Toolmaker Thomas Lie-Nielsen brings a unique perspective to the subject of sharpening. He started making hand tools in 1981, after working in New York City at tool dealer Garrett Wade. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks now makes several dozen different high-end planes and saws, based on traditional designs.Pam Flowers is the fourteenth recipient of the Gold Medal from the Society of Woman Geographers, following in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart, Margaret Mead, and Jane Goodall. Named an Outsider of the Year by OUTSIDE MAGAZINE, she has participated in nine Arctic expeditions and completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.Pam is the author of ORDINARY DOGS, EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIPS;… ELLIE'S LONG WALK; HUG A HUSKY; DOUGGIE and, along with Ann Dixon, is the coauthor of ALONE ACROSS THE ARCTIC: ONE WOMAN'S EPIC JOURNEY BY DOG TEAM and BIG-ENOUGH ANNA.Pam has spoken to more than 700,000 students at over 1,200 schools and has spoken at the Smithsonian, the St. Louis Science Center, and hundreds of public libraries. www.pamflowers.com
Bill is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design. He has created paintings for magazines, advertisements, and children's books as well as commissioned portraits and landscapes. His children's books have received the Young Hoosier Book Award, the NAPRA (Network of Alternatives for Publishers, Retailers, and Artists) Nautilus Award, and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. He lives with his family in Venice, Florida.