Some of the writers who appear on this site, regularly or from time to time.

RANDY STAPILUS   The View from Here

Randy Stapilus founded Ridenbaugh Press in 1988 (as publisher of his book Paradox Politics) and the same-named web site and blog in 1994, making it one of the oldest political-oriented blogs in the Northwest. He edits and publishes the Washington, Oregon and Idaho Weekly Briefing e-publications, two monthly publications on water rights (the Snake River Basin Adjudication Digest and the National Water Rights Digest), and writes a column on Idaho for several newspapers in the region. He is the author of a number of books on Idaho, most recently including Idaho 100 (with Martin Peterson), some published by Ridenbaugh Press and others by the Globe-Pequot Press and by the Caxton Press. (See the bookstore for a full list.) On the web site, he writes sections under the headings of the Idaho column, First Take, West of the Cascades and other stray posts. He lives in Carlton, Oregon.

CHRIS CARLSON   Carlson Chronicles

Chris Carlson was a journalist in Idaho and in Washington, D.C. before going to work for former Governor and Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus, an association that in various forms continues. A former partner in the consulting Gallatin Group, he is the author of the book Cecil Andrus: Idaho’s Greatest Governor, and is at work on another book about Idaho history and politics (to be published by Ridenbaugh Press). He lives in Medimont, Idaho (which is roughly a half-hour southeast of Coeur d’Alene).

DENNIS MANSFIELD

Dennis Mansfield has been an Idaho political activist (Republican and conservative) and active in the area’s religious community for a quarter-century. His take on things (as visitors to his own web site at www.dennismansfield.com will attest) is not as predictable as that shorthand description might suggest. He is the author of the new book Beautiful Nate: A Memoir of a Family’s Love, a Life Lost, and Eternal Promises. He lives in the Boise area.

MARK MENDIOLA   Reports

Mark Mendiola is a long-time Idaho journalist based at Pocatello, a veteran editor and reporter at the Idaho State Journal – starting work there in the early 70s after attending Idaho State University – and a former managing editor at the Blackfoot News. He covers economic and other news for a variety of western publications and periodically sends reports our way, and also hosts an Eastern Idaho cable television interview program. He lives in Pocatello.

TOM MENZEL   Washington My Home

Tom Menzel is a veteran editor and a close-eyed observer of the Puget Sound. He has a journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin and spent 14 years in the newspaper business, including a variety of editing positions at the Idaho Statesman in Boise. He founded Menzel-Higgins Communications in 1986 and has provided communications counsel for many government and private-sector clients, including high-profile public involvement projects and political campaigns. Tom has also been involved in community activities ranging from education and health care to community trails. He lives in the Puget Sound village of Hansville on Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula.

MARTIN PETERSON

Martin Peterson has experience in Idaho public affairs going back at least through the 1960s, ranging all the way from early experience working on a political campaign to unseat freshman congressman James McClure in 1968, to becoming in 2012 executive director of the McClure Foundation at the University of Idaho (not that either marks the beginning or end of his public activities). In between, he was for many years the government relations officer for that university, led the Idaho Centennial Commission and the Association of Idaho Cities, was Idaho’s chief budget officer, and too much else to list here. He is deeply interested in Idaho history, spends considerable time in the near-ghost town of Silver City and is co-author (with Randy Stapilus) of the book Idaho 100. He is now retired (in theory) and lives in Boise, Idaho.

BARRETT RAINEY   Second Thoughts

Barrett Rainey was a journalist in Washington and in Idaho, working in broadcast and print, hosting for some years a talk radio program in Boise, and working in a range of other areas as well, before moving to Oregon (of which he’s a native). Where he could not stay still either, living at various times in Bend, Grants Pass, Brookings and most recently Roseburg, which frequently gets a reference in his regular columns.

MARK TRAHANT   Austerity

Mark Trahant is a Northwesterner and Westerner with a broad journalistic background. From his website: “Trahant was recently a Kaiser Media Fellow and is the former editor of the editorial page for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Mark is a member of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and a former president of the Native American Journalists Association. He is the author of The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars, about Henry Jackson, Forrest Gerard and the campaign for American Indian self-determination. He lives in Fort Hall, Idaho.”

LINDA WATKINS

Linda Watkins is the managing editor of Ridenbaugh Press and the writer of periodic posts here. She is deeply involved in dog rescue and is at work on a book on that subject. She lives in Carlton, Oregon, with two dogs and her husband (Randy Stapilus).

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