Jean Herbert Winthers

Jean Herbert Winthers was raised on a sheep ranch in western North Dakota, not far from the Big Gumbo area she writes about in her first novel, The Big Gumbo. She herded sheep with her younger sister when she was seven years old, and many of the incidents she describes in her book occurred to the two of them.

Jean moved with her family to Missoula, Montana when she was fifteen. There she finished high school and graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in Journalism. Her first job was as Associate Editor for the Alaska Sportsman Magazine. Later, back in Missoula, she married and earned an MFA in Creative Writing with an early version of The Big Gumbo as her thesis novel.

With her forester husband, Jack, and their two sons, Kriss and Eric, she moved around the west, always near a ski area, working for various newspapers as reporter, photographer, and columnist. Winthers was also the editor of the Selah Valley Optimist, in Selah, Washington. In Colorado, she wrote magazine articles for the Vail Beavercreek Magazine and stories for the Vail Daily News as well as serving as the Public Relations officer for The Jimmie Heuga Center.

Although she wrote non-fiction, her first love was fiction and through the years she continued revising her thesis story, writing short stories, working on a ski novel and her memoir.

Jean Herbert Winthers lives in the Bitterroot Valley with her retired husband. She is currently working on the second book of The Big Gumbo planned as a trilogy, where she continues the story of Arne and Raneid Bergstrom as they struggle to make a living in the inhospitable land of the Gumbo.