Who We Are
Northern Wilds is a monthly magazine that celebrates the lifestyle of Lake Superior’s North Shore, the BWCAW and northwestern Ontario with news, events, features, columns and outstanding photography.
You can pick up a free issue at numerous locations along the North Shore from Duluth to beyond Thunder Bay as well as in Ely. MN. Our company, Northern Wilds Media, Inc. also publishes an annual map of Cook County, MN, the North Shore Menu Guide, in-room guest directories for lodging establishments and a selection of regional books. We also operate a full-service print and copy shop.
Meet Our Contributors
Shawn is a veteran writer and editor well-known for his many books and outdoor stories. A native of Duluth and longtime North Shore resident, he’s spent a lifetime roaming the...
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Elle Andra-Warner is a veteran travel writer and has an abiding curiosity in all things unusual. Her monthly column Strange Tales covers everything from UFO sightings to historic oddities.
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Outdoor writer Gord Ellis shares his stories and insights about hunting and fishing with Northern Wilds readers through his monthly column, Northern Trails.
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Casey Fitchett is a full-time travel advocate and dog lover, originally from the urban sprawl of Hampton Roads, Virginia. After accidentally living with a Lord and Lady in Scotland, getting...
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Julia Prinselaar holds a degree in journalism from Concordia University (Montreal), and works for an environmental stewardship organization in Thunder Bay. In her spare time she gardens, hunts and gathers...
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Eric “Shmo” Chandler is a husband and father who cross-country skis as fast as he can in Duluth, Minnesota. Check out his published fiction, non-fiction, books and poetry.
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Erin Altemus lives with her husband and a kennel of Alaskan racing huskies in the deep woods off the Gunflint Trail. She has run the Beargrease Marathon, canoed all the...
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Joe Friedrichs holds a journalism degree from the University of Montana. He lives in a lakeside cabin near Grand Marais and hopes to one day land a brook trout "big...
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Rae Poynter is a creative writer and travel enthusiast who grew up in the woods of northwest Wisconsin and now lives near Grand Marais. Her most noted accomplishments include saving...
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As someone who enjoys restaurants and loves to cook, Maren Webb brings culinary wisdom to her monthly column North Shore Dish.
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Breana Roy holds a degree in English Literature from the University of River Falls in Wisconsin and she covers the North Shore's creative side with the monthly Art Spotlight section. When...
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Eric Weicht is a paddling fool who likes books, lakes and good beer. After graduating from Colgate University with a degree in Philosophy, he spent a summer solo-circumnavigating Lake Superior...
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Emily M. Stone is a naturalist by birth, training, profession and passion. Her childhood spent as a “mud and water daughter” in northeast Iowa led to a degree in outdoor...
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Chuck grew up near Grand Marais and returned to the area a couple of years ago after careers as a bookseller and an English teacher. He currently teaches at Great...
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Kim Falter grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and has lived all over the U.S. She has been a wildland firefighter in Arizona, studied sensitive plant species in the Smokey...
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Artist and writer Kathy Toivonen finds inspiration for creativity from nature, culture, and history; and she often combines her interests to develop projects. For example, she has produced a series...
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Michael Furtman is a lifelong resident of Duluth and has been a full-time, freelance writer and photographer since 1982. The author of over a dozen books and many hundreds of...
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Rhonda Silence grew up in Grand Marais, moved away for 20-plus years and worked a variety of jobs before returning in 1995. She served as editor of the community newspaper...
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Kim was born and raised in Thunder Bay. She obtained her Social Service Worker Diploma from Confederation College. She went on to Lakehead University, where she graduated with an Honours...
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Peter Fergus-Moore calls himself a "southern Ontario fugitive" as Thunder Bay is now his home. He is a retired adult literacy educator with the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, and...
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Amy Woschek Schmidt writes and dwells among the tall pines and emphatically beautiful people of Lake Superior’s northern shore. Among other things, she derives particular delight from her family, homemade...
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Ali Juten is an avid outdoor enthusiast, hunter, and writer from Duluth, MN. Besides a Journalism degree, Ali also has a bachelor degree in International Studies and has been to...
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Shelby Lonne-Rogentine is a North Shore enthusiast who loves storytelling. When she’s not freelance writing, she is the library director for a very cute and cozy little library in Moose...
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Joe Shead is happiest playing outside. He began his journalism career in a cubicle, but decided he is claustrophobic. Since then, he has tromped around Alaska, “working” as a rafting...
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When he isn't working as a Special Education Director in Duluth, raising his two cats, or in his studio painting, Sam Zimmerman is outside hiking, fishing, or sketching along the...
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Bailey hails from Appleton, Wisconsin and recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Biology degree. She grew up playing outdoors; camping, hiking, swimming and kayaking, and values what...
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Environmental activists from St. Cloud, Minnesota, Eve and Gary Wallinga have enjoyed Minnesota's North Shore and explored its waterfalls with their two children for over 20 years.
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Michael Creger is a freelance writer from Duluth. He's worked as a reporter, editor and manager at newspapers across Minnesota, including stints in Duluth and Two Harbors that brought him...
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Jolene Banning is an Anishinaabe-kwe writer, storyteller, and activist. She has spent over a decade working at CBC Radio in Thunder Bay, establishing a weekly entertainment column. Her writing explores...
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Annie Nelson is the author of “Thru-Hike the Superior Hiking Trail,” has solo backpacked more than 2,000 miles in the northwoods, and earned a Journalism degree from the University of...
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