JAMES MOORE - James is the co-founder and manager of KRUU - LP 100.1, "The Voice of Fairfield Iowa." Indeed, Mr. Moore is the heart and soul of the station. He will review the year's accomplishments and give a vision of the Station's future.

GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA - Former Governor Jesse Ventura was elected in the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998 as an Independent and member of the Reform Part. His victory is considered one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history. His new TV show is Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941695.html?categoryid=32&cs=1

ROBERT and DAPHNE COOK. Mr. Robert Cook is the President of the National Indian Education Association and is the Principal of Pine Ridge Reservation High School in Jackson County South Dakota.

Ms. Daphne Cook is the Executive Director of the Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates.

FRANCIS THICKE. Mr. Francis Thicke is running as a Democrat for the office of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in the 2010 election. He and his wife, Susan, are owners and operators of a grass-based, organic dairy near Fairfield. Mr.Thicke has a Ph.D. in agronomy/soil fertility and previously served at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington , D.C as National Program Leader for Soil Science for the USDA-Extension Service. He has served on the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission and the Iowa Food Policy Council at the appointment of Governor Tom Vilsack. He has also served in leadership roles in many other organizations in Iowa and nationally, and has

Please join us on Writers' Voices this week to welcome Linda Egenes, adjunct faculty member at MUM and author of Visits with the Amish. Linda visited with her Old Order Amish neighbors in Southeast Iowa for thirteen years before writing this informative book. She has also written about the Amish for Cobblestone, Plain, Iowa Source, and the Plain Reader.

Hosted this week by Chamaigne Montana and Caroline Kilbourn, this is an episode not to be missed by anyone interested in a deeper understanding of Amish culture.

“Direct, respectful, and informative, Visits with the Amish takes us into the very homes and businesses of the plain people. There we enter a culture so different from the American mainstream that we are forced to examine our own spiritual beliefs, identities, and values. This slim, quiet book should assume a big place on the bookshelves of anyone interested in anthropology, religion, folklore, or the Amish culture."--Mary Swander

Please join us this week for Writers’ Voices with Monica and Caroline as we hear from two local authors.

Carol Bodensteiner will join us from 1 to 1:30 to talk about her book, Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl. While she then heads to the Fairfield Public Library to give a talk at 2pm, we’ll be joined by another Iowa author, Lance OKones, from 1:30 to 2:00.

“A beautifully written memoir . . . a moving journey through the author's personal life and its continual relationship to the landscape he accepts and honors.” -
Jim Heynen

Thomas Dean is a writer and editor with a deep interest in our connections to place, our relationship with the natural world, and the cultural life of the Midwest. A pushcart Prize nominee, Dean has recently published a book of personal essays, Under a Midland Sky (Ice
Cube Press, 2008). This collection focuses on Midwesters life through the experience of seasons, weather, and other phenomena in the sky, exploring Dean's personal efforts at finding home, as well as ruminations on what it means for all of us to seek a sense of place.

Dean earned a Ph.D. in English from The University of Iowa. He received an M.S. in English, a B.A. in English, and a B.M. in Music History and Literature from Northern Illinois University, graduating summa cum laude. He also completed doctoral work in English and film studies at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has received a National Endowment for the Humanities Study Grant and and grant awards from the Michigan Humanities Counsil, the Minnesota Humanities Center, the North Dakota Humanities Counsil, and Humanities Iowa.

Sharon Rexroth, author and former Mrs. Iowa 1981, was looking for a book about Iowa to read to her grandchildren. She wanted a book that would be fun and informative. She decided to write the book herself. So named for its narration by Iowa's State Bird who takes us on a tour, Iowa From the Sky was so popular that it sold out in two months. Since then, four other books have been written, and plans are in the works to do all 50 states!

Tune into Writers' Voices this Friday, December 19, to hear why Sharon Rexroth was inspired to include Bethlehem from the Sky. This collection is a delightful, rhyming tour of the geography, history, people, and resources of each state. Illustrated by original watercolors, these books are as beautiful as they are informative.

In 1939, just before graduating from high school in the small town of Ridgeway in northeast Iowa, Everett Kuntz spent his entire savings of $12.50 on a 35mm Argus AF camera. He made a camera case from a worn-out boot, scraps from a tin can, and a clasp from his mother's purse. For the next several years, he clicked the shutter of his trusty Argus all around the quiet town.

People got so used to it that they became relaxed around the camera, and even began to count on him saying, “Where is Everett? We need a picture.” Everett never had the money to print his photographs. More than two thousand negatives stayed in a box while he married, raised a family, and worked as an electrical engineer in the Twin Cities.

We're talking Iowa cows and their sweet products tonight on Great Taste. Joining Kathy and Steve in the studio are Edible Iowa River Valley publisher, Wendy Wasserman and editor-in-chief, Kurt Friese. Exploring the amazing products from Iowa's regional dairies is the topic. Oh yes, Kathy's cooking dinner for our guests in the studio.

Tune in to hear what's on the menu!

MAKING GREAT FOOD HAPPEN IN IOWA

Great Taste 7-8 PM Wednesday

Special Guest in the Studio-Wendy Wasserman 

Wendy Wasserman
Before she became the publisher of Edible Iowa River Valley, Wendy lived in Tokyo, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, New York and Hawaii, and her passport now requires extra pages from all her international travel, she finds Iowa in some respects one of the most mysterious places she has have ever resided. She knows the territory is full of culinary surprises and delicious stories and is excited to discover them for the readers of Edible Iowa River Valley.

But there's more--the studio will abound with the smells of Kathy's cooking and we'll talk to some local food heroes!