Jack Baker

Wine Columnist

A native Hoosier, Jack has lived in Bloomington for half a century. A professional mechanical engineer, he’s retired from the Indiana University Department of Chemistry.

Jack has a strong sense of giving back and has been active in the Bloomington community. He’s served on numerous boards and commissions and is dedicated to his neighborhood. With a nose for wine, Jack and his wife Jan travel widely and visit wineries along the way

Christine Barbour

Writer

In addition to being a political science professor at IU, Christine is a prolific freelance writer and photographer specializing in food.

For four years, she contributed the popular “Food Fare” to The Herald-Times, and she is the co-author of Indiana Cooks! and co-author of Home Grown Indiana: A Food Lover’s Guide to Good Eating in the Hoosier State.

Barb Berggoetz

Writer

A devoted journalist at heart, Barb reported for nearly 30 years for The Indianapolis Star, where she won state and national reporting awards, and has written for The Saturday Evening Post and other publications.

Barb now does freelance writing and research and teaches journalism at Indiana University. She loves telling people’s stories and writing about health and fitness, two of her personal passions.

Martin Boling

Photographer

Although a life-long photography enthusiast, Martin never envisioned photography as a business opportunity until he decided to immerse himself in pro-level training.

To avoid being just another starving artist, Martin soon realized he needed to set his focus on portraits. Today, portraiture is the staple of Martin’s photography business, martinboling.com.

Susan M. Brackney

Writer, Science Columnist

A professional writer since 1995, Susan has written for Boy Scouts, stoners, interventional radiologists, would-be beekeepers, depressives, the 1 percent, and many others. Her work has appeared in such publications at The New York Times, Discover, Organic Gardening, Hobby Farms, and Indianapolis Monthly.

Susan is also the author of four nonfiction books, including Plan Bee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Hardest-Working Creatures on the Planet (Perigree Books).

Craig Coley

Writer

Craig is a former school teacher and newspaper journalist. He enjoys hearing people’s stories and sharing them with readers.

Craig lives in Bloomington with his wife, Heather; daughter, Madrona; and dog, Roxy.

Peter Dorfman

Writer

A recent transplant from the East Coast, Peter is an avid sports fan and a regular contributor to Bloom.

Originally trained as a science journalist, Peter is a freelance writer, blogger, and marketing consultant. He writes for life science and technology companies, management consultancies, and progressive political campaigns, and is the author of a book on knowledge management.

Julie Gray

Writer

Julie grew up in Bloomington. After spending many years in New York City where she worked on the editorial staff of magazines including The New Yorker and Town & Country, she is now happy to regularly visit Monroe County Public Library, which her late mother helped to build.

Julie also delights in her sidekicks: two dogs, two cats, and two rabbits.

Jenn Hamm

Photographer

Jenn Hamm is a portrait photographer showing urban and fashion flair with experience in advertorial, promotional, and photojournalistic style photography. Jenn was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, home to many great artists. She began her venture into the world of photography at the age of 17.

Jenn has spent many years in workshops and studying under Bloomington’s top photographers as well as NYIP. Currently, you can find her at EyeMuse Photography. She is also shooting for One Pulse Entertainment Co. and Courtside Jones.

James Kellar

Photographer

A lifelong resident of Bloomington, James is one of Blooms most prolific photographers. His award-winning photography has been exhibited in local and regional galleries.

While working for a greeting card company, James established the first state-of-the-art digital photography student in Bloomington. His current passion is creating art with his iPhone camera.

James Krause

Photographer

Jim Krause is a photographer, documentary producer, and also an instructor for the Media School at Indiana University. Jim teaches video production, animation, and TV studio production.

When not working, he enjoys running hiking, paddling, and sailing. He composes music and plays guitar in a duo withhis wife, a cellist. In the summer months they live aboard their sailboat and sail inthe Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest.

Linda Margison

Writer

Linda is a writer, editor, videographer, and photographer who enjoys telling people’s stories. She fell in love with writing and storytelling as a child and has spun that passion into her dream career.


With decades of experience writing and editing for newspapers, magazines, nonprofits, and more, she now leads the storytelling websites ordinaryhoosiers.com and thenestmakeover.com. She is also a published author with another book in the works.

Kendall Reeves

Photographer

A Bloomington native, Kendall has been a photographer since age 6. He is renowned for his photographs of people, places, and products.

Kendall earned his degree in commercial photography at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, Indiana, well-known for its visual arts program. He opened Spectrum Studio in 1989 and works with local, regional, and national clients.

Jeff Richardson

Photographer

Beyond simply taking pictures, Jeff’s mastery lies not only in seeing what others can’t, but also in capturing images that reflect and reveal who people really are.

With 24 years of experience as a portrait photographer, Jeff has become an industry maverick who delivers a luxurious portrait experience while creating epic visual storytelling.

Scott Russell Sanders

Writer

Scott is the author of more than 20 books, including the novel Divine Animal, which was featured in the Bloom Book Club.

His two most recent titles, both published by IU Press, are Dancing in Dreamtime, a collection of eco-science fiction stories, and Stone Country: Then & Now, co-authored with photographer Jeffrey Wolin.

Carmen Siering

Writer

Carmen Siering has been writing for Bloom practically since she arrived in Bloomington in August 2010. Her first story was published in the December 2010/January 2011 issue.

She continued as a contributor until she was named managing editor in July 2015. Bloom is one of her true loves. The other is her husband, Greg. Carmen left her full-time position as executive editor at Bloom in November 2019 to pursue the ever-elusive work/life balance while continuing to contribute to the magazine as much as possible.

Greg Siering

Writer, Beer Columnist

Greg is an academic administrator at Indiana University who has found writing for Bloom to be a humanizing opportunity to tell stories that aren’t accompanied by charts or datasets.

He is an avid but mediocre runner, a dogless dog lover, and a gardener who spends too much time trying to outwit Bloomington deer. He has lived in Bloomington with his wife, Carmen, since 2010.

Lee Ann Sandweiss

Writer

Lee Ann Sandweiss is a freelance writer whose work appeared in Bloom’s first issue and subsequently for nine years. 

Formerly The Herald-Times Homes editor-writer, she returns to Bloom as writer of the shopping column Lee Loves and homes and lifestyle features. Lee is the co-author of the award-winning textbook Hoosiers and The American Story (Indiana Historical Society), with James H. Madison. 

Douglas Wissing

Writer

Doug is a Bloomington-based journalist and author who as contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Traveler, Foreign Policy, Politico, CNN.com, Salon.com, and the BBC and NPR radio networks.

His 10 books include his most recent, Hopeless but Optimistic: Journeying through American’s Endless War in Afghanistan (IU Press).