Sean Crose
Sean Crose teaches Composition and Poetry at Post University. He is also a senior writer for "Boxing Insider". Crose is a graduate of Albertus Magnus College, the University of Bridgeport, and the Act One Program. His novel "The Regulator" is set against the backdrop of Shays' Rebellion and is available at Amazon. Crose resides in Connecticut with his wife, Jen.
Seth S. Stockwell
Seth S. Stockwell grew up on farms in the Berkshires, where he learned that self-reliance and good preparation are the best ways to keep yourself out of trouble. He recently retired from a long career in property management in the Berkshires.
Shannon Amidon Castille
Shannon Amidon Castille is the editor of the Monterey News. She has worked in university communications/marketing in Washington state and Hawai’i, and was an editor and writer for daily newspapers and a regional cultural arts magazine in Louisiana. She is an award-winning poet, and health and medical writer. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Writers’ Center at Eastern Washington University in Spokane. She lives with her husband and two boys in Monterey, Mass.
Sharon Coleman
Sharon Coleman came to the Berkshires as a refugee from New York City. Previously, she worked as a management consultant to corporations specializing in Leadership Career and Team development. She’s a psychologist and has offered psychotherapy for many years. Now she offers coaching and retreats and can be visited at sharoncolemanphd.com. Sharon is also a writer and a dedicated yogini. She serves on the Leadership Council of Women of Spirit in the Berkshires and she meditates with and leads sessions for the Berkshire Mountain Laurel Sangha, a Buddhist practice community.
Sharon Gregory
Sharon Gregory is the former chair of the Great Barrington Finance Committee. For 10 years she was Vice President of Corporate Development and Planning for Iredale Mineral Cosmetics. She is also an artist, and a classical and jazz pianist.
Shaun Opperman
Shaun Opperman and his wife, Amanda Opperman, are the owners/operators of Berkshire Organics, a local food hub that connects consumers with Western Massachusetts farmers through a home delivery grocery service. By virtue of his involvement with the local Berkshire food system, Shaun has evolved to eat like a farmer. He spends his days coordinating with farmers, ranchers, bakers, and food artisans to source the highest-quality and most interesting ingredients the Berkshires has to offer, and then cooks accordingly. His family’s diet, and his cooking style, revolve around our region’s offerings at any given moment. Shaun knows that locally grown fruits and vegetables are both better tasting, and better for you. A small business owner and father of three, Shaun’s general approach to food involves simple fare with the highest-quality ingredients possible. His seasonal recipes are meant to work for those with full lives and busy evenings who need a nutritional plate, easily.
Sheela Clary
Sheela Clary is a writer and teacher born and raised in South Berkshire county. She's interested in exploring the issues that affect the region, and in building community through place-based storytelling classes and events. She teaches Italian language and cooking, as well. Her writing can also be found at her Substack newsletter, Clarity. (https://sheela.substack.com Clarity | Sheela Clary | Substack a periodic, carefully composed newsletter exploring my obsessions, such as the state of our common life in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, the stories of unheard-from people, the beauties of Italian, and the mysteries of good writing. Click to read Clarity, by Sheela Clary, a Substack publication. Launched 8 months ago: sheela.substack.com
Sheila Thunfors
Sheila Thunfors is a Broker Partner at Stone House Properties LLC. Stone House Properties LLC, with a tradition of excellence since 1984, provides outstanding services to buyers and sellers from three office locations: 35 Railroad St., Great Barrington; 38 Main St., West Stockbridge; and 9 Main St., Chatham.
Simon Brown
Simon Brown is a composer of music living in the Berkshires. An avid consumer of all things artistic, he can be found at galleries, concert halls and dive bars around the county. Simon is the energetic frontman for the group Polysonic Joy, based in Pittsfield. He is also a composer of music and founder of the Wesfield Festival of New Music, which features U.S. avant-garde music. He lives and teaches guitar and cello in Pittsfield. Simon is a graduate of Westfield State University and Berkshire Community College. He has studied composition with Steve Murray and Andy Bonnacci, guitar with Ed Flower and drawing with Nellie Fink.
Solange Boucher
Solange Boucher is a writer, gardener, and claims to be an expert antiques buyer. Solange graduated from Smith College in 2022 with a degree in History.
Some Guy Upstairs
Some Guy Upstairs has been known to go downstairs and take constitutional walks in and around the GB environs. He's not much on nature as he believes nature isn't much on him. His passions include making lists of things to do and rearranging his coat rack. Further information is hard to come by, but we have high hopes this may not be permanent. For many years Some Guy Upstairs lived far from these hills in a never-never land 9 feet below sea level.
Sonia Pilcer
Sonia Pilcer was born in Augsburg, Germany, and raised in the boroughs of New York City. Her latest book, “The Last Hotel: A Novel in Suites,” is based on the residential hotel her father managed on the Upper Westside in the ‘70s. “Teen Angel,” her first novel, launched Pilcer’s career in her twenties. It was bought by Universal Studios and she wrote the screenplay with Garry Marshall. The book has recently been reissued in a 35th Year Anniversary Edition. Her other novels include “Maiden Rites,” “Little Darlings,” and “I-Land: Manhattan Monologues.” Her adaptation of “I-Land” played at the Thirteenth Street Repertory Theater for six years. Most recently, “The Holocaust Kid,” her deepest and most personal book, explored the meaning of being “2G,” a second generation Holocaust survivor. Her theatrical adaptation was staged at Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox, Mass. Sonia Pilcer teaches at Berkshire Community College and the Writers Voice in New York City, as well as privately.
Stella Elliston
Stella Elliston lives in Alford, MA with her husband and their dog,Milo. She is a Therapeutic Eurythmist and an oil painter.
Stephan Green
Stephan Green, AIA, LEED AP, arrived in the Berkshires in the early 1970’s, when his car broke down on the Massachusetts Turnpike. He worked as a carpenter for three years in Berkshire County, and then gave up his carpentry tools to study architecture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After working in NYC for ten years he returned to the Berkshires in 1988 to establish Clark & Green. www.clarkandgreen.com Initially focusing on residential design, Stephan expanded the office’s work to include a variety of commercial building types. This broader understanding of design and construction enhanced the office’s residential design skills. Stephan has led projects that included transformation of an historic building into the multiplex Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield, the conversion of an athletic field house into the 32,000 square foot multi-use Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre complex at Shakespeare and Co. in Lenox, and the award-winning Great Barrington Fire Station. Recently, he was proud to lead the design of CATA’s new home in Great Barrington. Stephan’s focus as an Architect remains on contributing to the enhancement of life in the Berkshires for residents and institutions alike
Stephanie Blumenthal
Stephanie Blumenthal is a graphic designer who worked in publishing in New York City. In 1989 moved to the Berkshires, where she raised two boys and continued to work in publishing, remotely. After viewing An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, she formed a local environmental group, Green for a Change, which campaigned to build awareness about the environmental problems associated with single use plastic bags and disposable water bottles, paving the way for Great Barrington to ban single use plastic bags in 2014. Green For a Change morphed into Sheffield Saves, which has coordinated road-side clean-ups, organized repair workshops, set up an art cabinet for folks to donate to and take free art supplies, and contributes a bimonthly column for the Sheffield Times.
Stephen Cohen
Steve Cohen is an attorney whose areas of practice are complex litigation and corporate governance for clients in the United States and around the world. He lives in South Egremont.
Stephen Dankner
Stephen Dankner received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Composition from the Juilliard School in 1971. A list of his works since 1990 includes 10 symphonies and 18 string quartets, among many other compositions. Dankner has taught at Williams College, Loyola University of New Orleans, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He was the music columnist for The Advocate newspaper, serving Berkshire County and southwestern Vermont, from 2005-2014. He resides in Williamstown, Mass.
Stephen Gerard Dietemann
Stephen Gerard Dietemann graduated from Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning in 1976 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. He worked for noted American architect Victor Christ-Janer before starting his own architectural practice in 1988. Serving the N.Y. Capital District and the Berkshires, his practice focuses on contemporary, energy-conscious residential design. His architectural work has been presented on Home and Garden Television and in the New York Times, and has been recognized for design excellence by the AIA of Western Massachusetts. In addition, his artwork has been exhibited in New York City at the Soho Center for the Arts, Helio Gallery and the Katharina Perlow Gallery on 57th Street, as well as at galleries in Los Angles, Chicago and throughout Europe. His artwork is included in numerous public and private collections. Contact and additional information can be found at his website: sgddesign.com.
Steve Russo
Steve Russo is a South Florida native who has been residing in the Berkshires for the last 7 years. He currently hangs his cleaver at Mazzeo’s Meat and Seafood in Guido’s Marketplace in Pittsfield where he prides himself on being the shop’s “Encyclopedia of All Things Meaty.” Steve is a self-taught cook and smoker hobbyist who loves to entertain and feed people (must be the Italian side). His weekend neighborhood BBQs and potlucks will go down as some of the most legendary and infamous in grilling history. A collector of way too much antique cast iron, Steve will always ridicule you for buying Teflon cookware.
Steve White
Steve White had a long career as a psychotherapist, healthcare administrator, university professor, senior executive in several publicly traded companies including Johnson & Johnson, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and finally as an Episcopal priest and chaplain at Princeton University (translation: he couldn’t hold a job). Besides spending time with his wife Andrea and son Aidan, he most enjoys cooking and traveling and spotting the absurdity in just about everything.
Steven Somkin
Steven Somkin is a produced and award-winning playwright, and a member Plays in Progress(PIP) in Hudson, N.Y. He lives in Lenox and is married to the inimitable Naomi Spatz.
Sue Fish
Sue Fish, owner of the Women's Peace Collection, has been a social worker for more than a quarter-century, committed to working with people of all ages and backgrounds. Her first work in the field was with female victims of domestic violence, and since then she been passionate about women’s issues both in the U.S. and internationally. Fluent in Spanish, she has also worked for many years with the Berkshire immigrant community, helping them adjust to life in their new country and doing advocacy work on their behalf. Sue has been interested in supporting international artisans since her travels through Peru and Ecuador in the 1980’s. The Women’s Peace Collection has fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning a socially responsible, fair trade business while doing her part in alleviating poverty and advocating for marginalized women and families across the globe.
Sue Schwarz
As principal of Gallery315Home in Lakeville, Conn., Sue Schwarz is committed to helping her clients to transform their living spaces into comfortable uncluttered homes that meet their needs. In addition to her Gallery315 Home showroom’s collection of antiques, Sue makes scheduled trips to resources in NYC with individuals and small groups of area residents to provide wholesale access and expertise. Provided Sue is not out “on the hunt,” she is at the showroom Thursday-Sunday, 11-5. Call ahead to make an appointment or to schedule your complimentary home consultation. (917) 701-3841.
Susan Bachelder
Susan P. Bachelder is a resident of South Egremont. She is presently the Chair of the Egremont Historical Commission, and serves on the Egremont Green Committee and the Alford/Egremont Cultural Council. She is an English text editor, and historian who takes special interest in the South Egremont Village School and the loss of cursive handwriting from the Common Core Curriculum.
Susan Dworkin
Susan Dworkin lives in Becket. She writes books, plays and at every opportunity, lyrics. Her most recent books are The Commons, a futuristic novel about a wheat plague that triggers a revolution: The Viking in the Wheat Field, a scientific biography about the great seed banker Dr. Bent Skovmand and the future of world food security; and The Nazi Officer’s Wife , which was a NY Times Best Seller for most of 2014. Her play about art and politics, The Old Mezzo, was performed at WAM Theatre in 2012.
Susan Olshuff
A resident of the Berkshires for 20 years, Susan Olshuff has devoted her life to spiritual pursuits and serving her community. She has worked as a development consultant to many nonprofits, has worked for the Obama campaign, and currently helps run an energy efficiency program urging homeowners to get a free home energy assessment. She is in the process of developing an education program that will help young people find a new relationship to fear and insecurity, something needed in our world today. In her spare time these days, she enjoys mentoring millennials and being with her three grandchildren.
Susan Winston
Susan Winston is a television producer turned psychotherapist who, tiring of driving those annoying Los Angeles freeways, has moved to the Berkshires full-time and opened her private practice in Great Barrington. She specializes in work with those facing high stress, anxiety, depression, emotional reactivity, bipolar diagnosis, continued addiction recovery and more. Her motto is SHIFT HAPPENS. (Yes, sometimes she drops the ‘F”). She joins her clients in riding the tidal wave of change through heart and humor.
Susanna Opper
Since Susanna Opper moved to the Berkshires from Manhattan in 1990, she has written for Berkshire Magazine and Berkshire Living. Her magazine writing career began at Time Life, Inc. She then transitioned to corporate communications at Federated Stores and Exxon. Since 2006 she’s been publishing Web Words, a monthly online newsletter about effective online messaging. She lives in Alford with her husband, Will Ryan.
Susie Kaufman
Susie Kaufman is a retired Hospice chaplain. Her writing has appeared in America and Lilith magazines and the journal, Presence. Several of her pieces were included in the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers anthology, Writing Fire. Kaufman reads regularly at IWOW, the monthly open mic in Housatonic. Her book Twilight Time: Aging in Amazement will be out in June.
Susie Weekes
When Susie Weekes-Roeder isn’t managing Walker-Weekes Designs, her Berkshire-based staging business, or co-chairing local drives for the past 8 years as a Construct board member addressing the growing need for affordable housing in South County, she’s tackling her most inspired undertaking yet: founding the Indwe Learning Center in Illovo, South Africa, adjacent to the Mother of Peace (MOP) orphanage. She is married to Don Roeder, a retired botany professor who taught at Simon’s Rock for 37 years. The two live in Ashley Falls, returning to Illovo with family and friends every year.
Suzanne Fowle
Suzanne Fowle lives in Housatonic with her two children. She grew up spending weekends in the Berkshires at her “Gramma’s House.” But it wasn’t until she had lived in Montana, North Dakota, Washington, D.C., New Hampshire, and eastern Massachusetts that she returned to her roots here, in 2003. Suzie is an ecological consultant, writer, and adjunct professor at Berkshire Community College. She holds an M.S. from the University of Montana (Wildlife Biology) and a B.A. from Brown University (Environmental Studies). From 2008 to 2016, Suzie served on the Great Barrington Planning Board, including stints on the Community Preservation Committee, Master Plan Committee, and Lake Mansfield Improvement Task Force.
Suzi Banks Baum
Suzi Banks Baum creates community wherever she goes. She’s an actress, writer, fiber and mixed media collage artist, teacher and collaborator. She’s also the editor and publisher of An Anthology of Babes: 36 Women Give Motherhood a Voice; creator of “Out of the Mouths of Babes: An Evening of Mothers Reading to Others” for the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers; and collaborator with FeMail, a snail-mail art exchange in its seventh year. She lives with her husband and two teenagers in the Berkshires and runs an active blog series about motherhood and creativity at www.laundrylinedivine.com, where she also posts weekly about seeing and celebrating the sacred in daily life. She welcomes queries about any of her projects; email her at Suzi@LaundryLineDivine.com.
Tamar Gordon
Tamar Gordon is a professor of anthropology and media at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a documentary filmmaker. She moved with her family to Great Barrington in 2012 and never looked back. She is married to writer Scott Christianson and is the proud mother of retired wrestler, Jonah Christianson.
Tammis Coffin
Observer, student, scribe, of bark, wind, rock, wildflower. Last seen photographing a shelf fungus on an ancient spruce.
Ted Andrews
Ted Andrews, a Richmond resident, is a residential real estate developer, a Preservation Massachusetts and National Trust for Historic Preservation member. His family has lived in Richmond since 1781.
Thomas Jensen
Thomas E. Jensen is a chef at Patisserie Lenox in Hudson, N.Y., a sports and outdoors enthusiast, a traditional Irish musician, and a freelance journalist located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He has written on music and the arts, sports, food, outdoors, and culture, and has contributed to The Lakeville Journal, The Irish Echo, Irish Central, and The Irish Voice.
Tim Eustis
Recovering sommelier, wine buyer, and consultant, Timothy Eustis moved here from Paris in 2012. His passions run from wine to coffee to fresh eggs: all things food and wine. He has written for Wine & Spirits magazine, and was Dr. Vino’s Man in Paris. Tim works at The Chef's Shop in Great Barrington. He lives in Great Barrington with his two boys, Henry and Fred, and his wife Sarah.
