-adult novels. In 2014, the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy named his wife, Elaine, and him its Landsavers of the Year. Read his Blue Ridge Country piece here. xxxxxxxxxxx
Leonard Adkins has completed five Appalachian Trail traverses. His 20 books include “Hiking and Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway” and “All About the Appalachian Trail” (grades 4-8), which was the Silver Award Winner in the 2021 Independent Book Publisher Association’s Ben Franklin Award. Learn more about Leonard at habitualhiker.com and read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
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Joan Vannorsdall knew from age 12 she’d live in the mountains, and aside from a few years in the Midwest, has done so. She calls Clifton Forge, Virginia, home, where she spends her time writing, hiking, practicing yoga and directing the “What’s Your Story?” oral history book project. She is the author of two novels, “Solitary Places” and “The Hearts of Soldiers.” Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Mary Leidig is a former newspaper journalist, now an award-winning marketing strategist and magazine writer, passionate about telling the good stories. She has built elegant, innovative ways to grow visibility and brand for higher education institutions, healthcare and nonprofits. She loves anything outdoors with her family — biking and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Molly Dugger Brennan is a writer and speaker who lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband Patrick and four ridiculously large, rescued dogs. She has many lovely childhood memories of the Blue Ridge mountains, as every family vacation – no matter the intended destination – ended up at Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock. Even the trip to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell somehow culminated in the North Carolina mountains. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Nancy Henderson is an award-winning journalist and author who enjoys writing about interesting people and places. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. An avid flower gardener and nature enthusiast, she’s written the Creature Feature column for Blue Ridge Country since 1998. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Fred Sauceman is senior writer at East Tennessee State University and news director for public radio station WETS-FM/HD. He has written and edited six food-related books and produced seven documentary films. Jill Sauceman is a native of Scott County, Virginia, and holds a degree in Public Health from ETSU. Together, they study and celebrate the foodways of Appalachia and beyond from their home base in Johnson City, Tennessee. Read their Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Ginny Neil is a contributing editor who lives with her husband on a farm in the Appalachian Mountains. She has written over a hundred articles for a variety of magazines, and 50 dramas for Skitguys.com. She is also the author of two picture books (“The Glorious Forest that Fire Built” and “Salamander Song”) with a third to be announced soon. Learn more about her at ginnyneilwrites.com and read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Karen Neathawk has been the proofreader for LeisureMedia360 for over nine years, with five of those years as a contributor to the Almanac, and she considers herself passionate about proper grammar, word usage, punctuation and spelling. Her life in the country is made complete by her cats, feathered friends and gardening. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Joe Tennis is a contributing editor and an award-winning features writer for the Bristol Herald Courier. His book, “Along Virginia’s Route 58: True Tales from Beach to Bluegrass,” includes chapters on Mabry Mill, The Crooked Road, Whitetop Mountain, Virginia Creeper Trail, Barter Theatre and Cumberland Gap. To order, visit arcadiapublishing.com. Read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Lauren Stepp is a lifestyle journalist from the rural North Carolina community of Mills River. At 15, she was hired as a stringer for a local newspaper. She hasn’t stopped writing since. Her work regularly appears in Blue Ridge Outdoors, Smoky Mountain Living, The Laurel of Asheville and many other publications. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Eric J. Wallace is an award-winning lifestyle journalist based in Staunton, Virginia, who has contributed to WIRED, Outside, Reader’s Digest, Atlas Obscura and more. He is a two-time James Beard Foundation media award nominee and was named an International Association of Culinary Professionals Best Feature Story media award finalist in 2021. Read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Marla Hardee Milling is a contributing editor who started writing for the magazine in 1989. She’s proud to be a native of Asheville, North Carolina. She’s the author of “Only in Asheville: An Eclectic History”and “North Carolina Day Trips.” She is also mom to Ben and Hannah. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here. xxxxxxxxxXXXXXX
A Yankee transplant to the South, Cathryn McCue has been an environmental writer for 30 years as a journalist and communications specialist for nonprofit advocacy organizations. Her work has appeared in dozens of state and national publications. She has hiked, biked, paddled or cross-country skied most everywhere in the Appalachian region. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
John Goss is the president of the Astronomical League, the nation’s largest federation of astronomical societies with over 16,000 members. He and his wife, Genevieve, reside near Fincastle, Virginia, and are members of the Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society and the International Dark-Sky Association. Read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
David McCormick has a master’s degree in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts. He was employed by the City of Springfield, Massachusetts, for several years. Now retired, he works as a freelance writer; his articles have appeared in America’s Civil War, Michigan History, Naval History and Pennsylvania Heritage, among others. Read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Jay Huron is a graduate of ETSU’s BFA program and was a graphic and web designer for 17 years until the pandemic gave him the opportunity to pursue his passion for photography full-time with his company caseSensitive Photos. He specializes in commercial (including drone), event, tourism, real estate and his true photographic passions, wildlife and nature. He volunteers at Bays Mountain Park and has helped raise seven wolf puppies, two bobcats, a fox and a skunk there! Read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Ryan Rice is a semi-professional drone pilot and photographer. He spends most of his free time hiking and traveling around Northeast Tennessee searching for wildlife and landscapes. He has become a local expert on nesting bald eagles. His photography and research have been featured in multiple publications and he has been a guest speaker for local bird clubs. Read his Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Nan K. Chase is a history buff who after 40 years living in western North Carolina, moved to southwest Virginia about six years ago, where she loves exploring the riches of the nearby New River Trail State Park. She is the author of “Asheville: A History” and “Lost Restaurants of Asheville.” She’s pledging to retire from freelance writing, but we’re not giving up. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Jill Devine writes from Loudoun County, Virginia. Her favorite assignments involve making new friends, and her work appears regularly in Virginia Living, Ashburn and Northern Virginia magazines. Her boots stay busy on Virginia trails, and she never passes an opportunity to poke around an old town, museum or historic site. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here.
Christina Nifong is a freelance writer living in Roanoke, Va., with a decades-long career profiling interesting people, places and ideas. Find more of her work in The Roanoker magazine, the Roanoke Rambler, Edible Blue Ridge and at christinanifong.com. Read her Blue Ridge Country pieces here. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX