Our Writers

Find them on the blog.

Kim Bateman

Writer and Photographer

Kim Bateman hails from Truckee, California, in the heart of the Sierra, where she is the executive dean of Sierra College’s Tahoe/Truckee campus and a popular psychology professor. A passionate student of folklore, Kim weaves lessons from classic tales into contemporary contexts, offering her readers insight into the processes of coming of age and grieving, just to name two. Chiron Publications recently published her first full length book centered around this work, Crossing the Owl’s Bridge: A Guide for Grieving People Who Still Love. Kim is known for her engaging presentations, which you can find on TED.com. When she isn’t serving as dean, teaching, speaking, or writing, you can find Kim sauntering along the beautiful trails in the Sierra, or painting, afterward, in her studio.

Carolyn M Crane

Writer and Photographer

Carolyn M Crane has lived in the Sierra Nevada for most of her life. She began writing in earnest at the age of ten, when her mother placed her late brother’s handwritten poems and essays in her lap, encouraging her to continue his legacy. She is a published playwright, poet, and essayist. For fifteen years she was a radio personality, essayist, and news reporter for KVMR-FM in Nevada City, California. Carolyn began her teaching career with California Poets in the Schools, and now teaches English at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, and Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2011 she began writing here at Lightcap Farm, and she picked up the camera as well. One of her greatest joys is creating forage on the farm and then sitting back to watch as the bees arrive, buzzing with gratitude.

Armida Cervantez

Writer and Photographer

Armida Cervantez comes to us from Abbey Country, northwest of Phoenix. She has a B.S. in Child Development from Walden University, and has completed coursework at Rudolph Steiner College as well. An herbalist, Armida received her plant medicine education from her grandmothers as well as renowned herbalist Kathi Keville. She has worked as a zookeeper and a naturalist. She is an artist, writer, and the director of a community-based donation program for parents and children. She is working to reclaim her indigenous identity, which will connect her with her O’odham ancestors. In early morning or late evening, she draws inspiration from walks in the desert, where she discovers wildlife hiding among the mesquite.

Stephanie Hayes

Writer and Photographer

Stephanie Hayes grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended UC Berkeley, where she majored in Communications. Her years at Cal began for her a process of radicalization, and she has continued her movement toward the Left ever since. She currently resides in Sacramento, where she works as credit manager for a privately held company. An avid reader, writer, and traveler, Stephanie has visited Germany, Vienna, Chicago, Maine, and Nova Scotia in the last several years. She has also been to Greece twice, attending language school at The Athens Centre. She has taught Greek at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Sacramento. When she’s not traveling, at work, or at yoga, you can find Stephanie curled up with her canine and feline children, sipping tea, translating Greek poetry and reading voraciously.