Jim Ballowe is a distinguished professor of English emeritus at Bradley University. During his 36 years at Bradley, he served as department chair, dean of the graduate school and associate provost and dean of the College of Communications and Fine Arts and chaired the board of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and was president of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools. Besides "Christmas in Illinois" (2010), he has published: "A Man of Salt and Trees" (2009) which is a history of the Morton Arboretum as well as a biography of Joy Morton; an anthology of the collected essays by the philosopher George Santayana; a book of his own poetry; an anthology of Welsh poetry; and numerous scholarly and popular essays. He narrated one of his essays, "The Herrin Massacre," on National Public Radios "All Things Considered." He has been awarded prizes for his essays and poetry and recently was awarded the Delta Prize by the Friends of the Morris Library at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in recognition of his work on Southern Illinois as a poet, writer and historian. Currently, he is a member of the board of trustees of the Illinois State Museum and has previously served on the boards of the Illinois Humanities Council and the Illinois Arts Council."