About

Alaska magazine editor since 2013, Michelle Theall, started her career in publishing in 1994 at Women's Sports and Fitness magazine. Over the next 30 years, she garnered success as editor-in-chief of three different national titles, founder of one, and the author of three non-fiction books.

 

She has appeared on NBC Today, MSNBC, The Travel Channel, and the Fox Sports Network, and was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine. 

 

Her debut novel, The Wind Will Catch You, about a young woman asked to make medical decisions for her brother, who died ten years ago when the two were separated in foster care, is out now. 

 

Her feature essay in 5280 Magazine, All That's Left is God, earned a GLAAD Media Award nomination, which led to her critically acclaimed memoir, Teaching the Cat to Sit, about growing up gay and Catholic in the Texas Bible Belt.

 

Theall worked as a court-appointed special advocate for abused and neglected teens before she and her wife became foster parents, which led to the adoption of their son. She is represented by Aevitas Literary Agency.

 

In addition to writing and editing, Theall's obsession with Alaska and photography led to the creation of Wild Departures, her wildlife viewing company specializing in photo tours in Alaska and beyond. 

 

As an award-winning professional photographer, Theall's images have appeared in media across the globe and in private collections.

 

Her writing and photography have appeared in national magazines and web sites including, National Geographic, Health, Sierra Magazine, Backpacker, UtneReader, Outdoor Photographer, and other titles.

 

She splits her time between Kodiak, Alaska and Boulder, Colorado with her wife, their son, and two pups. Writing as a gay woman with a multi-racial family, she includes these groups in her writing, as well as others who are often disenfranchised or marginalized by social and economic injustice and discrimination, without claiming to be representative of any individual or group.