For years, Elise Roenigk quietly made room for writers — literally. She and her late husband gave The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow the building at 505 Spring Street, and every year she sponsored Moondancer, a fellowship for nature and environmental writers who needed time, space, and quiet to do the work. Elise didn’t do it for recognition. She did it because she believed the writing mattered.

We lost Elise on July 19, 2026. Her college roommate, author Gay Courter, has started the Elise Roenigk Writers’ Fellowship Fund with a $5,000 gift to carry that tradition forward. Moondancer is now converting into the Elise Roenigk Writers’ Fellowship Fund, carrying Elise’s legacy forward under a new name.

The fund needs to reach $10,000 to open an endowment. Join us in honoring Elise’s memory, and in carrying forward what she made possible here.