Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Author Shannon Hale and Peyton Labarge, 10, of Heber, are photographed together at Folklore Bookshop in Midway on Wednesday, Sept.

Alan Hale, the New Mexico astronomer who helped introduce the world to comet Hale-Bopp, died June 6 at his home in Cloudcroft, a mountain village renowned for its stargazing opportunities. He was 68.

When author Shannon Hale’s third novel, “Princess Academy,” was first published 20 years ago, she says she was “so insecure” about it. She remembers attending a signing for the middle-grade novel at ...