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Alex Lee
Alex Lee, a proud U.S. Navy veteran, is the executive director of communications for Kalamazoo Public Schools. He lives in Kalamazoo, which he refers to as “the small city with the gigantic heart.” Outside of his job, Lee writes as a hobby.
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Steve Leuty
Steve Leuty came to Kalamazoo in 1980 for a college education and stayed to develop the county’s recycling programs. He now enjoys working for Bronson Healthcare and supporting Kalamazoo Township as an elected trustee.
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Lisa Mackinder
Lisa’s work has previously appeared in various Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Animal Wellness, Dog World, Michigan Meetings and Events Magazine, MiBiz, and other publications. Though having covered a wide-range of topics, Lisa most enjoys composing people-centric pieces, as well as those featuring nature and animals. She lives in Portage with her husband, and when not at her Mac, participates in outdoor activities, including fly fishing, gardening and hiking.
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Samantha Marzke
Samantha grew up in St. Joseph, pas-sionate about sports and following current trends. She covered the waterfront for <em>Encore</em> in the May 2017 issue, writing about a gifted cellist, a WMU staffer who works to make students’ first year successful and dorm room decor. Samantha graduated in April from WMU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is an aspiring freelance writer who plans to move to West Palm Beach, Florida, in the fall.
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Larry Massie
Larry B. Massie, who has written more than 100 articles for Encore under three editorial regimes, contributed this month’s article “The Birth of Borgess,” based, in part, on his 22nd Michigan history book, Health Care Anew: The First 125 years of Borgess Health, to be published soon. He and his partner, culinary historian Priscilla Massie (pictured with him), reside in the Allegan Forest amidst their private library of 45,000 volumes. In 2011 the Historical Society of Michigan awarded Larry Massie its first Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Samantha May
Samantha graduated from WMU in April with a bachelor’s degree in film, video, and media studies. She enjoys being creative every second she can, whether that be with writing, photography or video recording. She found ideas for her stories through her use of social media and interactions with her classmates. She says she hopes her stories paint pictures that help readers experience the yoga room at Milwood Elementary and the creative, colorful workshop of Bambüz’s Prashant Dault.
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Kara Norman
Kara grew up on the East Coast and moved to Kalamazoo from Colorado two years ago. Describing herself as "writer, artist, wilderness fiend, now mama and (therefore) half-sane person," Kara provides some of Encore's freshest stories on artists, food and more. You can read more of Kara’s work at karanorman.com.
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Jef Otte
Jef is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in SmokeLong Quarterly, Copper Nickel, SPIN Magazine, Village Voice and other news outlets, and we are happy to add him as an Encore contributor. He specializes in features on music; this month he gives us a glimpse of Greensky Bluegrass, the roots- bluegrass band that is making waves beyond West Michigan. He’s currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Western Michigan University and lives in Kalamazoo with his wife and two sons.
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