Kathleen McKinley HarrisKathleen McKinley Harris is a graduate of Middlebury College and has a master's in English from Case Western Reserve University. She has attended the Breadloaf Writers' Conference and the Vermont Studio Center. William Morrow, Jr. published her childen's book, The Wonderful Hay Tumble, in 1988. Her poem, "Bear Fear," won the 1999 Ralph Nading Hill, Jr. Literary Award. Her poems have been published in Vermont Ink, Snowy Egret, Potato Eyes, Willard & Maple VIII, The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Bulletin, Vermont Life, Blueline, Avocet; she is the 1999 third place winner in The Comstock Review poetry contest and was a finalist in the 2001 Sow's Ear Poetry Review's Contest. Her poem,"Cat from the Animal Shelter," appeared in June Cotner's anthology, Animal Blessings (Harper, 2000). She also writes historical articles. She is a former teacher (kindergarten at Pierpont, Ohio; high school at Morrisville and Hyde Park, Vt; fiction and poetry at the University of Illinois, Urbana) and for several years co-published and edited an every-other-week newspaper covering Charlotte, Ferrisburgh, and Vergennes, Vermont. The newspaper's reportage was key in preserving two large acreage lakefront properties from commercial development. Following her picture book publication, she was a speaker in 44 Vermont classrooms and libraries. She has worked in a bookstore. She is the editor of Craig Burt's memoir, We Lived in Stowe (2003). An essay, "Early Morning Walks," (2015) is in Open Doors: Stories from Wildlife Nation. She is presently the editor of the Chittenden County Historical Society Bulletin, a quarterly, and was copy editor of the Vermont Farm Bureau quarterly, Vermont Fences. She has worked as a free-lance editor. Memberships include Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, League of Vt. Writers, Poetry Society of Vermont, Vermont Historical Society, Chittenden County Historical Society, Charlotte Historical Society, and Vermont Farm Bureau. Her first published poem appeared in Snowy Egret, (Spring, 1997). Guided by her grandfather, an orchardist, and mother, a birder, her interest in nature, gardening, and hiking is life-long. Read More Read Less