Nona Kilgore Bauer is an award winning author who writes about what she loves best -- dogs and what they contribute to our lives. Her dogs and dog books became the focus of her life after her five children grew up and left home and her Golden Retrievers crawled into those empty little niches in her heart.

After raising her family in Arlington Heights IL, in 1981 she and her husband and dogs moved to a 150 acre farm in Northeast Missouri. Often called "retriever heaven," the farm is a popular training spot for retriever friends who often visit with their dogs.

Her current dog family includes three-legged Golden Retriever, Doc, who retired from field trials after his amputation (but he doesn't know that!); a golden/chow mix, Ralph, who was rescued from a puppy mill at 12 years old; black Lab Schatzie who is FC-AFC titled (Field Champion/Amateur Field Champion!); and black Lab, Sugar, a Schatzie daughter who also competes in field trials. Schatzie has a slew of blue ribbons and she and Nona still run field trials whenever possible.

Bitten by the writing bug at about 10 years old, Nona grew up writing poetry and essays for pleasure and small, self published booklets. Her writing career flourished after she relocated to Missouri and began writing feature stories for the Quincy (IL) Herald-Whig daily newspaper. She also wrote dog articles for several popular dog magazines and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines -- no surprise that dogs are her favorite subject.

Nona's first book, The World of the Golden Retriever; a Dog for All Seasons, published by T.F.H. Publications in 1993 (480 pages, over 700 color photographs), won the Dog Writer's Association of America (DWAA) Best Breed Book award. A frequent DWAA nominee and winner of four prestigious Maxwell Medallions, Nona has authored nearly two dozen books on canine subjects, including seven on her beloved Golden Retriever, more than any other published author.

In 1999 she wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Golden Retrievers, followed one year later by Golden Retrievers for Dummies. In early 2002 she tackled her most challenging writing project, a tribute to the search and rescue dogs that worked during the 9/11 crisis. Two arduous and emotional years later Dog Heroes of September 11th was born. Released as a commemorative edition in recognition of the 5th anniversary of 9/11, the book was introduced at the 2006 Book Expo America in Washington D.C. In July of 2006 it was selected as the Book of the Month Club Best Illustrated Book selection. The book also earned the Dog Writers' Association of America 2006 Best Book award and the Best of Winners President's Award.

Nona is a member of the Golden Retriever Club of America, the Golden Retriever Club of Greater St. Louis, Gateway Golden Retriever Rescue, the Mississippi Valley Retriever Club, and the Quincy Kennel Club. In 2001 she received what she considers the highest of honors Golden Retriever Club of America's Vern Bower Humanitarian Award, "for exemplary contributions and selfless devotion to the Golden Retriever."

She's also a member of DWAA, the Author's Guild and the Missouri Writer's Guild.