About the Editors
LeAnn Spencer is a lifelong journalist and the founder of the online literary journal, A Prairie Journal (APrairieJournal.com). She worked for nearly three decades at the Chicago Tribune as an editor and writer. While there she wore many hats, but one of the most satisfying was during her years as an environmental reporter. Since 2003, she has been a regular contributor to Chicago Wilderness Magazine and a private publishing consultant. She serves as copy editor for the Fifth Wednesday Journal and one of her essays was published in the Sunday Perspective section of the Chicago Tribune. Her love for the natural world stems to her childhood on an Indiana farm. In the last 15 years, she has explored the positive influences of the human-animal-nature connection by working as a volunteer using therapy dogs to assist children in hospitals, schools and residential facilities. In her spare time, she’s a novice bird watcher and enjoys a part-time career as a professional harpist. She has a Master of Liberal Arts degree from the University of Chicago, a B.A. in journalism from Indiana University, and holds a naturalist certificate from the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL.
Erin Tuttle always seems to have patches of dirt on the knees of her jeans. As a naturalist in the Chicago area, she spends her time coaxing life from suburban fill dirt and writing about her community of animals, plants, and people. In addition to working on Seeding the Snow, her work has appeared in A Prairie Journal and Catapult magazine. Erin enjoys digging in the dirt and spending time in the backyard with her three hens.