Lifestyles Writing

Jennifer Hecker Duval is a social worker, wife, and mother. She is proud to be a native Arizonan, and spent her childhood traveling the state's back roads. When her husband, Fred Duval, ran for governor in 2014, she says she realized it was a perfect chance to reacquaint herself with the best of Arizona.... Read More...

Nicole and Billy Cundiff had, for the most part, a sort of charmed life. He with an HFL career and she as a lawyer, following in her father's footsteps. Life changed dramatically in September 2007 when Nicole's mother, Colleen Drury, was diagnosed with Stage 3C ovarian cancer. That terminal diagnosis, which ended in Drury's death in February 2013, would have left some people broken. Not the Cundiffs. Instead, it motivated them to share Drury's passion for life, to make the world aware of ovarian cancer, and to help find an early diagnosis screening test for the deadly disease by creating Colleen's Dream Foundation.... Read More...

Tom Bollinger had an unusual childhood growing up in the late 1950s. He and his four brothers were among a handful of Anglo children on Lakota and Oglala Sioux Native American reservations in North Dakota, where his parents were teachers. Those early years defined Bollinger in ways he didn't realize at the time.... Read More...

Blake Van Es has, in a way, come full circle. She was born and raised in Phoenix, moved to San Diego for high school, and made her way back to Arizona for college, where she attended the University of Arizona. Little did she know, when she returned to San Diego after college to sell advertisements for a local radio station, that she would find the love of her life and eventually find her way home to Arizona.... Read More...

When you walk in the door at the facility on North 91st Place in Chandler, you can usually hear the sounds of kids laughing and sometimes music filters out into the lobby and down the halls. You could be in any school in the Valley—except you'll soon notice that the kids (and adults) attending classes and workshops all have one unique characteristic—they're all visually impaired. Welcome to the East Valley campus of Foundation for Blind Children (FBC).... Read More...