REX A. EWING and DOUG PRATT

Rex Ewing has lived blissfully off-grid with solar and wind energy since 1999 when he left the dusty plains of Colorado and headed for the Rockies to build his wife, LaVonne, a long-promised log home. When he's not writing books or magazine articles about renewable energy-or his first love, horses-he and LaVonne are probably trekking through the back country, canoeing, or enjoying the 50-mile view from their deck. Before moving to the mountains to concentrate on his writing, Ewing raised grass hay and high-strung Thoroughbred race horses in the Platte River valley. Whenever his employees were clever enough to corral him behind a desk, he served as CEO of a well-respected equine nutrition firm, where he formulated and marketed a successful line of equine supplements worldwide.

Doug Pratt grew up in a wonderful rural community of Frank Lloyd Wright homes, but after 23 Michigan winters, he figured it wasn't going to get any better and ran off to northern California to be a good hippie and enjoy milder winters. Within a year the Arab Oil Embargo hit, which ignited a lifelong interest in renewable energy and energy conservation. Doug has lived in passive solar homes, on and off-grid since 1980, and worked in the RE industry as a technician, consultant, teacher, and writer since 1985 (former technical editor of the Solar Living Sourcebook). His house has been solar grid-tied since 2000 and his Toyota Prius was the first one sold into Mendocino County. And because the scenery is so beautiful, the roads so swoopy, and the climate so friendly in northern coastal California, his favorite recreation is two-up day trips on his BMW motorcycle.