I wrote several months ago about my efforts to reconnect with several of my fellow 1998 Whittenberger Summer Writing Project attendees. Since then, the Facebook group has swelled to nearly half a dozen, and I’d say the successfuly contact rate is around 65%. Here’s an update:
Here’s the full list of the 1998 Whittenberger Summer Writing Project Attendees. Names in bold are current members of the private Facebook group I created to contact fellow attendees:
Joy Barbour (Boise): Earned degree in journalism from University of Idaho to earn my journalism degree. Married in 2004 and started working for Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa. I was the editor of a couple of their magazines for four years. Became a mother in 2008. Now has a son and daughter. Still in Treasure Valley area and still loves words!
Jessica Barrow (Eagle): Now Jess Westhoff. American Studies major at University of Idaho. Earned Master's degree in education at Stanford. Has a young son.
Cami Blakely (Boise): Now Cami Christen. Lives in Portland, Oregon. Works for Bonneville Power.
Melissa Bowles (Preston): Now Melissa Bowles-Terry. Earned bachelor's and master's degrees in literature from Utah State, taught freshman and sophomore composition. Married a fellow grad student in English in 2007. Moved to Illinois, got a master's degree in library and information science, then moved to Laramie, Wyoming to work at University of Wyoming libraries. Has a young daughter.
Binx Brown (Boise)
Donna Cummins (Whitebird)
Stephen Dougherty (Boise): Attended Yale, lives in San Francisco (director of marketing & media operations for Jelli, Inc.).
Audrey Dutton (Twin Falls): Went to Hamline University (in St. Paul, Minnesota), stayed in Minnesota for a couple years, working at a mental health clinic and freelancing for an alt-weekly. Went to journalism school at Columbia in New York. Worked at various newspapers in D.C. Came home to Idaho in 2011, currently a business reporter for the Idaho Statesman. Write about health care a lot, gets to tell people's stories. Loves it. Now lives with long-time boyfriend & two kittens.
Afton-Dawn Ellison (Boise): Now Afton-Dawn Johnson. Attended BYU. Married with two daughters. Lives in Brussels, Belgium.
Kelby English (Kimberly): Studied English at the College of Southern Idaho. Lives in Twin Falls.
Nicole Farnsworth (Pocatello)
Alysia Foster (American Falls): Works for AT&T as a retail sales manager. Lives in Boulder, Colorado. Married. Husband earning master's degree in Chinese literature at UC. Two kids. Just became a homeowner!
Coco Gardner (Boise)
Alex Gorman (Orofino): Did a foreign exchange in Tokyo his senior year of high school. Went to Stanford for undergrad, majored in Japanese. Moved to Orange County, worked in sales and marketing for a small scientific research company. In 2011, enrolled in law school at NYU. Just finished.
Jessie Gravatt (Grangeville): Now Jessie Hackford. Went to Westminster College in Utah. Married her college sweetheart. He's a computer guy, she's an editor. Two kids and a cat.
Missy Harris (Caldwell)
Desiree Heide (Payette): Went to BYU-Idaho (then Ricks College) on a journalism scholarship, wrote for the school newspaper. Moved to New York to be a nanny, then moved to Argentina for 18 months as an LDS missionary. Earned bachelor's degree in sociology (emphasis in child and family studies) from BYU-Idaho, completed internships at children's hospitals in St. Louis and Dallas. Worked for three years as a Child Life Specialist at a children's hospital in Austin, TX in 2008. Now works at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, providing psychosocial care to kids with cancer and their families, and help them understand their diagnosis, cope with their experience, have fun if possible, and prepare for their end of life journey if necessary.
Nancy Henke (Boise): Went to Boise State and majored in English and was on the debate team. Worked for the Boise City Housing Authority, then became Healthcare Services Coordinator at the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Boise. Started grad school at Colorado State University (in Literature) and graduated in 2010. Works at CSU -- teaching composition, literature, doing curriculum development for the first-year composition program, and mentoring graduate students who teach comp. Married a computer geek. Two cats.
Matthew Hotham (Boise): Went to school at Colgate University (double-majored in Creative Writing and Religion), earned MFA in poetry in Syracuse, interned at BOA editions, did two years at Harvard Divinity School. now lives in Carrboro, where's he in the PhD program in Islamic Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. Writing a dissertation on narratives of the ascension of Muhammad into heaven as told in medieval Persian mystical poems. Works as an editor for the Carolina Quarterly.
Loren Jones (Cascade): Served in Marine Corps infantry for almost six years. Came back to Boise State as a returning student, majored in theater (and performed at the Kennedy Theater in DC). Working in Boise, still writing (plays and stories) and pursuing a certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine in personal training.
Jac Landa (Homedale)
Rachel Liming (Harrison)
Jessica Lipschultz (Meridian)
Candace Lopez (St. Anthony): Went to UT-Austin (Latin American Studies major). Is the Director of Development at SafePlace, a nonprofit shelter in Austin that is working to end rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. Dating Marissa, a very cute quarterback.
Carrie Loudy (Tendoy)
Jessica Lum (Idaho Falls)
Danielle McClenahan (Boise): Lives in Tacoma, WA. Works as the purchasing manager for a company that does organic produce home delivery. Recently married. She and her husband own a home, love gardening, landscaping, and camping.
Rachel Moore (Emmett): Married, lives in Colorado Springs. Works for Intermountain Medical Imaging. Vegan!
Carrie Nordby (Coeur d'Alene)
Rachel Pedersen (Idaho Falls)
Tracy Plewa (Pocatello)
Aaron Stanton (Cascade): Graduated high school and went to the University of Idaho (degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology). Moved to Boise, Idaho and founded a tech company called BookLamp, which specializes in using computers to analyze writing (sort of a Pandora.com for books). Latest project is called The Game of Books.
Riki Stott (Emmett)
Shannon Stringham (Blackfoot)
Amy Ulappa (Bonners Ferry): Lives in Pullman, Washington with her husband. Now a Ph.D. student (in Biology, I think, studying deer nutrition) at Washington State. Just had a beautiful baby boy.
Steel Wagstaff (Boise)Now lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Read this blog to learn more about me, I’d say. Curtis Ward (Boise) Jami Wardell (Preston): Married with a young daughter. Lives in Logan, Utah, where she works for Herff Jones yearbooks. Kate Yoho (Caldwell)