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Dennis Carnes became a BCP contributor in October 2019. He writes, “I was an Army brat, so traveling is in my DNA. I lived longer in Denver, Colorado, than anywhere else. I graduated with a political science degree from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1969 and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. I spent most of my working life with oil companies in Denver. I also was a VP of a boutique investment banking firm in Denver. After that, I worked in my wife Gretchen’s oil and gas law firm. We retired to Rockport, Texas, 13 years ago and moved to Houston when Hurricane Harvey destroyed our house in Rockport. We have lived in a townhouse in Rice Village for the last three years, and we enjoy our retirement a great deal, not only traveling but taking advantage of Houston’s many cultural, artistic, and culinary delights.”
Julie Gianelloni Connor has contributed many columns notes to this website. Her columns are now offline but will reappear gradually on her new author website, JulieConnorAuthor.com. Foreign travel has fascinated Julie forever, or at least since she heard her mother talk about a friend who loved “foreign in-tricky,” as her mother’s friend pronounced “intrigue.” Julie wanted to experience that in-tricky, too, and has now spent more than fifty years traveling the world.
Andi Keist is an avid writer of all things pleasurable and loves transporting her readers to faraway places, if only for a moment. She lives to incite wanderlust and dreams with a constant running itinerary in her head. She doesn’t believe in a work-life balance mentality but instead chooses to work while traveling, whether watching the sunset in Santorini or taking a business call during a cricket match in Sri Lanka. She resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband, John, and together they have four children and three dogs. Visit Andi’s See Andi Run blog.
Culinary and philanthropy columnist Stephanie McCoy-McLendon has embraced Houstonian living since her arrival here. She says, “Writing, whether it is applied to creative storytelling, marketing, journaling, technical job aids, or a love letter to family, helps us share experiences and connect ideas.”
In 2016, this Mississippi native began a networking group in the Bayou City, Carpe Diem World Dining for Professionals. This group shares interests in culinary arts, offers education about world cultures through dining experiences, informs members about non-profit organizations, and encourages involvement in various humanitarian efforts throughout the community.
Philanthropic organizations that have participated in Carpe Diem events have included Grace After Fire, Arms Wide, Opera in the Heights, Hope Wines, Southeastern Guide Dogs, and Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse.
Stephanie’s career managing training programs and helping others to improve their jobs spurred her move from Anniston, Alabama (home of FEMA’s DHS Center for Domestic Preparedness), where she worked with some of the most elite emergency responders in the nation, to Houston, Texas, where she teams with some of the brightest professionals in the world in industry.
Stephanie’s columns focus on Bayou City people, places, and art that touch our hearts and minds.
Sara Wrye grew up on the banks of a bayou tributary in Houston. She is a writer, artist, and educator. When she’s not teaching reading and English to newcomer students, Sara enjoys reading poetry and Larry McMurtry novels. Although most of her life has been spent in Houston, Sara attended college at Loyola University New Orleans and completed two years of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps program which included Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts on roofs along the Gulf Coast. Sara enjoys creating emotional connections with readers by sharing specific memories in her writing.
