Editorial Bios: K.C. Compton, Editor in Chief

Contact:
Brandy Ernzen 785.274.4304 dir / bernzen@ogdenpubs.com
Ty Fowler 785.274.4387 dir / tfowler@ogdenpubs.com

My upbringing in rural Oklahoma planted deep in my spirit a lifelong appreciation of rural living. Growing up among farms and farmers also provided a clear picture of how much there is to do on a farm.

Although my career until recently has moved me around the country quite a bit, I have always made it a point to live in the country whenever I could. My most recent experience with farm life was living on a working farm and orchard in eastern Kansas. I no longer live there, but visit frequently and am always reminded of precisely how perfect life can be when your neighbors are a comfortable distance away, your dog gets to run without a leash, you share your life with animals and the air is sweet and clean. Life in the country isn’t always a bucolic wonderland, but for my money, it’s one of the best ways to assure some sanity and peace in a world that sometimes seems anything but serene or even healthy.

I worked as a newspaper reporter, columnist and editor in New Mexico and Wyoming for 20 years before moving to Kansas in 2001 to work as managing editor for our sister publication, Mother Earth News magazine. In 2003 I left Mother Earth News to become editor in chief of two new acquisitions, The Herb Companion and Herbs for Health magazines, and in the summer of 2005, five other publications, including Grit were added to my department. That I’ve been able to work for not one, but two of my iconic magazines – Mother Earth News and GRIT – sometimes seems like such good fortune I can barely believe it.