About Mike Lunsford      

Mike Lunsford is a writer and photographer from rural Parke County Indiana. A retired teacher of English, Humanities, and American History, he is the author of seven books and regularly contributes columns, features, and photographs to the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, Terre Haute Living magazine, and Indiana Connection magazine. 

                             
Mike has been well rewarded for his life in teaching, writing, and photography.  The winner of four “Reader’s Choice Best Columnist Awards,” he has been honored by “Hoosier Outdoor Writers” for both his writing and photography, and was named a “Polaris Award” winner for a lifetime of achievement by his high school alma mater—Terre Haute North Vigo—in 2016.  Photography honors include those from The River City Art Association and Covered Bridge Art Association. Among his many teaching awards was a WTHI-Golden Apple Award, the Indiana Rural and Small Schools Teacher of the Year Award, and an Eli Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant. He was recently honored with the James Mason Service Award from the Wabash Valley Audubon Society for his advocacy of “natural resources conservation.”

Lunsford regularly teaches for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Indiana State University, is active with the Parke County Resource Center, the Parke-Vermillion Retired Teachers Association, and the Wabash Valley Audubon Society.  He has spoken or presented to nearly 250 community organizations over the past decade.

Mike was raised near the small town of Rosedale on the Vigo County side of the County Line Road, and enjoyed a childhood of creeks and woods and animals.  He earned both his BS and MS degrees in English and American History from Indiana State University and taught in the Southwest Parke Community School Corporation for 39 years.  He lives on 15 acres of woods in southern Parke County with his wife, Joanie, of 45 years, has two adult children, and two grandsons.

Lunsford’s latest book is This Old World, published in 2020. Prior to it, he published Field Notes and Other Stories in 2017, The Bridge That Carries You Over in 2015, A Windy Hill Almanac in 2013, A Place Near Home in 2011, Sidelines, The Basketball Stories of Mike Lunsford in 2009, and The Off Season in 2008.  He is currently planning an eighth book and working at his photography.

Photos Caption: All photos were taken within a few miles of Mike’s home in southern Parke County by Mike Lunsford.

Photos Caption: All photos were taken within a few miles of Mike’s home in southern Parke County by Mike Lunsford.