Author Ronald J. Stephens is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1995, he assisted Ted Talbert with his award-winning documentary, Idlewild: A Place in the Sun. He has done extensive field research in the community and maintains active memberships in the Lake County Merrymakers' Friends of Historic Idlewild, Mid-Michigan Idlewilders, and Idlewild Lot Owners' Association.