Stories, Poems, and Art by Kids
William Rubel, Executive Director.
William is the founder of Stone Soup and the Children’s Art Foundation. In 1972, he gathered together a group of fellow students at the University of California Santa Cruz who shared his vision of creating a magazine written by and for children to highlight their creative talents and inspire them.
William is also an author specializing in traditional foodways, the history of bread, and Early Modern British kitchen gardens. His book on hearth cooking, The Magic of Fire (2002), was a World Gourmand Cookbook award winner and a James Beard nominee. His second book is Bread, a global history (2011). He is currently writing a history of bread for the University of California Press.
William lives in Santa Cruz with his daughter, Stella, their cat, Moxie, and their chickens, rabbits, and aviary birds. You can read more about his other interests at his personal website.
Emma Wood, Editor.
Originally from New York City, Emma holds a BA from Harvard in Russian History & Literature and an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she taught literature and poetry writing. Her poetry has received fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, in addition to appearing in a number of literary journals. She has worked previously as an editor for the online magazines The Morning News and The Rumpus.
Her first book, A Failed Performance: Collected Plays of Daniil Kharms, a collaborative translation with the poet C Dylan Bassett, is forthcoming in 2018.
She currently lives in the redwoods of Santa Cruz, CA, with her husband and their two dogs, Franny and Charlie, and is training for her third marathon. You can read more about her on her personal website.
Jane Levi, Operations Manager.
Jane brings to Stone Soup years of experience in infrastructure design and operations. After a career working for the European arms of companies like Reuters and Merrill Lynch, and providing consultancy to various others, Jane shifted her focus to her creative and academic interests: food and utopianism.
Currently a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London, where she completed her PhD in cultural history, Jane is working with colleagues on the Georgian Papers at the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. She has written articles and book chapters (the co-authored Food, Politics & Society is forthcoming in 2018 with University of California Press), curated an exhibition for the Foundling Museum, and recently started an urban food-growing co-op with a group of artists.
Jane is based in London, but also spends time in Santa Cruz, where she reunites with her favorite cat, Moxie.
Michael King, Special Projects and Customer Service.
Michael joined the Stone Soup team in 2009. He is the author of a fantasy novel, Lorien Lost, published by St. Martin’s Press in 1996. He also teaches and performs English country dance.
Editor Emeritus
Gerry Mandel, Editor Emeritus. Gerry was editor and co-director of Stone Soup for more than 44 years, from its inception in 1973 through the publication of the July/August issue in 2017. In addition to her editorial work, Gerry lovingly oversaw the design and production of each issue of Stone Soup and managed the day-to-day operations of the business. She continues to live in Santa Cruz, pursuing her interests in literature, art, and music. In August 2017, Gerry begins her new job as Operations Manager for the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony.