In Brief

People’s Press publishes stories that come from our valley and beyond. We believe that it is the people that make a community. It is their stories and photos that narrate history.

Our Story

In a small town, ideas are exchanged on a street corner, at the post office, in the local watering hole, or in our case, over a cup of tea at the community table in Woody Creek, Colorado.

A lively conversation ensued about literature and history, poetry and photography, community identity and the tactile feeling of books. How to preserve our culturally defining stories: our stories, your stories? People’s Press was out: a small publishing house committed to documenting history, our history, your history.

People’s Press publishes stories – visual and written - that come from our valley and beyond. We believe that it is the people that make a community. It is their stories and photos that narrate history.

We were inspired by a visionary character in our community, George Stranahan. His writing and photographs illustrate our mission: perceptive and just a little unexpected which is when the question is asked, an insight is shared, and the thinking begins.

We believe that stories come to life with time, careful cultivation, and good conversations. So tell us your story. Show us your creation. Surprise us with your photographs or art work. Let us help publish your story. And together, we can make history with minds wide open.

With People’s Press, the word is out.

The Characters

Catherine Lutz

Catherine got in trouble as a young child for reading books with a flashlight under the covers when she was supposed to be sleeping. It’s been a wild and mind-expanding journey since then, through Nancy Drew mysteries, Beatrice Small romances, the greats of Russian literature and now, locally grown and community-bred works of every description. A writer, editor, photographer, reader and appreciator, Catherine hopes to publish her own novel someday, and is excited to be helping other would-be authors along the way.

Mirte Mallory

At a young age, Mirte was inspired by Barbara Cooney’s, Ms Rumphias, and the notion of contributing something to make the world more beautiful. Her commitment to People’s Press is a small, yet meaningful contribution to bringing the beauty of stories and photographs to her community and beyond.

Nicole Beinstein Strait

When Nicole was six years old and living in Hong Kong, she designed her first book. It was the story of a family: a father, a mother, and three children, the youngest adopted. She crayoned a portrait of each family member on separate 8"x11” lined pages and wrote a few sentences to describe each of them. She stapled the pages together, included a title page, and hence, self-published her first manuscript. Since then, Nicole has worked in various fields ranging from healthcare to banking to nonprofits. Returning to her first love of writing, Nicole is the recent co-author with George Stranahan of Phlogs: Journey to the Heart of the Human Predicament.

George Stranahan

While the list of George’s accomplishments is too long to recount in its entirety, it includes: Caltech physics graduate, Carnegie Mellon PhD, U of M professor, founder of three charter schools, professional photographer, founder of the Aspen Center for Physics, creator of the Mountain Gazette, founder of the Flying Dog Brewery and George Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, not to mention a 40-year friendship with Hunter S. Thompson with whom he shared such common interests as drinking, talking politics, guns, and noise. George is the recent co-author with Nicole Beinstein Strait of Phlogs: Journey to the Heart of the Human Predicament.

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