Kathy Yoder started writing when she was eight years old. A weekly faith columnist at Iowa’s Sioux City Journal since December 2004 and a Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Award winner, Yoder has a master’s degree in English, art, and mass communication, with an emphasis on creative writing. She’s a former photojournalist, former Director of Children’s Ministries, retired healthcare chaplain, and a licensed minister.

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Kathy says she grew up in the old part of town where birds gossiped shamelessly on telephone wires, corn whispered secrets on the wind, and strawberries grew faster than she did. She remembers the sound of corn growing in her grandparents' backyard, which nestled the nearby famer's cornfield. The old windmill sometimes made lonely sounds, like a lost whale in a vast ocean trying to find a kindred friend.