Barry Infuso is a chef and serves as the 'Dean of Cuisine' at Pima Community College Desert Vista Campus. He is the food writer for Tucson Lifestyle Magazine and is president of Slow Food Tucson. His personal interest includes diabetes and diet related diseases and is active with the Pascua Yaqui head Start Program where he teaches cooking with kids.

Prasenjit Ray is literally "the king/conqueror whose domain is happiness and cheer."Born and raised in Ohio (The Heart Of It All!), he moved to L.A. to get his Ph.D. in chemical engineering and to restart his life. Because he did not enjoy crowded highways, a polluted city, or having to live to 150 before being able to afford a house, he moved to Tucson after grad school. In his spare time, he enjoys fighting the various deadly plant and animal life indigenous to the desert and using his turn signal when appropriate.

Nanete Longchamp: I was born in Port-Au-Prince Haiti in front of the national cemetery. My mother was not able to make it to l'Hopitale Generale in Port of Prince until after I was born. She and i were taken to the Hospital by a Ton Ton Macoute unit of the feared Duvalier regime. As they picked my mother from the ground still attached to me, she was told, in jest we hope, that if I was a girl they would take her to the hospital, but if I was a boy they would shoot me. Well, I survived! After I was about nine years old, I moved to Brooklyn NY. I was raised amids lots of noise, beauty and multiple cultures. Since I was in PS128 I wanted to become a writer but never really did. Recently, I moved to Tucson and for the past year I have picked up the pen again. I am happily married with 1 nine years old son.

ODYSSEY STORYTELLING PHOTOS and BIOS

OCTOBER 13, 2007 - "Secrets"

Jeff Coleman: I'm an old hippie, that after traveling extensively went back to school & graduated from NAU in Industrial Arts Ed. I have been remodeling homes for 40 yrs.. I took 10 yrs. off & became a 2nd grade teacher. While teaching I used storytelling as part of my reading program. This evolved into a 32 chapter adventure novel for children. I am now in the process of producing a children's TV show through Access Tucson based on the book. I'm a single parent, back remodeling, and attempting to get my second son through high school.

Rocky Morrisette is a 57 year old boy. He loves his 7 adult children and is madly in love with his best friend. He loves still being a boy. His titles and degrees have been laid aside. Now he just prefers the name Rocky. Rocky said every boy dreams of flying jet planes, of engineering steam locomotives and driving a fire truck. He says, with a big grin, "I'm still working on the fire truck thing." Rocky is a retired Air Force Officer and former High School Science Teacher. He is a story teller, published writer and poet. He is currently writing a juvenile novel which retells many of his experiences in his 13 years in Alaska, as told through the eyes of his grand daughter. He would like to remind everyone that 3 MPH is a coupling and 5 MPH is a wreck.

Lucy Patterson was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Some people pronounce it Misery, but she does not appreciate this. Lucy left her sweet St. Louis for college and is currently a junior at the University of Arizona, where she studies the most delicious subjects she knows, art and elementary education. She enjoys eating, reading, dancing, sleeping, writing, and crying. She also has curly hair.