Now retired from an international spy syndicate (which shall remain unnamed), Krista Barragar splits her time as a hand-to-hand combat instructor and a volunteer at 826LA. If asked (under extreme circumstances), Krista will tell you that the volunteer work is far more rewarding than her previous job as an international clandestine agent. “Kids nowadays,” says Krista, “don’t have the skill to properly bug a telephone or get themselves out of quicksand. It’s really unacceptable.”
Krista is grateful that she is a part of this inspirational group of students, parents, volunteers, interns, and staff that comprise 826LA. She hopes her efforts will encourage young people to someday become world leaders. Or the spies that spy on them.
Wilson Swain has been volunteering at 826LA for almost a year-and-a-half, drawing pictures for storytelling field trips, tutoring with this summer’s ELL camp, and working with the Time Out Club. Having grown up in the Midwest, the wonders of the big city came as something of a shock. When he first moved to California to attend art school in Pasadena, he had no idea he’d still be bumbling across unexplored local neighborhoods a decade later. Today he freelances as an illustrator, with such titles to his credits as the pop-up adventure The Castaway Pirates and the musical storybook A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas. When he isn’t at 826 or at the drawing board, he loves rescuing beautiful old books and learning about the history of film. You’ll also find him discovering the hidden treasures of Los Angeles, especially the remnants of silent movie locations and the re-purposed architecture of Downtown.
Ena Velline was introduced to 826LA this spring and was inspired with its mission and by the staff and interns. This summer she volunteered in the ELL program in Echo Park, and this fall she is a tutor in the After-School Tutoring. Ena lives in Pasadena and is an Estate Group Tour docent at the Huntington Library and Gardens. She also is a docent in the Huntington’s Seeds and Sprouts program, which introduces kindergartners and first-graders to the basics of botany.
Ena grew up in London. She lived in Italy for several years in Torino and Rome. In Italy she studied Art History and Italian and worked as an interpreter and translator. It was only after she retired three years ago from a long career as a consultant in retained executive search that she has been able to dedicate time to her interests in art and in education.
Kristiana Willsey was born too close to water, and consequently dissolves easily. She is back in California (“The Promised Land”) after a four-year stint of grad school in the Midwest, and is eating avocados daily to make up for lost time. A newly minted ABD (All of the Ph.D But the Dissertation) in Indiana University’s Folklore and Ethnomusicology department, she is overeducated, underqualified, and enjoys Disney movies on a far more intertextually rich level than most. She likes books about pirates, airships, and mistaken identity. A native of San Diego, she currently lives in Santa Monica with her sister and a tiny, weird cat.
