Holding a Master's of Science degree from East Tennessee State University, Marci Spencer is a volunteer for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Clingmans Dome. She has thirty years of independent nature study and received her certification as a Blue Ridge Naturalist from the North Carolina Arboretum. She has been a career Nurse Practitioner and currently is retired. George Ellison is an author of numerous History Press titles including the most recent, Permanent Camp. He has published articles in numerous publications, writing everything from poetry to natural and human history. He makes his home with his wife and artist Elizabeth in the mountains of Western North Carolina.