AUTHOR HOMETOWN: Redding, CA AUTHOR BIO: Jason Fator has been a dog owner ever since he was a kid and currently is a proud parent" to Juneau, a Chocolate Lab (who lives with his in-laws due to some incompatibility issues with his other dog), and a Great Dane named Paul. Though they need a separate living arrangement to keep peace in the dog pack, Juneau and Paul can agree on how much they enjoy hiking! Fator pays the vet bills by being a freelance writer for the Record Searchlight, a newspaper in Redding, California, and XXXX. In addition to hiking with his dogs, he's an avid mountain biker. He lives in Redding with his wife, two sons, and one of the two aforementioned incompatible dogs. [[MORE BIO INFO TK]] Born and raised in Redding, California, I've made my home here at the northern end of the Sacramento River Valley with my wife Robin; two sons, Morgan and Charlie; and our Great Dane, Paul. The streams, lakes, foothills and mountains surrounding Redding have been my playground from a young age and I hike, backpack, bike, motorcycle, paddle, and ski every chance I get. I became a news intern at Redding's local paper, the Record Searchlight, in 1996 and worked there for five years, cultivating a love of the writing and the exciting atmosphere of the newsroom. In 2001 I left the Searchlight to help my parents run their motorcycle shop, Fator's Motorcycles. There I continue to write, from ad copy for the business to occasional side projects and, after reconnecting with and developing a love of all things bicycling, as a cycling columnist for the Searchlight."