Authors' Page

Larry Luukkonen was born and raised in Cloquet, Minnesota. He has lived a good part of his life near the sites he describes in this book. He attended the University of Minnesota where he received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, and was admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D., all in history. He taught history at the University of Minnesota, Bemidji State University, and in the Minnesota Community College System. He has written several scholarly works including Terms of the Trade: Some Words and Expressions Used in the Fur Trade (1999) and Cloquet: The Story Behind the Name (2000). In 2004, he was commissioned by the Carlton County Historical Society to work on a centennial history of Cloquet. The result of this project was A Hometown Album: Cloquet’s Centennial Story (2004) which he co-authored with Marlene Wisuri, director of the Carlton County Historical Society. In 2005, Larry completed Reuben B. Carlton: Frontier Blacksmith and Visionary, a biography of the county’s namesake. He has written over sixty feature articles in magazines and newspapers, all dealing with various aspects of Minnesota’s early history. He is a frequent guest lecturer and has appeared on public radio and television. He has also served as a consultant for museums and video productions concerning northern Minnesota.

James Sheetz is a lifelong resident of Carlton County. He has been an avid collector of history and antiques since childhood. Educated at the University of Minnesota, he holds a degree in choral music education and has directed a variety of musical groups and programs throughout the region including the James Chorale.

He currently serves as Music Director of the Presbyterian Church of Cloquet, Minnesota, and is the proprietor of Scott House.

Marlene Wisuri has had careers as a college teacher, artist/photographer, historian, author, and book publisher. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and she served as the director of the Carlton County Historical Society in Cloquet, Minnesota, for fourteen years. She lives on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota.

Kathryn Nordstrom’s interest in photography began when she was a child and learned to develop and print her own photographs in the darkroom of her family home. A life-long resident of Duluth, Minnesota, she studied photography and graphic design at the University of Minnesota Duluth. In 1995, she co-founded Studio One Photography in Superior, Wisconsin. Besides shooting portrait and commercial photographs, Kathryn works on personal photo projects that have recently included still life, nature, and figure studies. Her work has often been exhibited regionally and can be found in collections in the United States, Canada, and Sweden. Another great passion in her life is her love of horses. She has owned horses and ridden dressage for most of her life. Kathryn lives in Duluth with her son Brandon and dog Devika.