My name is Frank Patrick Stehno. I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, on the cusp between Leo and Virgo. Way way back in 1950. Growing up I had the typical two parents, plus two younger brothers and two younger sisters. I attended several grade schools and graduated from Westside High. I was into football, but was never a jock. I liked rock'n'roll and folk music, got into camping, was good in science and the Frisbee.

I attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 1968 through 1972, focusing on geology, paleontology, and creative writing (it's a long story). I was one of the organizers of the first Earth Day on our campus. Then got married and started working. I had a seasonal job with the Nebraska and US Geological Surveys, another working for a professor on the Aquarius Plateau in Southern Utah, then went to work for a couple of animal pharmaceutical companies (another long story).

Somewhere in the mid 70s I attended the Community Writer's Workshop at UNO. My first wife and I had a son, and, somewhere in there I got a few poems published and became the Director of the Nebraska Poet's Association, all while working for a wage as the Coordinator of Programs and Services and then the Acting Director of the Metropolitan Arts Council. I still liked sports, so got into tennis, volleyball, and softball.

Along the way I taught a few classes in the Poets in the Schools program, did a few public readings of my work at various places in the Midwest, and then, one fine day, we migrated to Tucson, Arizona. There I took a variety of jobs, eventually leading to a position in exploration geology in Nevada, with AMAX Exploration. As part of the ambiance of rustic bars in small Nevada towns I found myself liking country and western music (hard to believe). Then I actually moved to Ely, Nevada where I worked for AMSELCO Exploration.

We took up backpacking, including hikes across the Grand Canyon. Eventually we moved back to Tucson, where we continued hiking the Sonoran desert. There was an unfortunate divorce in there, several years of escape from geology, while working in a warehouse. Then remarriage, and work at an underground mine for Magma Copper .

We adopted several cats and dogs and moved to Utah, where we were only hours from fantastic hiking country in all of the regional national parks. I took classes in desktop publishing and graphic design and used my background in writing to gain a position as a technical writer/graphics specialist. I wrote three novels, and bunches of short stories, and eventually set aside my poetry writing. Then I went to work for the State of Utah as a Technical Writer and Web Content Specialist and my musical tastes swung to back toward folk, roots rock, and adult alternative ... and I'm still rocking.

My big accomplishment in recent years was to hike the 25 miles across the Grand Canyon in one 13 hour day, with 321 miles total for that year. Not bad for an old writer.

For more information, access my Canyon Country Hiking and Camping site.