People

Wyoming is blessed with breathtaking landscapes and abundant resources, but its people are equally unique and captivating. WyoFile profiles and interviews newsmakers and everyday people from across the state.

Thumbnail image for Wyoming Billionaire Backs Santorum

Wyoming Billionaire Backs Santorum

by Ben Gose January 21, 2012

Friess has made national headlines in recent weeks thanks to his contributions to a super PAC that supports Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Friess is the main benefactor of the …

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Thumbnail image for Wyoming Philanthropist Foster Friess: Hates taxes, opens wallet wide to those in need

Wyoming Philanthropist Foster Friess: Hates taxes, opens wallet wide to those in need

by Ben Gose January 17, 2012

Foster Friess made big waves in the GOP presidential primary with his endorsement of candidate Rick Santorum. Read a profile of the Wyoming businessman and philanthropist here.

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Thumbnail image for Raymond Plank: Hitting a Gusher With His Philanthropy

Raymond Plank: Hitting a Gusher With His Philanthropy

by Ben Gose January 10, 2012

Raymond Plank has had a colorful past: Yale graduate, WW2 fighter pilot and the billionaire founder of a energy corporation. But as he prepares to turn 90 in May, Plank’s …

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Thumbnail image for Second Saturday Scotch Tasting: Connoisseurs of Scotch whisky gather in remote Atlantic City to sip and discuss

Second Saturday Scotch Tasting: Connoisseurs of Scotch whisky gather in remote Atlantic City to sip and discuss

by Emilene Ostlind December 27, 2011

The monthly “Second Saturday” scotch tasting in the Miner’s Delight Inn Bed and Breakfast in Atlantic City has steadily fermented into the rhythm of cultural life in the greater Lander …

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Thumbnail image for WyoFile’s Cold Snap Champ

WyoFile’s Cold Snap Champ

by WyoFile December 20, 2011

WyoFile was floored with the amazing photography sent in to the 2011 Cold Snap Challenge. Picking a winner wasn’t easy, but it happened:

"Bison Caravan" — Dewey Vanderhoff

Born, raised and currently …

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Thumbnail image for WyoFile’s Cold Snap Challenge

WyoFile’s Cold Snap Challenge

by WyoFile November 29, 2011

WyoFile is seeking compelling photography of wintertime in Wyoming. We’re looking for people, scenery, wildlife or whatever you and your camera come across.

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Thumbnail image for Capturing The Cowboy Heart: Cheyenne writer tests romance market, finds her niche

Capturing The Cowboy Heart: Cheyenne writer tests romance market, finds her niche

by Susan Gray Gose October 18, 2011

Joanne Kennedy’s life could belong to one of her heroines in her Western romances. The Cheyenne author has triumphed over the odds…

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Thumbnail image for John Mionczynski: A biologist revered and ridiculed

John Mionczynski: A biologist revered and ridiculed

by Emilene Ostlind September 20, 2011

John Mionczynski has spent decades tracking evidence of the creature known as Bigfoot. But to cast him off as a paranormal nut would be unfair to a scientist who has …

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Thumbnail image for Sex, Sunsets and Sandlin

Sex, Sunsets and Sandlin

by Susan Gray Gose August 23, 2011

As his latest novel, “Lydia,” was being shipped to bookstores this spring, Tim Sandlin sent a mysterious crate to the sales staff at Sourcebooks in Illinois…

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Excerpt from “Lydia,” by Tim Sandlin

by WyoFile August 23, 2011

The first chapter of Tim Sandlin’s new book, “Lydia.”

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Thumbnail image for Heart Mountain: ‘Things like this should never happen again’

Heart Mountain: ‘Things like this should never happen again’

by Deborah Cobb August 16, 2011

Only three buildings remain at the site of the former Heart Mountain War Relocation Center between Powell and Cody. But during its years of operation, it forever changed the lives …

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Thumbnail image for ‘Rodeo cowboys want to have fun’

‘Rodeo cowboys want to have fun’

by Ron Feemster July 19, 2011

The most ambitious competitors will want to ride on the college and Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association circuits at the same time. And many of those may follow some of Wyoming’s …

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Thumbnail image for Insect Intellect: The Literary Turn of UW Entomologist Jeffrey Lockwood

Insect Intellect: The Literary Turn of UW Entomologist Jeffrey Lockwood

by Susan Gray Gose June 7, 2011

At the height of his scientific career, UW entomologist Jeffrey Lockwood walked away to teach in the humanities and write. Today, Lockwood has published a small shelf of books and …

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Dose Unto Others

by WyoFile June 7, 2011

Dose Unto Others
Excerpt from the unpublished manuscript, Dose Unto Others, by Jeffrey Lockwood
Sergio pressed me for more about why I was interested in the body, wanting to know if it …

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Thumbnail image for Rising From the Right: Barrasso’s rise in Senate follows increasingly conservative course

Rising From the Right: Barrasso’s rise in Senate follows increasingly conservative course

by John Lancaster May 31, 2011

Sen. John Barrasso’s uncompromising brand of politics has puzzled some who expected a less-confrontational approach when he first went to Washington. Barrasso made his first bid for elected office in …

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Thumbnail image for Dirt Court Dreams: Fort Washakie woman drafted to WNBA

Dirt Court Dreams: Fort Washakie woman drafted to WNBA

by Jordan Dresser May 3, 2011

Tahnee Robinson was a third-round WNBA pick by the Phoenix Mercury, which traded her to the Connecticut Sun, a team owned by the Mohegan Tribe. The Fort Washakie resident was …

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Thumbnail image for Hispanic Wyoming: A Shift From Agriculture

Hispanic Wyoming: A Shift From Agriculture

by Samuel Western April 26, 2011

A U.S. Census report released March 3 revealed a 60 percent increase in Wyoming’s Hispanic and Latino population since 2000. The Hispanic population in Wyoming now totals 50,200, nearly 9 …

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Thumbnail image for Teenage Bottlerocket: Punk Rockers from Wyoming

Teenage Bottlerocket: Punk Rockers from Wyoming

by Dustin Bleizeffer April 19, 2011

Members of Teenage Bottlerocket admit there’s a certain pleasure in living a sort of dual life, with fame in the international punk world and the anonymity of being an average …

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Thumbnail image for UW Professor Brad Watson nominated for fiction award

UW Professor Brad Watson nominated for fiction award

by Susan Gray Gose March 22, 2011

Brad Watson, 55, who turned to writing after his failed year in Hollywood, is not new to literary prizes. His first collection of short stories, “Last Days of the Dog-Men,” …

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Thumbnail image for Alan Simpson’s ‘Moment of Truth’

Alan Simpson’s ‘Moment of Truth’

by WyoFile December 6, 2010

Former Sen. Alan Simpson has completed his work as co-chair of a federal panel tasked with reducing America’s budget deficits and reigning in the national debt. In this special report, …

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Thumbnail image for ‘Milk Cows,’ Social Security and Trimming America’s Budget Deficits

‘Milk Cows,’ Social Security and Trimming America’s Budget Deficits

by Ruffin Prevost December 6, 2010

Former Sen. Alan Simpson has a history of colorful comments and pushing to overhaul Social Security. So it was no surprise when senior citizen groups locked horns with him during …

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Thumbnail image for What the Deficit Reduction Plan Means for Wyoming

What the Deficit Reduction Plan Means for Wyoming

by Ruffin Prevost December 6, 2010

How a proposed deficit reduction plan would affect Wyoming remains to be seen. But key provisions could raise cost of doing business in the state for oil, gas and mining …

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Thumbnail image for ‘You Ain’t Seen What We’ve Done to You Yet’

‘You Ain’t Seen What We’ve Done to You Yet’

by Ruffin Prevost December 6, 2010

Former Sen. Alan Simpson said his work on a federal budget deficit panel has changed the national debate on the issue, and is likely to find backers in Congress as …

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Thumbnail image for Seven Boys, Four Horses: Wyoming Boys’ School Could Lose Equine Therapy Program

Seven Boys, Four Horses: Wyoming Boys’ School Could Lose Equine Therapy Program

by Carol Chidsey November 9, 2010

Seven boys, lucky enough to get time with four special horses, have grim stories. One of them was sent to the Wyoming Boys’ School in Worland for gang violence, another …

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Thumbnail image for Six-Legged Teachers: Lessons from Locusts and Beetles

Six-Legged Teachers: Lessons from Locusts and Beetles

by Jeffrey Lockwood November 2, 2010

We’ve entered (actually, created) the Era of Homogeneity. The two greatest environmental crises of our age-mass extinction and global climate change-can be framed in terms of sameness. As the …

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Thumbnail image for Been Here For Generations – Farm Families of Powell

Been Here For Generations – Farm Families of Powell

by Lindsay Linton October 26, 2010

This combination of photographs and texts documents seven Powell families who still farm the original homestead and in most cases, live on the early home site. An inherent love for …

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Thumbnail image for WyoFile Names New Editors

WyoFile Names New Editors

by WyoFile October 5, 2010

WyoFile has hired two prominent state journalists — Dustin Bleizeffer as Editor-in-Chief and Ruffin Prevost as Managing Editor — to lead expanded news coverage of Wyoming people, places and policy, …

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Thumbnail image for Sunset in Sweetwater: In Memory of Activist Attorney Ford Bussart

Sunset in Sweetwater: In Memory of Activist Attorney Ford Bussart

by Paul Krza September 28, 2010

It was one of our less stellar college moments, that Friday night on Flint Street in Laramie back in the 1960s — for me, and certainly for somebody who was …

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Thumbnail image for After Acclaimed Memoir Laura Bell Seeks New Ground

After Acclaimed Memoir Laura Bell Seeks New Ground

by Susan Gray Gose September 13, 2010

Cody– Laura Bell guides me across her back yard to a small Airstream parked on the grass. Inside, we sit down at a small table to discuss her memoir, Claiming …

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Thumbnail image for Profile: Lander’s Tom Bell – Wyoming’s Green Pioneer

Profile: Lander’s Tom Bell – Wyoming’s Green Pioneer

by WyoFile September 6, 2010

Lander, Wyoming — Ask Tom Bell what keeps him going these days, and he rattles off a list of pills for dizziness, blood pressure and cholesterol, plus a diuretic and …

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Thumbnail image for Mark Spragg: The Useful Life

Mark Spragg: The Useful Life

by Susan Gray Gose June 14, 2010

Casper— A middle-aged carpenter in Wind City Books peppers Wyoming novelist Mark Spragg with questions about writing. How do you get started? How do you keep at it? How do …

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Bone Fire Excerpt

by WyoFile June 13, 2010

By Mark Spragg
One
She lunged the horse forward because that was all that was left to them, the slope too sheer to turn him, the shale his hooves struck loose skidding …

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Thumbnail image for WyoFile’s Wyoming: In Katrina’s Wake,The Roost in Pavillion

WyoFile’s Wyoming: In Katrina’s Wake,The Roost in Pavillion

by WyoFile May 15, 2010

PAVILLION—With its gravel parking lot and façade of rough-hewn planks, the restaurant known as Ginny’s Roost looks right at home in this remote ranching town of fewer than 200 people—a …

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Thumbnail image for Wyoming’s Mystery Man: C.J. Box on Top

Wyoming’s Mystery Man: C.J. Box on Top

by Susan Gray Gose April 20, 2010

C.J. Box walks into the Beartrap Café wearing a baseball cap, Carhartt jacket, jeans, and low-riding hiking shoes. He greets Margaret, the owner, and nods to her two dogs …

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Thumbnail image for UW’s Slippery Slope

UW’s Slippery Slope

by WyoFile April 15, 2010

Much of what we call “education” forecloses or shuts down or walls off meaningful questioning and free inquiry. Much of it is based on obedience and conformity, the hallmarks of …

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Thumbnail image for UW’s Gift to the Final Four: Kenny Sailors’ Magical Jump Shot

UW’s Gift to the Final Four: Kenny Sailors’ Magical Jump Shot

by Geoffrey O'Gara April 1, 2010

Laramie—The late great Ray Meyer was only 29 when he coached DePaul University to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in 1943. That was the season, playing against the University …

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Excerpt from Nowhere To Run by CJ Box, G.P. Putnam’s Sons

by WyoFile March 8, 2010

(Available April 6, 2010)
WITH EVERY mile of his last patrol of the Sierra Madres of Southern Wyoming, Joe Pickett felt as if he were going back into time and to …

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Thumbnail image for Meeteetse Chocolatier

Meeteetse Chocolatier

by gene_tempest November 29, 2009

Tim Kellogg is a Meeteetse ranch hand and bronc rider who is building an international reputation as a maker of fine chocolates. His chocolate shop is on Meeteetse’s rustic main …

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Thumbnail image for Mad Dog and The Pilgrim Booksellers

Mad Dog and The Pilgrim Booksellers

by WyoFile November 17, 2009

If you blink once or your attention drifts for an instant on the two-lane highway between Muddy Gap and Lander, Wyoming, you may miss one of the world’s great road …

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U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis on Royalty in Kind

by WyoFile June 15, 2009

Rep Cynthia Lummis

Wyoming’s U.S. Rep Cynthia Lummis responded to WyoFile questions on Royalty in Kind via e-mail through her press secretary Ryan Taylor.
Here are the WyoFile questions and Lummis’ responses:
WyoFile: …

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Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal on Royalty in Kind

by Rone Tempest June 15, 2009

(Telephone Interview with WyoFile editor Rone Tempest, June 3,2009)
WyoFile: On October 6, 2005, the then Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners (Gov. Freudenthal; Treasurer Cynthia Lummis; Sec. of State Joseph …

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Pat Hacker, Wyoming Democrat: Union Man and Practicing Mormon

by tom January 12, 2009

CHEYENNE — People who know Pat Hacker know a big, lumbering man who talks constantly and seems to enjoy any task at hand. In high school, he must have been …

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