Jean Helmer is a 4th generation area resident. She writes flash memoir recalling growing up on a ranch on the SD/WY border. Those were days of idyllic experiences lived against the grim reality of the effects of radioactive contamination caused by above-ground nuclear testing. She also shares tales from her days as a high school teacher and dabbles with poetry. Jean’s household is shared with husband Gary and with two literary pups. The pups are Annie Grabstreak—named for Anne Bradstreet, first poet published in America, and Ginny Woof—namesake of writer/critic Virginia Woolf. Annie and Ginny write doggerel. “It’s a ruff life,” according to these girls. Jean is a member of the Belle Fourche Writers, the Bearlodge Writers, Wyoming Writers, and WyoPoets. Her work has been published in Watershed the WyoPoets 2020 Chapbook, in Pasque Petals, 2019, and in various other anthologies. Jean is a regular contributor to the Belle Fourche Beacon’s Pastor’s Perspective and the St. Martins Oblate Newsletter.