Author spotlight: Mackenzie Boss

Mackenzie Boss, who grew up in Santa Barbara, is currently a third-year medical student at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Gillies Goes from ‘American Idol’ to Star of His Own Heart
By Mackenzie Boss   |   December 24, 2020

No one could fault Santa Barbara singer-songwriter-guitarist Jackson Gillies for letting early success go to his head. After all, while still battling both Type 1 diabetes and a painful skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, Gillies was a surprise winner of the 2016 local Teen Star competition at a sold-out Arlington Theatre at age 15, sang […]

Walking Through It
By Mackenzie Boss   |   July 23, 2020

When I was younger, I dreaded my parents’ weekend declaration of an impending family walk. I would plead to ride my bike alongside them; to run, skip, cartwheel, anything but walk. We would (slowly) stroll along the dirt path at the nearby Ennisbrook trail and my eyes would meander towards trees that needed climbing, streams […]