David Grocott studied to be an archaeologist before moving into journalism. A lengthy stint on newspapers is behind him and, older if not necessarily wiser, he now writes about what interests him. He has been published in newspapers and magazines in several countries about subjects as diverse as the sociology of ants and 1930s British holiday resorts. He is interested in contemporary art, popular culture, literature, monuments and cricket. David lives in Colchester, England and enjoys writing, gardening and finding weird stuff to interrogate. He can be reached at Grocott1977@hotmail.co.uk. His last piece for Last Exit was on the Roma community in England.

The second he entered an actual press box, Bryan Joiner gave up his dream of being a sports beat reporter. The snap judgments, moustaches and tropical shirts did not represent the life he wanted to lead in newspapers. So he quit. He now works as a freelance writer and essayist based in Queens (not pictured) when he’s not attending to his day job as a trade journalist in the products-licensing industry. Bryan is a contributing editor for Last Exit. He has written about in Issue 8, Martha’s Vineyard for Issue 5, and A-Rod for Issue 3.


M.L. Johnson is a journalist based in Milwaukee. She has covered education and politics, but really just wants to write about food and farm animals. She wrote The Mistress of Taliesin for Issue 8 and href=“http://lastexitmag.com/article/wine-hunting-in-beer-country”>Wine-Hunting In Beer Country for Issue 2.

Danny Gold is an aspiring travel writer and journalist currently residing in New York City. He also aspires to not have a day job. He’s written freelance articles for a few small travel websites and publications, and blogged his way through Southeast Asia and from Cairo to Cape Town. Other interests include documentary film-making and people who enjoy picking up the bar tab. Danny last wrote about his attempt to cross into Myanmar for our Islands issue. He can be reached at gold.dannyg@gmail.com.

Lito Elio Porto, Ph.D., is based in Austin, TX, where he teaches Latin American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. For 2008-2009, he will be teaching cultural studies and writing at The New School. His latest work is The Ecology of Language: Energy Acquisition, Energy Degradation, and the Cycles of Human Meaning-Systems.

Philip Henken’s work has appeared in publications of dubious repute such as New York Press, the Village Voice online and Deathrock Magazine, as well as publications of even more dubious repute: an action sports magazine wholly owned by the Philip Morris company; a travel lifestyle blog funded by Starwood Hotels. He is also active in the underground postpunk band Funeral Crashers. Although the Funeral Crashers are not metal, their debut full-length La Fin Absolue du Monde recently received a three-and-a-half star rating (just short of a “Metal Meltdown”) from blog “The Metal Minute”. He is pictured in his natural habitat.

From 1997 to 2006, William Bryk wrote two newspaper columns about local history and eccentrics, “Old Smoke” for New York Press and “Past and Present” for The New York Sun. He has also written feature articles and reviews for Saveur, New York Newsday, New York City Tribune, New York Chronicle, The Wanderer, Reflections, Murray Hill News, and Talking Turkey. From 1996 to 1998, he wrote, edited, and published Port Ivory, a quarterly ‘zine about life and history on Staten Island. William last wrote “Men of Destiny” for Issue 5. When he’s not writing, he practices law. He lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Sandra Koponen lives in NYC and works occasionally as a photographer and writer. She plays alto sax and percussion with Kenny Wollesen’s Himalayas and is currently working on producing/directing short films and videos.

Nicole Whelan is a writer and musician who lives in Brooklyn. She last wrote “New Jack City” for Issue 4.

Mary Austin Speaker is co-founder of Triptych Readings and recent curator of Reading Between A & B poetry series in New York City, which pairs emerging and established writers. She has been Poetry Editor of Indiana Review at Indiana University, where she was also an Associate Instructor of Creative Writing. Her work has received recognition from Seattle Review, Diner, Lumina, Black Warrior Review, Phoebe and the Academy of American Poets, and appears or is forthcoming in International Feminist Journal of Politics, Five Fingers Review and Failbetter, among others. She has received fellowships from Indiana University and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and she currently works as a book designer and illustrator. She lives in Brooklyn. You can find her at http://www.maryaustinspeaker.com.


Kramer O’Neill lives in Brooklyn. He is a contributing editor for Last Exit; of all the creative odd jobs he does, photography is his favorite and, thus far, his least lucrative. More of his photography, as well as short films and samples of his title designs, can be found at www.krameroneill.com. His photos have also appeared in Issue 3 and Issue 4.

Michael Dinan lives in Connecticut. He can be reached at m_a_dinan@hotmail.com.

Keelin Daly is a photographer based in southern Connecticut.

Walmsley Apricot is a fictional character who writes just the facts of an illusory world in a forgettable time.

Sara Edwards hopes to one day be a genius artist, designer and illustrator. She can be reached at loveislaughter@gmail.com.

Bradley Hope is a reporter in Abu Dhabi. He recently finished a two-year stint at the New York Sun, covering crime and writing features. He is an editor and co-founder of the New York Moon, a bi-lunarly publication of experimental projects and journalism.


Sabrina Kim is an aspiring novelist in Brooklyn, where she spends most of her time drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes while trying to think up character names for her next book. Once upon a time, under another name and on another planet, she was a starving journalist; she is still starving, but doesn’t have to wake up quite as early every morning.

Kelly Deegan resides in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. A lifelong curator of mindblowing retro/vintage memorabilia, she hopes to someday make a living providing these amazing goods to the public in a self-owned retail paradise. Until then she will continue to take various jobs in film and television.


Vesna Jaksic is a journalist who currently lives in Toronto. She has reported for three newspapers in Connecticut and New York, covering topics such as health, immigration and legal news. She wrote about the tiny Croatian island of Lokrum for Issue 5. You can read more of her work at www.vesnajaksic.com.

When Teresa Herrmann is not writing about public diplomacy efforts she is editing Hey, Be Us!, the crass culture site she co-founded in 2008. She is proud of her “Show Me” state roots and spends her free time writing on the environment and travel. Teresa sent a dispatch from South by Southwest for Issue 5.


Ana Monroe began taking pictures of bands at age thirteen when her father started bringing her along to concerts he was shooting. She mostly enjoys shooting smaller venues where she’s so close the band and the crowd she alternately has to dodge beer spills and passionate swings of guitar necks. She has been shooting in New York regularly for the past three years. Ana took photos of South by Southwest for our Islands issue. You can see more of her work at www.anamonroe.com/photomusic. This was her first trip to South by Southwest and hopes to attend South by Southwest again next year.

Titus Kuria grew up in the Mathare Valley, Kenya’s second-largest slum. Today, he works as a Kenyan agent running the Canadian-Mathare Education Trust, which pays for the education of secondary school students who hail from low-income families in and around the Mathare Valley. He also serves as the coordinator for the Mathare Roots Youth Group, a group of local young men and women formed to address issues that affect people in their community. He wrote “Yearning For Normalcy” for Issue 4.

Megan didn’t plan on moving permanently to Nairobi, it just became the natural thing to do. First a volunteer with street girls in Kibera (Nairobi) in 1998, three years later she was invited to focus the organization on sustainable businesses and youth leadership – and became a foster mom. In 2006 she began working with indigenous communities on poverty reduction strategies, and started her own organization, ZanaAfrica, and found her passion to keep girls in school and address child trauma resulting from the post-election violence. She wrote about the post-election struggles in Kenya for Issue 4.

Helen Hsu is an occasional writer and a museum employee. Born in Manhattan and raised in Queens, she now lives in Brooklyn, cares for two black cats, and rides a pink bicycle. She wrote “Art History Is A Blood Sport” for Issue 4.

Tony Gerber was born in New York City and began his directing career creating films for live theatre. His short film, Small Taste of Heaven premiered at Rotterdam and the Sundance film Festival and enabled him to direct his first feature, Side Streets, starring Rosario Dawson, Valeria Golino and Shashi Kapoor. He collaborated with Berlin-based artist Ann-Sofi Siden on her QM, I Think I’ll Call Her QM and had the privilege to work as Associate Director with artist Matthew Barney on his Drawing Restraint 9 (starring Bjork) and Cremaster IV. Gerber is currently in pre-production on a documentary series for National Geographic, shooting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His previous work in television earned him two Emmy Awards. An excerpt from his documentary Full Battle Rattle appeared in Issue 4.

Jesse Moss is the founder of Mile End Films, a New York-based production company. His award-winning documentaries include Speedo: A Demolition Derby Love Story (PBS), Con Man (HBO/Cinemax), and Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood (AMC). He is currently working on a series of scripted training films for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs about a new cognitive therapy designed to help Iraq War Vets, and producing Disturbing the Universe, a documentary about the radical lawyer William Kunstler. Prior to establishing his own production company, Moss worked as a producer for Barbara Kopple and a speechwriter on Capitol Hill. He has been a fellow of the MacDowell Colony, and was named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine in 2003. An excerpt from his documentary Full Battle Rattle appeared in Issue 4.

Lauren D. Klein is a freelance journalist living in New Delhi. Her recent work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press’s ASAP, and Mint, a publication of The Wall Street Journal and the Hindustan Times. She wrote about Bollywood for Issue 3.

Ethan Smith works for the mainstream media. He wrote about the Iowa caucuses for Issue 3.

Jessica Baran spends her days working at a non-profit for architecture and design and her nights producing art criticism and poetry. Her writing has appeared in the Village Voice, Harp & Altar and the Readings Between A & B website. She wrote A Little Human Touch for Issue 2. Jessica currently lives in Brooklyn.

JB Reed, left, is a photojournalist in the midst of moving to New York. We discovered his work through the incredible photos he took of slum residents in Nairobi, Kenya, some of which recently earned him third place in a national competition held by the National Press Photographers Association. These days, he shoots for Bloomberg News, with work regularly appearing in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and International Herald Tribune. JB’s photo essay, A Coney Island Swan Song, appeared in our debut issue.

Keach Hagey and Paul Menchaca met while working as reporters at a newspaper in Queens. They have complained over many a beer together — so many beers, in fact, that they had to start an online magazine. Keach works for a newspaper in Abu Dhabi. Paul reports on that pesky sub-prime mortgage market for some mysterious entity of financial journalism. He lives in Brooklyn.