2009 St. George Book Festival Featured Author Bios
 
The Spectrum
 
Elissa Wall

Elissa Wall's book, "Stolen Innocence," is a look at a journey. She will be speaking Saturday at 1 p.m.

Wall describes various events in her life:

Her childhood in a large family with three mothers.

The painful and emotional situations revolving around her arranged, forced marriage to her older first cousin at the tender age of 14.

Coming forward and telling authorities of her terrible marriage.

Facing Warren Jeffs as a witness against him.

Wall hopes all will find her story interesting and inspiring.

Ron Esplin

Ron Esplin was born in Cedar City, but lived most of his life in the Salt Lake Valley. He serves as managing editor of the "Joseph Smith Papers Project," and with Dean C. Jessee and Richard Lyman Bushman as one of the general editors of the published "Joseph Smith Papers" volumes.

Esplin received history degrees from the University of Utah, the University of Virginia, and Brigham Young University. From 1972 until 1980, he was part of the History Division of the LDS Church's Historical Department, with assignments both as a researcher and writer and as an archivist. He moved to BYU in 1980 when the History Division was transferred there to become the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History. From 1986 through 2002, he served as managing director of that research institute and as a professor of church history and doctrine. From 1988 to 1991, he served as one of the editors for "Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Mormonism." Most of his publications have involved Brigham Young and early Utah or pre-Utah Mormon history, including "Men With A Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837Ð1841." Many of them also concern Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saint leadership.

Dean Jessee

Dean C. Jessee, along with Ron Esplin and Richard Lyman Bushman, serves as one of the general editors of the published "Joseph Smith Papers" volumes.

Jessee, who was born in Springville and currently lives in Murray, earned his master's degree from Brigham Young University in 1959. He went on to work in the Archives and History Division for the LDS Church Historical Department, 1964Ð1981; and the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for LDS History at Brigham Young University, 1981Ð2000. He also served as president of the Mormon History Association in 1980. Jessee has authored a number of publications, including "Brigham Young's Letters to His Sons," Deseret Book Co., 1974; "Personal Writings of Joseph Smith," Deseret Book Co., 1984, 2001; "Papers of Joseph Smith, I, II," Deseret Book Co., 1989, 1991; "The Joseph Smith Papers. Journals, Volume 1:1832-1839," edited by Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Richard L. Jensen, Salt Lake City: The Church Historian's Press, 2008. In addition, he has written numerous articles on 19th century Mormon history.

Stephen Nasser

Stephen Nasser was brought to Canada by the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1948. In 1958 he immigrated to the USA. He speaks to classes, church groups and organizations about his experiences. In 2008, Nasser was invited to the FBI's main headquarters in Las Vegas, where they presented him with a Humanitarian Award. The City of Las Vegas proclaimed Aug. 8, 2008, as Stephen Nasser day in recognition of his surviving the Holocaust and sharing his story with the citizens of Las Vegas.

Stephen Singular

Stephen Singular, a two-time New York Times bestselling author, graduated with a history degree from the University of Kansas and then became a freelance writer in New York. His articles have appeared in New York Magazine, Psychology Today, Inside Sports, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and American Photo. From 1983 to 1987, he was a staff writer at The Denver Post. Since then, Singular has published 19 books about high profile crimes, social criticism, and business and sports biographies. He's appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live," "Anderson Cooper 360," FOX-TV, MSNBC, COURT-TV, ESPN and many other media outlets. His Web site, www.stephensingular.com, provides more information about all of his books. Singular is a resident of Denver.

Mike Ramsdell

Mike Ramsdell was born and raised in Bear River. Upon graduation from Utah State University, he was commissioned an officer in the Military Intelligence Corps. After post graduate studies at the University of Utah, he began his military active duty as a graduate from the Defense Language Institute (Russian and German) in Washington, D.C. Mike's career specialty in Russian/Soviet counterintelligence has taken him on missions throughout Europe, Russia, Scandinavia and Asia. Lt. Colonel Ramsdell has served with US and NATO militaries, various US intelligence agencies, and the US Department of State. He had the opportunity to work in support of the first Reagan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit. His national best seller "A Train to Potevka" is his first book.

Helen Keith Beaman

Helen Keith Beaman of Provo, author of the award-winning book "Edges Disappear," was named Utah State Poetry Society's Poet of the Year for 2008-09. She has earned degrees in dance, English and ESL. Regularly a prize winner at nationals, Helen took top prize at NFSPS competition last year. She co-authored with Karen K. Gibson and Mary K. Boyack, titled "Bread and Milk and Music: Three Sister's Voices."

Honored as a finalist in the 2003 Byline Magazine Poetry Chapbook competition and former editor of Poet Tree, Beaman serves in many capacities to serve literary excellence at the state and national level. She serves as president-elect of the Utah State Poetry Society, to follow President LaVerna B. Johnson in April 2011. Poet of the Year for 2009-10, Gail Gunnarson Schimmelpfennig, will be USPS presenter at next year's Book Festival.

Marilyn Arnold

Author of eight published novels and numerous other books and essays, Marilyn Arnold is no stranger to Utah readers. Her novel, "Minding Mama," won the Mayhaven Award for Fiction in 2004, and was selected for the first annual Dixie Reads program in 2006, in Washington County. Arnold's recent opus, "Unidentified Lying Objects," like her previous novels, is both hilarious and tender (and clean). A nationally-recognized literary scholar, Arnold has lectured widely across Utah and other parts of the country. She has participated for many years as a speaker with the Utah Humanities Council. In 2003, in a special ceremony at the Utah State Capitol, Arnold was honored by the Governor's Office as a Woman of Achievement. In 2006 Commencement services, Dixie State College of Utah honored her with its Distinguished Citizen Award.

Jana Richman

Jana Richman was born and raised in Utah's west desert, the daughter of a small-time rancher. With the exception of a few misguided years spent in New York City trying to make a fortune on Wall Street, she has lived her entire life - more than 50 years - west of the hundredth meridian. Foot travel is her preferred method of exploring the west. Seeking solitude and solace, she has backpacked into the most remote deserts and canyons of Utah and Arizona.

Jana has an master's degree in journalism and in creative writing from the University of Arizona. She writes about issues that threaten to destroy the essence of the west: overpopulation, overdevelopment, loss of open space and rapidly dwindling water aquifers. She is the author of two books: "The Last Cowgirl," a novel, and "Riding in the Shadows of Saints: A Woman's Story of Motorcycling the Mormon Trail," a memoir.

Randy Jasmine and Theda Wrede

Theda Wrede and Randy Jasmine are both assistant professors of English at Dixie State College of Utah. Their academic interests include the literature of the American West. In addition, Dr. Wrede's research includes literature of the environment. More than anything else, they are both great fans of Wallace Stegner's literature.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published October 19, 2009
 
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