Jim Kristofic grew up on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona and has worked on and off the "Rez" for more than ten years as a river guide, park ranger, journalist, ranch hand, and oral historian. He's written for the Navajo Times , Arizona Highways , High Country News , and Native Peoples Magazine . His memoir, Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life , was a finalist for the 2012 Spur Award and was named a 2011 Southwest Book of the Year.