Julie Quiring
Julie is a relatively well-adjusted person, considering she was forced to attend sixth grade carrying a gigantic grey lunchbox decorated with shelf paper. The middle daughter of two black sheep, her formative years spanned a quiet neighborhood in Fresno, California, a Quaker commune in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a tipi at the foot of Mt. Willet in Southeastern British Columbia. In 1978, the B.C. Government paid her $8 twice a week to run up a mountain and read numbers on a stick in the creek, setting the bar very high for all future employment. Time passed and stuff happened. She held jobs, went to Europe, got a really bad perm. Her boyfriend bought her a leather halter-top. She moved to Whidbey Island and more time passed and more stuff happened. She gave birth to two tiny people who grew into wonderful young women.

She has been working with David and Many Rivers for more than 17 years; an astonishing achievement for someone averse to making dentist appointments six months in advance because You Never Know. During that time, she has done everything from vacuum the floor to designing and developing this website. An avid reader and writer, she is currently addicted to political and cultural tomes, most recently Matt Taibbi's The Great Derangement and Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting with Jesus.

Lisa Jae
There are times when opening up the box of biography becomes a question of good editing. Born and raised in Chicago… the middle of a pack of 7.  Dreamt of acting…found canvas and paint.  Collected loves that still haunt me.  Found marriage briefly.

Moved a house…held the earth in my belly and raised her into a beautiful child now 15.

I am an artist in my head…but for so long have not made my mark.
I live in beautiful places, create beautiful homes, but do not call one my own.
My passions are quieter these days, my fire tempered, but I think that I am just in waiting for my time to rise again.

I have worked with David for two years. I am a self-dubbed queen of organization, detail, multi-tasking, music and Googling.

Annabet Berlin
I was born in Chicago and raised in an idyllic mid western town on the shores of Lake Michigan.  After a circuitous journey west, which included a 10 year stay on Kaua’i, where my sons, Mark and Noah were born, we landed on Whidbey Island where we could still get our daily dose of mountains, water and the comfort of a rural island community. 

On the days that I am not sending David Whyte’s books and recordings all over the world, I work at the local independent bookstore, read, run in the woods, ride my bike and play Zimbabwean music.

Pauline Elliot
Made in Chile. Born in California. Presently living on Whidbey Island with my darling, beautiful, smart daughter Alohi and my sassy Maltese Ellie Bear. I am a freelance accountant, managing accounts and hand-holding for about 75% of South Whidbey Island, while giving unconditional love and support to my parents, and vice-versa.

Have you ever heard of the phrase, "it takes a village?" - well, in my daughter's case, it does.