Our Authors
Our authors are smart, funny and knowledgeable. They are available, singly or as a group, for readings, interviews, book signings, birthday parties and author appearances. To contact any of our authors, please call Prospect Park Media, 626.793.9796.
Here's who they are and what they know about:
Colleen Dunn Bates is the editor and publisher at Prospect Park Media and a longtime writer as well. She's the editor and/or co-author of Hometown Pasadena, EAT: Los Angeles, Hometown Santa Monica, Mammoth from the Inside and Storybook Travels. She writes about restaurants for Westways, was the longtime restaurant critic for L.A. Style, and has written for many national and regional magazines. A sixth-generation Southern Californian, Colleen lives in Pasadena with her husband, film editor and Mac man Darryl Bates.
Lian Dolan (Helen of Pasadena) is America's quintessential modern mini media mogul mom. In addition to being a novelist, she writes the blog and produces the weekly podcast The Chaos Chronicles (now in development with Reveille Productions); broadcasts, podcasts and writes (with her four sisters) for Satellite Sisters; writes weekly for Oprah.com as a parenting expert; is the co-author of Satellite Sisters UnCommon Senses; and is a popular (and very witty) speaker. Lian lives with her husband, Berick Treidler, and their two sons on the same block as Prospect Park publisher Colleen Bates.
J.D. Rothman (The Neurotic Parent's Guide to College Admissions) is the blogger at The Neurotic Parent; her blog posts also appeared in I'm Going to College, Not You (St. Martin's Press). A New York native and Santa Monica resident, she is also an Emmy-winning screenwriter and lyricist specializing in children's literary adaptations. She has successfully guided two sons through the college admissions process, and they're still speaking to her.
Diane Lang (Vulture Verses) is a volunteer wildlife educator who leads programs at two wildlife centers in Northern California and one in Southern California. Previously she ran classroom programs for a library, was on the publications staff at Caltech, and wrote newsletters and raised puppies for Guide Dogs of America. She lives in Alamo, California, with her husband, two rats, a parakeet, and a tarantula. She claims, as well, the hummingbirds that visit the bird feeder and the squirrels that scamper through the trees.
Amelia Saltsman (EAT: Los Angeles) is the author of The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook (Blenheim Press). The L.A. native and longtime Santa Monican also writes about cooking, markets and food for such magazines as Bon Appétit, and she's a regular guest on Evan Kleiman's "Good Food" on KCRW. You'll see her at the Wednesday Santa Monica market almost every week.
Pat Saperstein (EAT: Los Angeles) is the savvy sleuth behind L.A.'s best food blog, EatingLA.com. The South Pasadena resident is also a senior editor at Daily Variety, and in her spare time she writes about restaurants for the Los Feliz Ledger and posts regularly on Chowhound. (See if you can figure out which poster she is!)
Jean T. Barrett (EAT: Los Angeles) is a longtime wine, food and travel writer for such publications as Westways and the Los Angeles Times, as well as the co-author of three books with Colin Cowie, including Colin Cowie Weddings. She's a hell of a cook, too. She lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband, marketing consultant and opera buff David Gibb.
Linda Burum (EAT: Los Angeles) is the author of A Guide to Ethnic Food in Los Angeles and an expert on international cuisines. She writes regularly for such publications as the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles magazine. Linda lives in Santa Monica with her husband, cinematographer Stephen Burum, but she roams all over Southern California in her never-ending quest for that great little market or secret cafe.
Elina Shatkin (EAT: Los Angeles) was born in the Ukraine, educated at UCLA, and has worked as an entertainment-industry reporter/editor and food writer. She currently writes about food and drink for the L.A. Weekly and Squid Ink.
Mel Malmberg (Hometown Pasadena) went to Occidental College and started her journalism career at the Pasadena Weekly. She has written several books for Disney and befriended seemingly everyone in the greater San Gabriel Valley. Mel is a world traveler, athlete and all-around bon vivant. She regularly writes book, theatre and restaurant reviews for Hometown-Pasadena.com, and she also helped out with EAT: Los Angeles.
Michael Reynard (The Complete Guide to Check Collecting) is a graduate of Stanford and Columbia and is an associate professor at UCLA. He is the author of the best-selling book Money Secrets of the Rich and Famous, which has been translated into several languages. Reynard has been a check collector for many years, and he writes often on the subject.
Arthur “Tri” Fritz (Tower of Pasadena) has been published in the National Catholic Register, DGA Magazine, You! Magazine and Patch.com. He is the creator and editor of NellieBlyOnline.com, an historical resource website about pioneering investigative journalist Nellie Bly. Tri has a degree in communications from Loyola Marymount University and an MBA from Azuza Pacific University. He lives in Pasadena with his wife and daughter.
William Goldstein (Hometown Pasadena) writes regularly about food and happenings for Hometown-Pasadena.com. A relatively recent graduate of Columbia University, he works as the marketing associate for L.A.'s premier indie literary publisher, Red Hen Press, which is based in Pasadena.
Jill Alison Ganon (Hometown Pasadena, At Home Pasadena) is the author of three books and the former managing editor of American Bungalow. Jill's an accomplished cook, a swimmer, a literary Jill of all trades, a traveler and a storyteller. Jill is a Staten Island native who has lived in Pasadena for more than twenty years with her husband, jazz musician David Arnay.
Sandy Gillis (Hometown Pasadena, At Home Pasadena) is a former "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" staffer who, as a college intern, was yelled at by John Belushi. Sandy's talents and passions are many, from gardening to jewelry making, chicken farming to flower arranging; she is currently earning a degree in ornamental horticulture. She lives in Altadena with her husband, comedy writer Tom Gammill.
Mary Jane Horton (Hometown Pasadena) is the editor-in-chief of Plum, a lifestyle magazine for pregnant women over 35. She has also written for Ms., Fit Pregnancy, Time and Fodor's. She's a workout maven, a clotheshorse, a vegetarian cook and a first-rate shopper. Mary Jane lives in Pasadena with her husband, psychiatrist Stuart Shipko.
Kathleen Tuttle (Altadena Town & Country Club: A Centennial History) is one busy woman. Not only is she an attorney who's in charge of the antitrust section of the L.A. District Attorney's office, but she's an accomplished writer. In addition to her history of the Altadena Town & Country Club, she's the author of Sylvanus Marston: Pasadena's Quintessential Architect (Hennessey + Ingalls), and she's written for such publications as Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Lawyer and the antitrust journal, Competition. The Altadena resident is a longtime ATCC member, a tennis player and a history buff.
Joe Dunn (Pocket of Paradise) started surfing in Malibu in the early 1950s and has been a homeowner on Beach Road in Capistrano Beach since the early 1960s. The Los Angeles native was a longtime partner/owner of the Charles Dunn Company, an historic L.A. commercial real estate firm, and he is now a real estate investor, surfer, golfer, grandfather and author. His first book, Pocket of Paradise, is in its fourth printing, which is inspiring work on a new book. He lives in Capo Beach with his wife, painter Ellie Dunn.
Starshine Roshell (Hometown Santa Barbara) is the author of the wise and witty books Wife on the Edge and Keep Your Skirt On (Cabal Publishing). She's also a columnist for the Santa Barbara Independent, a writer for Santa Barbara Magazine, a survivor of the Santa Barbara News-Press implosion, and the proprietress of starshineroshell.com, where she waxes sassy on sex, politics, kids, fashion and life in Santa Barbara, where "carpools collide with couture." Her husband, graphic designer John Roshell, is also her art director.
Cheryl Crabtree (Hometown Santa Barbara) is story editor of Montecito Magazine, a contributor to Fodor's guides and Fodor.com, a writer for Santa Barbara Seasons, co-author of the upcoming California Directory of Fine Wineries—Central Coast and a Stanford grad. She lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, scientist Chris Crabtree.
Leslie Dinaberg (Hometown Santa Barbara) is a screenwriter, a columnist for the Santa Barbara blog noozhawk.com, and a contributor to such magazines as Santa Barbara Seasons and Santa Barbara Magazine. A California native, she lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Hometown Santa Barbara co-author Zak Klobucher.
Zak Klobucher (Hometown Santa Barbara) is a screenwriter with credits from Disney, Fox, Castle Rock and Nickelodeon Pictures. He's also a software guy, a Harvard grad and the husband of Hometown Santa Barbara co-author Leslie Dinaberg.
Nancy Roberts Ransohoff (Hometown Santa Barbara) is a contributing editor for Montecito Magazine and Westways and wrote for Touring & Tasting in Santa Barbara's wine country. Before she and her husband, physician Kurt Ransohoff, moved to Santa Barbara in 1992, the Rhode Island native was an editor for Bon Appetit and Knapp Press in Los Angeles.
Margery L. Schwartz (Hometown Santa Monica) is a longtime Santa Monican who went to Palisades High School and grew up playing volleyball and bodysurfing at State Beach. Now an editor for the L.A. County Museum of Art, she has worked for everyone from the Los Angeles Times to Los Angeles magazine, and she's also a copyeditor for Prospect Park Media.
Nancy Gottesman (Hometown Santa Monica) is a true Santa Monica native (she was born at Santa Monica Hospital). Nancy has been an editor for practically every magazine in town and is now a freelance writer who's happily AWOL: Always West of Lincoln. She lives in Ocean Park and takes frequent breaks from the writing life to play tennis, hike Temescal Canyon, hit the Sunday Main Street farmer's market, and meet friends for a martini at Chez Jay.
Stephanie "Tippy" Helper (Hometown Santa Monica) is a Silverlake native and 20-year resident of the Palisades. Tippy is often found hiking the Santa Monica Mountains with her dog, Willie. Originally a PR executive, Tippy worked on three Oscar ceremonies; nowadays she's the programs coordinator at USC's University Club.
