Ben Garrett is an award-wining journalist from East Tennessee. A 1997 graduate of Scott County High School, he attended Roane State Community College and Tennessee Tech University.

Currently, he and his wife, Melanie, reside near the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, where he works as editor of the local newspaper and she is an elementary school teacher. The couple have two children, twins Toby and Rachel.

Ben describes himself as politically independent, adding that this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t adhere to political ideology but simply that he isn’t beholden to any political party or candidate. In addition to politics, he blogs about his hometown, the weather, outdoors lifestyles and life in general.

View From the Cumberlands was launched in 2004 as a blog about Ben’s hobby of meteorology. The focus of the blog eventually changed but he continues to blog about the weather, especially winter weather and severe weather.

(You like how I wrote that in third person? You’re jealous as can be, I can tell.)