Ryan Fitzpatrick is a recent graduate of DePaul University.  His most acclaimed experience in journalism was interning for one of Chicago's most renown journalist, Carol Marin.  A strong passion for sharing information and a deeply rooted appreciation for the function of local communities provided the impetus for his engagement with Patch, and he's honored to be involved with such an exciting and groundbreaking endeavor.  Food is very, very important to him, and cooking is a noteworthy hobby.  He also makes short comedy films with his brother under the moniker Ratt Bros. Studios.

Ann C. Piasecki is serving as Guest Editor at New Lenox Patch. She is the owner of New Lenox's Family Back Stories and acts as Communications Director at Wild West Online Productions of New Lenox, an Internet Marketing and Business Strategies agency.  

A Chicago native, Bridgette has been a journalist since she first wrote for her seventh-grade newsletter. Today, that passion is just as strong. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Texas Southern University and has written for several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Defender, the Marshall News-Messenger (Texas) and the Springfield News-Sun (Ohio). After all that traveling, Bridgette couldn't be more pleased to be back at home, writing for Patch and covering issues important to the community.

Denise Du Vernay is from St. Michael, Minnesota. She has lived in South Dakota, Florida and Wisconsin, but now resides in New Lenox, Ill. She teaches writing for the English department at St. Xavier University in Chicago and is a trained tutor. She is available for individual tutoring (middle school through college) in grammar, writing, ESL, literature analysis, and test prep. If interested in discussing tutoring, email her at email her at marzipanjoy (at) yahoo (dot) com. 

In addition to writing about writing and gardening here on Patch, Denise has written elsewhere about linguistics, film and television. She has co-authored a book, The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield and has contributed chapters to several anthologies, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy. She is on Twitter @Simpsonology. Comments she makes on Patch articles are her own, and do not reflect the editorial staff of Patch.com. 

Oak Forest resident Chuck Ingwersen is a copy editor, cartoonist and graphic artist for Patch. Chuck was the Deputy Sports Editor of the Daily Southtown in its heyday, helping the Southtown sports section achieve national recognition, before becoming the Design Director for the Southtown and Star newspapers. As a freelance cartoonist, he has written and drawn cartoons for large greeting card companies — including Hallmark, Oatmeal Studios, Gallant Greetings and It Takes Two — as well as for magazines such as Reader's Digest, newspapers and a variety of websites.

A lifelong Chicago south suburban resident, Mary has been a photojournalist for over 21 years covering the south suburbs and Chicago area. 

Bob Bong is a longtime newspaperman who got his start at the old Daily Calumet. He's a lifelong Southlander who loves the Cubs and Bears, and he never met a gnome he didn't like. His yard in Frankfort is full of them. He's a Guest Editor at Patch.

Chris grew up in Joliet, attended Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox and graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in May 1994 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He has covered high school sports for several newspapers since 1999, including the Daily Herald, Beacon News, Courier News, Sun Publications, St. Charles, Batavia and Geneva Republican, Wheaton Leader and Warrenville Post.

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.