A Tony-nominated lyricist and playwright, the author of “The Boy Scout Handbook” and the senior farm issues editor for Successful Farming magazine are all Morningside College alumni who returned to campus for Homecoming and gave a presentation on their careers as writers.

     Playwright Bill Russell 1971 lives in New York and has written musicals such as “Side Show,” “Pageant,” “The Last Smoker in America” and “Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens.” His works have been performed around the world, from Los Angeles to Paris.

Boy Scout author Robert Birkby 1972 is a writer, adventure guide, photographer and trail designer based in Seattle, Wash. More than 5 million copies of his books are in print. Along with books for the Boy Scouts, he has written “Mountain Madness: Scott Fischer, Mount Everest, and a Life Lived on High” and “Lightly on the Land,” a guide for trail construction and maintenance.

     Farm editor Cheryl Tevis 1972 lives in Pilot Mound, Iowa, and has worked as a farm issues writer and editor for over 35 years. She has received the Voice of Agriculture Award from the American Corn Growers Association, the Milt Hakel Award for Agricultural Communications from the National Farmers Union, and writing awards from the North American Agricultural Editors Association.