ow available at
Amazon.com and in most area bookstores is Slam Dunked, the shameful saga of
how the Louisiana Board of Education and the NCAA ruined the first athletically
integrated basketball program in the Deep South. He has also published two
novels, Pelican Games and Neat. Email him at
ron@acadianagazette.com
Judy Johnson was born in Wilmington, N.C., and raised on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She came in Lafayette in 1998 to be editor of The
Times of Acadiana. Soon after leaving The Times she became special projects
editor for The Independent Weekly.
She has worked in newspapers for more than 30 years, including
stints as chief editorial writer for The Shreveport Times and city editor at The
Sun-Herald of Biloxi, Miss. Johnson was also chief copy editor and foreign
expert liaison for more than a year at China Daily in Beijing.
Johnson has also freelanced for a number of publications,
including The Advocate and 10/12: The Gulf South Business Corridor, both of
Baton Rouge; The National Catholic Reporter, based in Washington, D.C.; and
numerous other newspapers and magazines.
She has been married to William Johnson, a reporter for the Daily
World of Opelousas, for 37 years. They have one son, Derek Sean Johnson, who is
lead designer for The Sun Herald. Email her at
judy@acadianagazette.com
Patricia Ress started out in journalism writing for small
papers in the Iowa City and Clay County areas of Nebraska. She has written more
than 20 books and won eight Editors’ Choice Awards.
In 2003, Ress was inducted into the American Society of
PublishedAuthors and listed inAmerica’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals.
She is also a registered medical lab tech. Ress has been listed in Who’s Who in
America since 1999 and for two years in the International Who’s Who of Writers
and Authors. She is best known for her time-travel books including Stranger than
Fiction: The True Time-Travel Adventures of Stephen L. Gibbs. She has appeared
on radio programs coast to coast as well as on the BBC concerning her books and
their topics.
She is a frequent co-host on the Nightsearch radio show broadcast
from Memphis, Tenn. Visit her website, www.info-gal.info
or email her at her
website, nebspook7@cox.net.
Linda Meaux, a native of Opelousas who has lived in the
Lafayette area most of her adult life, moved with her husband to Broussard about
10 years ago. She likens the town to Chataignier, where she spent her teenage
years.
Her first job in journalism was as a junior correspondent for the
Daily World. An artist in words and pictures, she has had poetry published in
book and CD form, including her works Reflections for Quiet Moments and Crawfish
Tale.
As a photographer she recently had a wildlife scene selected for
publication in Endless Days.
Meaux was the first reporter hired by the Broussard Independent
when it began publishing in December 2004 and remembers her first editor, Kirk
Dugas, as a true professional.
She is a multi-media artist, president of the Morgan Street
Gallery Group, a member of the Lafayette Art Association and teaches arts and
crafts at Camelot in Broussard. Meaux enjoys gardening and singing in her church
choir at Our Saviors of Cade.
Rosalyn Spencer makes her home in Lafayette after
graduating with a bachelor of liberal arts degree in English with a minor in
women's studies from University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
She has worked throughout her college career, as a teacher's aide
and Barnes & Noble bookseller, and was a 2001-02 Americorps of CENLA worker in
Alexandria.
Angela Guidry Scopes graduated from Acadiana High School
then earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of South
Florida.
She is an advertising account executive.
She has held several positions in the accounting and sales fields
in a variety of industries including fasteners, advertising and electronics.
Married with two children, she is very involved in many volunteer
activities in her church, neighborhood association, community and her children’s
school. She enjoys spending time with her family, camping and playing tennis.
Email her at
angie@acadianagazette.com
Amy Stakes
attended University of Louisiana at Lafayette before being graduated from
Louisiana Technical College with a degree in nursing.
She delivers the Acadiana Gazette to more than 120 distribution
points each week.
Stakes has worked as a nurse for the past five years, primarily
in the areas of mental health and dermatology.
A lifelong resident of Youngsville, she and her husband, Brady,
have one son.
Ann E. Yeager received a bachelor of arts degree from
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with a major in English and a minor in
communications.
She is a writer who calls Lafayette her home. Along with writing
movie reviews for Acadiana Gazette, she is also working on some fiction and
writes scripts for the adult drama team at her local church.
She enjoys watching a good movie, reading, spending time with
friends and playing with her golden retriever. Email her at
ann@acadianagazette.com
Dan Juneau
has been president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry since
1989. He has spent more than a quarter of a century fighting for key reforms
necessary to improve Louisiana’s business climate and strengthen its economy.
Juneau was general manager of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
for 14 years.
Juneau feels that intervention in the legislative arena is a must
for economic development and business success, and he firmly believes that an
organized, unified approach from all sectors of the business community is the
key to success at the Legislature.
Juneau and his wife, Charmaine, have three children and two
grandchildren. His wife is a National Board Certified teacher at Gonzales Middle
School. Email him at
info@acadianagazette.com
C.B. Forgotston Jr., a native of Newellton in Tensas
Parish, earned a bachelor of science degree in administration and a law degree from Louisiana State University. He worked for the Louisiana Legislature for
more than 13 years, serving the last seven as chief counsel for the House
Appropriations Committee. He was a senior staff member of the Constitutional
Convention of 1973.
Forgotston was director of the Taxation and Fiscal Policy Council
and a lobbyist for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry for six
years. He was a consultant for and treasurer of the Louisiana Council for Fiscal
Reform.
Forgotston is an outspoken critic of legalized gambling,
political corruption and state fiscal policies. His website,
www.forgotston.com, is a beacon for
students of Louisiana government. Email him at
info@acadianagazette.com
Ray W. Culter
and his wife, Bobbi, have lived in Lafayette for 25 years after moving from
Dallas to serve as vice president of finance for a local oil services company.
After a long career in corporate financial management he capped his career as
chief financial officer for the Lafayette Parish School Board and as fiscal
officer for the Louisiana State Department of Education.
After retirement, the Culters enjoyed their share of travel
before settling down. Culter travels the Internet daily searching primarily for
items of unusual interest that may not have hit the mainstream media and have
within themselves a touch of irony or controversy. He can be reached at
digidad@bellsouth.net.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans and the host of a
Louisiana based program, Ringside Politics, which airs at 8:30 p.m. on Fridays
and 10 p.m. Sundays on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station.
His show also airs from 8 a.m. 'til noon weekdays on WGSO 990 AM
in New Orleans and the Northshore.
For more information, visit his web site at
www.ringsidepolitics.com. Email
him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
The vital measure of a newspaper is not its size but it's spirit
He was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1979,
1983 and 1987. He served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources under Governor Buddy Roemer, 1991-93 and marketing vice president for
the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) from 1993 to 1996.