Whitaker, Lonnie: - Lonnie Whitaker attended a two-room school in the Missouri Ozarks and later earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri School of Law. He served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and retired as district counsel for a federal agency and now works as a writer. His novels, Geese to a Poor Market and Soda Fountain Blues, both won the Ozark Writers' League Best Book of the Year Award. He is the author of an award-winning children's books series about Mulligan, a rescued tomcat. His short stories have been published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, Five Star Publishing, Missouri Life, The Ozark Mountaineer, and several anthologies. His newspaper column, "The Way We Were . . . Personal Reflections on Life in the Ozarks" is published bi-weekly by the Howell County News and has won multiple awards from the Missouri Writers Guild. He and his wife live in Missouri with two dogs and a rescued tomcat. They are supporters of animal rescue organizations.