James Hilton was an English novelist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his novels Lost Horizon, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Random Harvest, as well as co-writing screenplays for the films Camille (1936) and Mrs. Miniver (1942), the latter earning him an Academy Award.
A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. Stories about them and references to them as the causes of especially inexplicable technical and mental problems of pilots were especially popular during and after World War II.
The Dani are a ethnic group from the Central Highlands of Western New Guinea in Baliem Valley, Highland Papua, Indonesia. Around 100,000 people live in the Baliem Valley, consisting of representatives of the Dani tribes in the lower and upper parts of the valley each 20,000 and 50,000 in the middle part. The areas west of the Baliem Valley are inhabited by approx 180,000, representatives of the Lani people, incorrectly called "Western Dani". The Dani are also sometimes combined with Lani group in the west.
Shangri-La is a fictional valley in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton.
The Baliem Valley is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea. Specifically in Highland Papua, Indonesia. The main town in the valley is Wamena, which lies on the Baliem River. The valley is about 80 km in length by 20 km in width and lies at an altitude of about 1,600–1,700 metres (5,200–5,600 ft), with a population of over 200,000.
Carl Hoffman is an American journalist and the author of five books of narrative non-fiction.
Ordeal in the Arctic is a television film written by Paul F. Edwards and directed by Mark Sobel. The film stars Richard Chamberlain, Catherine Mary Stewart, Melanie Mayron, Scott Hylands and Page Fletcher.
Bruce Henderson is an American journalist and author of more than 20 nonfiction books, including a #1 New York Times bestseller, And the Sea Will Tell. His most recent New York Times bestseller is Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler. Henderson's books have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian and Czech. A member of the Authors Guild, Henderson has taught reporting and writing courses at USC School of Journalism and Stanford University.
Mitchell S. Zuckoff is an American professor of journalism at Boston University. His books include Lost in Shangri-La and 13 Hours (2014).
John Vaillant is an American-Canadian writer and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and Outside. He has written both non-fiction and fiction books.
The Gremlin Special was a Douglas C-47 Skytrain that crashed during a sightseeing flight over the Baliem Valley in New Guinea in the eastern part of Netherlands Indies in 1945. The recovery of the three survivors from an isolated valley surrounded by mountains, enemy troops, and native inhabitants made worldwide news at the time and is the subject of the 2011 book Lost in Shangri-La by author Mitchell Zuckoff.
Sy Montgomery is an American naturalist, author and scriptwriter who writes for children as well as adults.
Dick Lehr is an American author, journalist and a professor of journalism at Boston University. He is known for co-authoring The New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award winner Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil’s Deal, and its sequel, Whitey: The Life of America’s Most Notorious Mob Boss with fellow journalist Gerard O'Neill.
Dwight "D." or "Doc" Watkins is an author, HBO writer, and lecturer at The University of Baltimore.
Homeira Qaderi born in 1980 is an Afghan writer, advocate for women's rights, and professor of Persian literature, currently serving as a Robert G. James Scholar Fellow at Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Research, Harvard University.
Christina Soontornvat is an American author, educator, and mechanical engineer. She won two Newbery Honors in 2021 for the children's books A Wish in the Dark and All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team, and another Newbery Honor in 2023 for the middle grade novel "The Last Mapmaker".
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team is a 2020 nonfiction children's book by American author Christina Soontornvat. It describes the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue. The book received positive reviews from critics and was awarded a Newbery Honor and a Sibert Honor in 2021.
Don Brown is an American author and illustrator of children's books.
Alexander Howard Ross Cann was a Canadian actor and journalist known for his role in documenting the 1945 New Guinea Gremlin Special rescue.
