Attitudes at Altitude July Meet the 2025 Colorado Authors Hall of Fame Inductees

Hello and Happy 4th of July Weekend to you …

November is always the time of the year when the word “gratitude” is in the air. For July, I would add resilience and gratitude to the 4th of July mix. As you celebrate this Independence Day, remember the power of your words and that they count. Don’t keep them in the closet, in your mind 1776 was about building a future and a nation. Wishing all of you a day of joy ...

With the warmth of summer, the coming Induction is beginning to heat up. Our Inductees represent a variety of genres: fantasy, adventure, thrillers, mystery, teens and YA, business, leadership, memoir, and biography.

The Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame will honor Colorado-connected authors of extraordinary, published works who met the Judges’ criteria and were approved by the Board. All Inductees were nominated by the public.

This year, family representatives of the three LEGACY Inductees will be present to share stories and insights.

This years' Inductees include three Legacy Inductees. Authors who are no longer living, but the words and stories are: Kent Haruf, Lucile Christy Bennett, and Perry Eberhart.

Kent Haruf created the fictional town of Holt in Colorado and wove his many books around the rural life of Colorado. Denver’s magazine 5280 wrote in 2015 that Haruf is "widely considered [to be] Colorado's finest novelist.

Lucile Bennett wrote as Eve Bennett. Her words supported her six children and were discovered by the Rocky Mountain News. Her novels were written for teens.

Perry Eberhart was one of Eve Bennett’s children. In France, he found his writing muse. Returning to Colorado, he became an expert in paranormal sightings, writing several books and guides on ghost towns.

The living inductees, honored at the Induction Gala, include bestselling and prolific authors:

Jim Butcher
Jim Davidson
Mary Ellen Gilliland
Francine Mathews
Linda Seger
Oscar Sladek
Tommy Spaulding
Daniel Tyler
Stephen White
Rebecca Yarros

Auction and Sponsorship chair Hilary Afshary is gathering a variety of items for our
Silent Auction. Contact her if you have something or a connection that will come in as
a donation to support the Hall and our event via her email, HilaryAfshary@yahoo.com

This month, 2021 Inductees: Living legend children’s author Avi and Legacy
Inductee Hannah Marie Wormington is featured.

Congratulations to 2021 Inductee Kevin J. Anderson. He will be honored with the
Edgar Rice Burroughs Legacy Award at the Tarzana International Film Festival. The
award recognizes writers in science fiction, fantasy, and adventure genres.

Congratulations to 2021 Inductee Charlotte Hinger. Her latest book, Mary’s Place,
is a Finalist for the Colorado Book Award in Historical Fiction.

Congratulations to 2021 Inductee Flint Whitlock. He has been honored with the 2025 National History Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution for his expertise and books on military history.

In gratitude for you and your support for the Hall,

“Avi” Edward Wortis

Schools throughout Colorado welcome the creative mind and the dynamic child stories of Avi Wortis (Edward Irving Wortis). Avi is the author of more than eighty books for children and young adults, including the 2003 Newbery Medal winner Crispin: The Cross of Lead. He has won two Newbery Honors and many other awards for his fiction. He lives with his family in Denver, Colorado.

Avi struggled in school due to his dysgraphia. He has amassed a significant body of work over the last 50 years. His books have captivated children’s imaginations, creating hungry readers who still hunger for his books as adults. He has given context to historical times, created
magical places, and inspired kindness and hope through the stories he tells.

Awards and Citations include the Newbery Honor for: True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Nothing But the Truth. He received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Poppy, and Nothing But the Truth. The Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award was received for The Fighting Ground, the Christopher Award for Encounter at Easton, the Anne Zarrow Award, and the Boston Public Library for Literary Light; the ALA Notable Books recognition for The Barn, Crispin at the Edge of the World, The Fighting Ground, Nothing But
The Truth, Poppy, Silent Movie, Who Was That Masked Man Anyway?, and the 2012 Denver Academy Reach for the Stars Award Honoree.

His partnership with Denver Academy has helped him to research how best to entertain children with his stories. Giving them a glimpse into the writing process and a chance to voice their opinions on a storyline is a magical opportunity.

Books of note:
Lost in the Empire City
Secret Sisters
Ragweed and Poppy

Hannah Marie Wormington
September 5, 1914 – May 31, 1994

H. Marie Wormington is considered one of the nation's top anthropologists, a field dominated by men in the 21st Century but even more so during her lifetime (1914-1994). She was the first female archaeologist to be elected president of the Society for American Archaeology and was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 1970. In 1983, the Society of American Archaeology awarded her the Distinguished Service Award. She was a consummate researcher and author of ancient people of the United States, especially those who once resided in what is now Colorado.

Although she worked for decades in a museum setting and at on-site excavations, it was her writing about her on-site research and excavations that brought relatively unknown research and methodology to the public. Readers found her research findings to be compelling and riveting. Her books Ancient Man in North America and Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest are classics.

In 1936, she worked for the Colorado Museum of Natural History (presently Denver Museum of Nature and Science). Between 1935 and 1963, she actively participated in and/or led significant site excavations in France, Colorado, Utah, Mexico, Iowa, Canada, and Alaska. After working at the museum until 1968, she became a popular visiting professor and lecturer at several universities.

Her books and writings include Differentiation of Yuma Points, A Comparison of Folsom and Yuma Flaking Techniques, Ancient Man in North America, The Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest, A Reappraisal of the Fremont Culture, Archaeological Investigations of the Uncompahgre Plateau, A Survey of Early American Prehistory, An Introduction to the Archaeology of Alberta, Canada, Pleistocene Studies in Southern Nevada, and Archaeology of the Late and Post-Pliocene from a New World Perspective.

Books of Note:
The Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest
Ancient Man in North America
The Story of Pueblo Pottery

Dr. Doug Gilbert is a highly experienced international entrepreneur, academic, and business professional. His current focus includes serving as the CEO of Lone Tree Academics LLC, an academic services provider serving higher education, and the recent startup of EduPartner.Solutions, a Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS) venture assisting higher education institutions with student success strategies. He also serves as a doctoral faculty for Walden University (USA), a visiting professor at Vilnius University (Lithuania), and a doctoral faculty for UBIS University (Switzerland).

He holds a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa, and an M.B.A. from the Unversité de Genève (IMD) in Switzerland.

Doug’s past experiences include serving in senior management roles at several academic institutions, delivering strategy and transformation consulting to biotech companies in a Big 4 consultancy, leading international transformation projects for Novartis—a Swiss multinational, and co-founding Colorado’s newest city, the City of Castle Pines.

Attitudes at Altitude promises to our readers …

We celebrate the outstanding authors inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame in 2019. They are the first in the United States to only honor published authors and look at the impact and breadth of their work.

The next full Induction will be on September 6, 2025 for the Aspiring Authors Awards luncheon. Put the date on your calendar. The venue will be the DoubleTree Hilton Denver Tech Center in Greenwood Village.

• Each month, past Inductees are featured with their background and latest books.

• Past Inductees will offer their sage advice on “how they do it”–whatever “it” is.

• You will be the first to hear about Hall Events that are planned. Meet a favorite author ... or a new one—one that has delivered mega hours of reading enjoyment ...
one that has made an impact on society or their field.

Support the Hall

The Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame celebrates the accomplishments of living and deceased authors who have been connected to Colorado—their words, wisdom, accomplishments, and the life-changing impact their works create. The result: their legacy lives on.

The Hall is an all-volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that honors and celebrates authors connected with Colorado by birth, residence, temporary residency for writing encouragement and support, writing about elements within Colorado, or placing storylines in or about Colorado.

Authors’ words have immense power and impact on changing others’ lives. They solve problems, bring awareness to a topic, and provide hours of pleasurable reading. It’s the power of their words.

Your financial assistance through donations and participation at events supports the bi-annual Induction Gala in odd-numbered years, the Aspiring Author Scholarships, and the general operation to bring these events to the public.

Please support the Hall for this year going forward.