Judy Atchley

A summa cum laude graduate of Rutgers University, Judy is an accomplished artist with her artwork hanging in numerous collections around the world. Her skills include writing, editing, and graphic design in the publication of many books, book covers, brochures, and advertising materials. She has enjoyed being a part of the team at The Play & Playground Encyclopedia.

Jan Neish

A busy mother and community volunteer, Jan enjoys writing for the encyclopedia. She finds it rewarding to coalesce the details into a full and accurate picture, whether it is of play pioneers, playground companies, games, toys, or play supporting organizations. She also is a photographer, who uses her unique “eye” to capture pictures through her zoom lens.

Peggy Payne

Peggy’s expertise lies in playground safety with a long career in the playground industry. She is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector and owns her own company, Playground Medic, which is involved in playground inspections, playground maintenance, and safety training.

Curtis Stoddard

As founder and president of Playground Professionals, The Play & Playground Encyclopedia is Curtis’ vision for offering a valuable resource to the general public as well as those in the play and playground industries. With a background in playground construction, safety, and sales, Curtis has accumulated a wealth of knowledge in these fields.

Rita Watts

Managing The Play & Playground Encyclopedia as well as writing, Rita enjoys writing about today’s play issues as well as the child-saving play movement of a century ago. Rita is actively involved as a member of the steering committee for the US Play Coalition advocating for the value of play. Rita loves playing with children, and writing about children’s play makes for a fun day!

Larry Watts

Retired from the U.S. Air Force, Larry uses his technical writing skills learned as an instructor to write for the encyclopedia. He continues to teach in a variety of settings and his students enjoy his teaching style. Larry can be found fishing in the great Idaho rivers and lakes in his spare time.