Jeff Gillenkirk (’76) was an author, journalist, and communications consultant for a wide array of foundations, non-profit and political organizations. His first novel, Home, Away was published by Chin Music Press in 2010. In 2011, Nine Mile Press published his second novel, Pursuit of Darkness. He is also the author of the non-fiction book Bitter Melon: Inside America’s Last Rural Chinese Town (Nine Mile Press), now in its sixth printing. His articles and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Parenting magazine, The Nation, Mother Jones, America, and other publications.