Peter Anderson covered mountain town beats for the The Mountain Mail, the Pueblo Chieftain and the Denver Post. After writing several regional histories and a dozen children’s books on natural history and the American West, he taught writing and literature at Salt Lake Community College, Earlham School of Religion, and Adams State University.

His most recent books include Heading Home: Field Notes (Conundrum Press, 2017), a collection of flash prose and prose poems exploring rural life and the modern day eccentricities of the American West which won the 2018 nonfiction award from the Colorado Authors League ; Going Down Grand: Poems from the Canyon (Lithic Press, 2015), an anthology of Grand Canyon poems, which was nominated for a Colorado Book Award; and First Church of the Higher Elevations(Conundrum Press, 2015), a collection of essays on wildness, mountain places, and the life of the spirit. Peter lives with his family on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where he helped launch the Crestone Poetry Festival, an annual gathering of southwestern poets. Visit his website at petehowardanderson.com.

has worked as a writer, editor, and community-focused journalist for more than 30 years in New Mexico and Colorado. She is the author of three books on visual artists and editor on several others. A Crestone/Baca resident since 2009, she has a deep appreciation for the gifts of community and place, having been raised in a US Air Force family and living in multiple states, Canada, France, and Japan. In Crestone she also serves on the board of the nonprofit Informed Final Choices. She has been a contributing feature writer for the Eagle for 10+ years, combining her love of community with a passion for communication that is intelligent yet accessible, meaningful, and clear. Visit her website at gussiefauntleroy.com.

Rick Hart works as a Real Estate Broker in Crestone. He enjoys helping people relocate to this beautiful mountain community, as well as managing all elements of his small business, including sales, marketing, and accounting. Prior to moving here with his wife in 2016, Rick lived in Asia for over a decade.

During this time overseas, Rick first encountered the concept of a news desert. Having had access to a multitude of North American dailies his entire life, he suddenly found himself with almost no English-language news. He eventually discovered a few English-language dailies which, despite limited budgets, persevered in delivering news to an underserved population.

Rick loves this community. By keeping us informed, The Crestone Eagle also keeps us resilient and close-knit, if not always in agreement.

Marge Hoglin worked as a daily newspaper reporter and editor on the Front Range, while earning a master’s degree in journalism at CU Boulder and raising two kids. After 10 years in the magazine publishing business, she owned and operated a retreat center/bed and breakfast just south of Rocky Mountain National Park for 14 years. She sold that business in 2007 and moved to Saguache, intending to get away from the crowds, get involved in a small community and “give back.” As president of the Friends of the Saguache Public Library for three years, she organized and led the successful effort to form the Northern Saguache County Library District. In 2012 she co-founded Saguache Works, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that established the 4th Street Food Store, Blue Earth Thrift, the BEBOP exercise studio and various other programs, and served as its volunteer executive director until “retiring” again and moving to Crestone in 2017. Marge currently manages the Crestone Food Bank and very much enjoys being a part of this community.

Dear Readers:

It is a pleasure and honor to be writing to you as editor of The Crestone Eagle. The welcome from the community has been wonderful. People have come into the Eagle office, sent me emails, said hello to me around town, and sent postcards expressing welcome, some of which included words from Gandhi and Hopi prayers.

I'm fond of a quote from journalist Peter Dume who wrote that the role of a journalist is to “comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” In my journalism, I implement that statement in a fair, open, and bipartisan way.

When I interview elected officials, I often go into the interview without knowing if they are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green. My job as a reporter is to give a voice to everyone, and to their story. (I'm reminded of the joke that the difference between a reporter and a journalist is a reporter has a job and a journalist is looking for a job.) Each day when I enter the Eagle office, I am greeted by the lovely blue and white sign that reads, “The Crestone Eagle: Community Newspaper.” I’m reminded that my job as editor of this publication is to uphold impeccable standards of truth, trust and honesty in everything I do.

On September 1, the Eagle became a non-profit, owned by Crestone Eagle Community Media. The word is out. Colorado Public Radio published a feature article on our non-profit status, and when I interviewed Governor Polis in September, the first thing he said to me was, "Congrats on the non-profit. We’re super-excited." I'm super-excited too, as is our staff, and board of directors. I hope you are, too, as we embark on this journey together.

Being a non-profit affords us to tap new streams of revenue such as grants, awards, and donations, all of which are tax deductible. And we continue to offer advertising and newspaper subscriptions.

I’m also very excited that we are in the process of reworking the Eagle’s website with our Webmaster Sally Seck. Our new and more dynamic website will be regularly updated in a timely manner.

Crestone is a magical place of creativity and spirituality. I’m grateful to be here. Often, I take a break from work and head up the Willow Lake Trail. In less that an hour, I am able to hike to the big meadow which affords stunning views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, including a few ‘Fourteeners.’ This is one of the most spectacular places on Earth. It is there that I take time to reflect, pray, and mediate. As I hike back down and enjoy the views of Crestone, the Valley, and the San Juans in the distance, I’m overwhelmed and thankful.

As the editor and guardian of this community newspaper, I welcome and encourage your ideas, concerns, and especially news tips. Please call, email, or swing by the Eagle office to talk. This is a community newspaper, everyone’s newspaper: what a wonderful welcome.

Please consider making a donation to The Crestone Eagle and becoming part of our endeavor to provide great journalism to Crestone, Saguache, the San Luis Valley, Colorado and beyond.

John Waters Editor