Rick Kollath started illustrating in nursery school and now he's lucky enough to draw pictures for a living. He runs a design studio in Duluth and co-owns Kollath-Stensaas Publishing with Sparky Stensaas. Rick has taught in Austria and traveled around Europe as a climbing bum. Now he gets thrills riding the big waves on the big lake in his little sea kayak.
Forensic geologist Scott F. Wolter is a 30-year collector of Lake Superior agates. Over the years Wolter has found many beautiful lakers in and around Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa. He has authored two other books on the subject - The Lake Superior Agate and The Lake Superior Agate: One Man's Journey - and his passion for the stones, and that of other Lake Superior agate collectors and fans, culminates annually at the Moose Lake, Minnesota Agate Days festival each July. Wolter runs American Petrographic Services laboratory in St. Paul, Minnesota where he and his team of geologists have conducted over 5,000 investigations on concrete, rock and stone artifacts, including the fire-damaged concrete from the Pentagon following the attacks of 9/11. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth, Wolter and his wife, Janet have two children and live in suburban Minneapolis.
While never able to create her own art, Carol Wood has always had a passion for the creative. She found photography to be the perfect outlet. Originally from northern Illinois, she still resides in the same locale and photographs everything from babies to, well, agates. It is more than a hobby for Carol, who makes photography her living since her departure from a career in banking. Carol has attended photographic workshops and seminars across the United States. She strives for quality and originality - usually at the expense of her family's patience. Carol was introduced to the beauty of Lake Superior Agates many years ago, and she is an avid hunter when she has time to visit any location near the swath of the glacial till. Her love of the stones, along with her brother Jim's passion to share them, led to the idea for their books, THE STORIED AGATE and THE FAIRBURN AGATE.