Paul Martin started his writing career in 1968 as a U.S. Navy journalist after receiving a B.A. in English from Central Missouri State University. In 1970, he was stationed in Vietnam, covering American and South Vietnamese naval activities. Following his service, he earned an M.A. in journalism at the University of Missouri, and for the next six years he was managing editor of the monthly medical journal Continuing Education for the Family Physician. In 1979, Martin joined the staff of the National Geographic Society, where he has been an editor of World magazine and written or edited over a dozen books. Since 1989, Martin has been managing editor of National Geographic Traveler, four time winner of the Folio: Editorial Excellence Award for best travel magazine. He has contributed articles on other destinatations too.
Steve Raymer, a National Geographic magazine photographer for more than two decades, is a professor of journalism at Indiana University in Bloomington. He's also on the faculty of the University's Russian and East European Institute. Raymer earned B.S. and M.A. degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied Soviet and Russian affairs at Stanford University as John S. Knight Journalism Fellow. As an Army public affairs officer from 1967 to 1969, Raymer escorted correspondents covering the Vietnam War. He joined the staff of National Geographic in 1972, launching a career that has taken him to over 80 nations. Raymer's photographs have illustrated some 30 National Geographic articles and numerous Society books. Raymer was named Magazine Photographer of the Year in 1976 by the National Press Photographers Association and received a citation for excellence in foreign reporting from the Overseas Press Club in 1981. He's a four time first-prize winner of the White House News Photographers' Association photo contest.
