Gary Dickson is the writer, editor, and photographer of this blog. He has been a weekly newspaper editor, photojournalist, corporate trainer, mental health and substance abuse counselor, and university continuing education administrator. He decided to retire in September of 2017 after working at a dysfunctional group mental health private practice. After selling their house in the Morningside neighborhood of Sioux City, Gary and his wife, Nancy moved across the Big Sioux River to Dakota Dunes, SD. Nancy, who is five years Gary’s junior, continues to bring home a full-time paycheck so Gary can maintain his leisurely lifestyle. This includes homeschooling their cat, Willie, writing this blog, selling his photographs, taking more photographs, volunteering, and possibly someday getting a part-time job. Gary is well-versed in the geography, history, government, and people of the North Central Great Plains. He has lived in South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska and has spent much of his life traveling the region and writing about and photographing the people and land of the Great Plains. Gary has been married to Nancy Bingner Dickson far longer than he has been married to anyone else and intends to keep it that way. He is originally from Sturgis, SD and Nancy is from Chancellor, SD. Some of the topics this blog will cover include: education, the Great Plains, government, politics, journalism, regional history, behavior, culture, arts, people, and the environment. Gary likes to nudge people out of complacency and point out hypocrisy when he sees it. He may also recount some of the poor decisions he has made in the past as a way to enlighten or entertain readers of this blog. He also reserves the right to include transcriptions of conversations he has with Willie. Gary is nothing else if not an amusement to himself. He uses a Nikon D3100 DSLR and a Samsung S5 smartphone to take his photos.