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    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Norman began work at twelve in Boston, delivering Sunday papers by bike, writing for &ldquo;The Latin School Register,&rdquo; and acting in school productions. Later he began directing and acting in stage plays, portraying mostly villains, with a group of adult actors who adapted popular plays and books for presentation on WEEI, Boston.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">After moving to New York City, his first professional job was puppeteer-actor-writer with a road show. When he met Anita, love at first sight prompted him to give up marionettes for Manhattan to be near Anita. Having learned to speak in dialects and change his voice for marionette characters, he brought the knack to network radio and hung on until World War II, when he entered the Navy and married Anita. Three years later, the birth throes of television, where every voice had to come from a different face, turned him from acting to writing network radio dramas and magazine fiction and articles.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">His first postwar job was writing broadcast promotion at WCBS Radio. He moved up the ladder in twenty five years at CBS, and then held executive positions with Polygram, Olympus Camera and other organizations. Meet the Obers and open your heart to their channeled letters. See what they reveal about the ultimate &rsquo;final&rdquo; destination of all beings who end their lives on the worlds they inhabit.</span></span></span></p>
    Norman Ober
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Valda Boyd Ford, Master of Public Health (MPH), MS, Registered Nurse (RN), grew up in the segregated South. She ignored the advice of guidance counselors who told her to forget about college and went on to obtain masters degrees in nursing and public health.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Over the past thirty years she has worked in more than two dozen countries with refugees of war and natural disaster, helped develop long-term programs to improve health, and has been a successful entrepreneur in the United States and the Caribbean. She has one son, Alphonso, and is &ldquo;Auntie&rdquo; to many actual and adopted family members around the world. She is the author of Don&rsquo;t Touch the Monk and has contributed to The Speaker Anthology, a collection of motivational and inspirational true stories.</span></span></p>
    Valda Boyd Ford
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Craig Price is a professional speaker/trainer who specializes in showing people and organizations how to use the negativity around us to be more productive. Often, people ask Craig questions he has no answers for, so instead of just making stuff up (like lots of people do) and bluffing through the answer, he waits for his podcast for the experts to answer for him.</span></span></span><br /> &nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Craig lives in Houston with his wife and 2 pugs, snapping pictures, recording podcasts, writing books and occasionally traveling outside to various speaking engagements across the country.</span></span></span></p>
    Craig Price
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Sandra Kristen Moore is a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and prayerful sister in Christ. Through her connection with God, she seeks the challenge of constantly bettering herself while pursuing an unquenchable desire for something more. Within her writings she exposes her flaws and imperfections, which she once hid to protect herself from ridicule and judgment, but now shares to encourage others to see how amazing God is when we are truly honest about ourselves.</span></span></span></p>
    Sandra Kristen Moore
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Nicole Holmquist currently lives with her husband and two girls in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. She was born in Charleston, South Carolina and raised in Greenville County, South Carolina. One Life is the story of Nicole Holmquist&rsquo;s personal journey to find her way home again, through adoption, abuse, and the challenges and trials of life.</span></span></span></p>
    Nicole Holmquist
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Norma Isabel Sadler Hansen has been writing for as long as she can remember, even as a little girl. After many years in business, she now works as a potter and an author in Salem, Oregon, along with her husband, Richard. She is the author of Raisins, Gophers, and Trash on the Grass, a book about litter and the environment.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">I was blessed with exceptional sons and wonderful granddaughters. What I write is for them.<br /> &ndash; Norma Isabel Sadler Hansen</span></span></span></p>
    Norma Sadler Hansen
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Mica Vujicic (May 17, 1979, wet conditions, Vojvodina), published newspaper articles, literary reviews, and fiction chronicle education: elementary school, &ldquo;Your Stajić&rdquo; Mokrin; School &ldquo;Dusan Vasilyev&rdquo; Kikinda (Department of Mathematics); graduated Comparative Literature and Theory of Literature (World Literature) at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade 1998-2004. The journalist rural Mokrin list of newspapers in 1999.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">The reporter and columnist for the weekly newspaper Kikindske from in 1999. regular contributor to the literary journal North bunker 2001-2002. co Bunker radio show (Radio Kikinda) with writer Srdjan V. TE&Scaron;IN 2002nd year of a computer science professor Emil Hofgezangom creator and project editor of the first virtual village mokrin.net 2004-2005. columnist and interviewer Dnevnik from Novi Sad 2004-2007. A columnist for the daily newspaper Danas 2004-2005. Correspondent Croatian art site kupus.net since 2004.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">The journalist with monthly YellowCab 2005-2008. Correspondent Split weekly Feral Tribune 2006th The scholarship fund Borislav Pekić (support for the book in the making 2007-2008. journalist with the magazine cut 2007-2009 2011th &ndash; a member of the jury for the award Djura Đukanov since 2007. till 2010. literary critic and journalist Policy since 2007. Editorial member of the literary magazine Ticket (Zrenjanin) since 2008. Until 2009. Associate Playboy 2008,2009, 2011. Juror Vecernje news for the award Mesa Selimovic since 2009. columnist for the daily newspaper Blic (Annex Books) since 2009. till 2010.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Associate Sarajevo daily Liberation from 2010. interviewer and critic weekly NIN since 2011. Fellow of the weekly &ldquo;News&rdquo; since 2011. juror award NIN award for best novel out the of marta 2010. publishing house by the pillars of culture author of the novel &ldquo;sharp start&rdquo; (Pillars of Culture) January 2012. Label &ldquo;Geopoetika&rdquo; published the novel &ldquo;A sharp start&rdquo; (&ldquo;Tackling Foul&rdquo;) in the English language edition of the &ldquo;Serbian Prose in Translation&rdquo; from 6 to 9 July 2012. participant of the &ldquo;Visi ing Museumsquartier&rdquo; in Vienna from February 2013th External Associate &ldquo;Politika ZABAVNIK&rdquo; + fiction published in literary magazines: Fields (Novi Sad), Ticket (Zrenjanin), Sent (Novi Pazar), Phantom of Liberty (Zagreb), urban shamans (Knin), the Charter (Kraljevo), North bunker (Kikinda) literary magazine (Belgrade), weekly NIN, Politika Zabavnik .</span></span></span></p>
    Mica Vujicic
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Jeffrey Hickey is an author, composer, performing artist, teacher, coach, father of twins, and arguably the happiest married man on the planet. Those close to him know him as Chef-Boy-R-Jeff for his exquisite cooking. He is a relentless advocate for blood donation. He would like all live sporting events televised without commercials.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">He and his family live in Inverness, California, with five ducks, two parrots, one cockatiel, one lop bunny, one gecko lizard, and are often visited by such a varied assortment of critters (human and animal), they call their home Der Zoo. His previously published works include a book and audio recording, Wages Creek, and a CD of stories with music, Bats and Bones, both of which garnered great critical notice. He is also the author of The Coach&rsquo;s Son.</span></span></span></p>
    Jeffrey Hickey
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Scott Aycock grew up in northeast Arkansas, in a town called Marked Tree, nestled between the St. Francis River and the Little River. Scott now resides and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he is also a licensed marital and family therapist in private practice.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">He is an award-winning poet and singer-songwriter, and has served as a poet with the Artists In The Schools program through the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Scott is the host of the long-running radio show Folk Salad, which airs on two Oklahoma NPR affiliate stations, KWGS and KOSU.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">His passion to support those who make their living as singer-songwriters led him to create his successful house concert music series, called House Concerts Unlimited.</span></span></span></p>
    Scott Meredith Aycock
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Peter Mulvey has been traveling the earth as a touring songwriter for twenty-five years. He&rsquo;s made many records and collaborated with many fine artists, writing and learning the entire time. His latest recording was produced by Ani Difranco for Righteous Babe Records.This is his first children&rsquo;s book.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Visit his website to buy his incredible records, to find out more about him, and to follow his social media accounts, where you might see poetry, diatribe, politics, or philosophy, running right alongside his music and relentless touring schedule. Visit:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.petermulvey.com/">www.petermulvey.com</a></span></span></span></p>
    Peter Mulvey
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Lewis Harrison is the fifth and the current master teacher at the Natural Healing Academy.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Harrison was born to middle class, Jewish parents of polish ancestry in the Bronx in New York City. He contributes many early influences in his development as a practical philosopher, including spending weekend after weekend with his mother in the museums and concert halls of NYC, taking in natural history, light opera, classical music, modern art, and Jewish history.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">There was never any focus to it. It was just her passion for knowledge, art, and culture and her desire to share this with me that had us going from place to place. &ndash; Lewis Harrison</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">His father spent two years at the Julliard School of Music where he studied violin. Harold spent considerable time in Harlem as well as at a resort in the Catskills, owned by Clayton &lsquo;Peg Leg&rsquo; Bates (1907&ndash;1998) an Afro-American entertainer who owned and operated the first Black Country Club in Ulster County in the heart in the Catskill Mountains &ldquo;Borscht Belt&rdquo; of Jewish resorts. Harrison admired his father for his &ldquo;out-of-the-box&rdquo; thinking, and both his parents for their natural way of being fair and kind to others, regardless of their race or disabilities.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Harrison is the author of Live like a Millionaire on $17,000 a Year, and has also contributed to The Speaker Anthology, a book of true stories intended to motivate and inspire others.</span></span></span></p>
    Lewis Harrison
    <p><span style="font-family:times new roman"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></p>
    Joseph Sherren
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Dr. Andy Neillie is the president and founder of Deep in the Heart Leadership Group, a training and consulting firm in Austin, Texas.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">This firm helps other businesses develop effective, trustworthy leaders at all levels throughout their organizations. Dr. Neillie travels weekly to deliver keynote presentations to numerous Fortune 500 companies. These presentations include lectures based on his book, The Golden Principles, as well as a workshop entitled &ldquo;The Trustworthy Leader.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">When he&rsquo;s not traveling, Dr. Neillie lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Lynn.</span></span></span></p>
    Andy Neillie
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Cynthia Gustavson has blossomed from constrictive roots to make expression her life&rsquo;s work. She&rsquo;s an outspoken public policy advocate, innovative educator, an academic with many accreditations, and a devoted social worker and therapist.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Cynthia is best known for a variety of award-winning titles, including her poetry collection, Please Use This For Children and Not for War and Guns, children&rsquo;s books Ballad of the Rag Man and Bully! The Big Book for Bullies and the Bullied, and her bestselling series of poetry therapy workbooks In-Versing Your Life. She&rsquo;s contributed a chapter on the use of poetry in therapy for the textbook Expressive Therapies for Sexual Issues (Springer Press), and she&rsquo;s a contributing author to The Speaker Anthology.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Outside of her acclaimed writing career, she is a social worker and therapist with over 30 years of experience. Cynthia also serves on the editorial board of the acclaimed Nimrod International Journal in Tulsa. It&rsquo;s a full life made more meaningful by strong family bonds with her husband of 40 years and her two grown children.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The prose in her latest book, Between Tahlequah and Tulsa, combines her time-honored flair for evoking pastoral scenery with a newfound muscular emotionality and a brave declarative voice. Unapologetically, she addresses Native American rights, spirituality, blunt political discourse, and the new frontier dream of 1960s.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">I grew up in a family where it was difficult to express feelings. Poetry felt like my only outlet. &ndash; Cynthia Gustavson</span></span></span></p>
    Cynthia Gustavson
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Dr. Steven Steinberg, a dentist with Parkinson s disease, has learned how to face life s challenges while journeying along his own path. He lives in Skokie, IL</span></span></p>
    Steven Steinberg
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Vladislav Bajac is a writer and publisher in Belgrade, Serbia. He is one of the most acclaimed and bestselling authors in Serbia, and his prose and poetry have been translated into 20 languages. His most recent novel Hamam Balkania won the International &ldquo;Balkanika Award&rdquo; for the best book on the Balkans in 2007/2008, the &ldquo;Isidora Sekulic Award&rdquo; for the best book in Serbia in 2008, and the &ldquo;Hit Liber Award&rdquo; in the same year for one of the ten bestselling books in Serbia that year. The novel was also nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Award in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Athens Literature Award in 2012.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Bajac was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1954. He studied at Belgrade University in the Department of Yugoslav and World Literature, and later became a journalist and translator. He is the author of eleven books, including six novels, three books of short stories, and two books of poetry. He is the founder and has been the manager of the internationally acclaimed Center for Geopoetics Publishing since 1993. He is the director of Geopoetics Publishing in Belgrade, and was the vice president of the Serbian PEN Center from 2008 to 2010.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Bajac lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia with his wife and two children.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Photo credit: Today&rsquo;s Szaman</span></span></p>
    Vladislav Bajac
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Writer Ann Medlock founded the nonprofit Giraffe Heroes Project to honor people who stick their necks out for the common good and to encourage others to follow their lead. Her driving force is a deep concern for the health of the body politic, which she is certain will die without engaged, courageous citizens. She also has recently published her book, Outing the Mermaid, with Blooming Twig.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Giraffe Heroes materials for kids are in kindergarten-through-high-school classes in all 50 states and in American schools abroad.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Medlock blogs at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.giraffe.org/blog">Project&rsquo;s website&nbsp;</a>and at her own. She&rsquo;s been speechwriter to US politicians and to the Aga Khan, and has spoken, written and/or taught in Kobe, Kinshasa, Saigon, Beijing and Moscow as well as in Chicago, Washington DC and New York City.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">She now lives, leads the Giraffe team, and writes (heroes&rsquo; profiles, blogs, opeds, fiction and poetry) on an island in the Pacific Northwest.</span></span></span></p>
    Ann Medlock
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Richard Marker is an internationally known expert on philanthropy. Currently he is co-principal of Wise Philanthropy, a philanthropy advisory and education firm.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Marker is a recognized thought leader on philanthropy topics. His columns on philanthropy have been published widely and he is the author of Saying &lsquo;Yes&rsquo; Wisely: Insights for the Thoughtful Philanthropist [Blooming Twig Books, 2009; 2011]. A popular lecturer, he has spoken in 39 countries on 5 continents and in over 40 of the United States. [He is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and the Global Speakers Federation.] Forbes published an extended interview on his work and career in 2012.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In his work as a philanthropy advisor, Marker works with large and small foundations as well as individual philanthropists. His distinctive approach to funder strategy is utilized by several wealth management groups and philanthropy advisors. He specializes in inter-generational issues and succession, aligning focus, policy, and funding priorities, and in working with boards on developing successful decision-making.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In 2002, largely on a pro-bono basis, Marker founded what is now known as theNYU Academy for Grantmaking and Funder Education. He continues as a part-time professor in the Academy, the oldest and most comprehensive university program teaching funders and philanthropists in the United States. In 2007, he was recognized with the NYU Excellence in Teaching Award.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Over a professional career which began in 1968, Marker has been the ceo of a major philanthropic foundation, a professor, a university chaplain, senior executive of an international not-for-profit organization, and a management consultant in the private sector. His career was the subject of a feature length article in Lifestyles magazine in 2006.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In addition to NYU, Marker has taught at Brown University, Hofstra, and Loyola of Chicago. Over his career, he has chaired and served leadership roles on many boards including several grantmaking foundations and international social change non-profits.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">He is married to his partner in Wise Philanthropy, Mirele Goldsmith, Ph. D. an environmentalist and nationally recognized expert in program evaluations, and is the father of Adam, a public interest attorney in Washington, DC.</span></span></span></p>
    Richard Marker
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Kent Gustavson, award-winning author, was born immersed in a rich musical heritage. As the son of peaceniks, he grew up with family sing-alongs. From Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan, he darted to classical, jazz, and avant-garde jazz, before circling back to the Greenwich Village folk canon and tracing that music back. In singer-guitarist Doc Watson, Gustavson found a treasure of American music.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based author is uniquely qualified to write a book that merges myth, musicology, and American history. He holds a PhD in classical composition from Stony Brook University in New York, where he taught leadership, writing, literature, music, and German for ten years. He&rsquo;s an active musician with 14 critically acclaimed albums, and his music has been featured on National Public Radio&rsquo;s All Songs Considered. He also hosts a radio show, Sound Authors, where he has interviewed hundreds of award-winning authors and musicians.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">His biography of Watson, Blind But Now I See (Sumach-Red Books), was written over 6 years, culled from meticulous archival research and well over a hundred interviews.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Gustavson&rsquo;s congenial but probingly insightful interview skills help piece together a powerful and honest character mosaic. His vibrant, erudite, and enthusiastic prose demystifies Watson&rsquo;s astounding musicality and dissects the paradoxes and complexities of the man with bold sensitivity.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">I stumbled across a copy of The Watson Family by Folkways records. Watson&rsquo;s voice was so rock-solid in those family hymns that I still sing the bass part today, because it&rsquo;s stronger in my mind than the melody! He pointed me towards the blues, early rock and roll, traditional Appalachian fiddle music, and balladry. He literally started a brush fire in my musical mind.&nbsp;&ndash; Kent Gustavson</span></span></span></p>
    Kent Gustavson
    Norma Isabel Sadler Hansen has been writing for as long as she can remember, even as a little girl. After many years in business, she now works as a potter and an author in Salem, Oregon, along with her husband, Richard. She is the author of Raisins, Gophers, and Trash on the Grass, a book about litter and the environment.
    Norma Sadler Hansen
    Micah Wolfe
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Butch Patrick (born Patrick Alan Lilley on August 2, 1953 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former child actor. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of eight, Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as Eddie Munster on the CBS comedy television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and in the 1966 feature film Munster, Go Home, as well as for starring as Mark on the ABC Saturday morning children&rsquo;s series Lidsville from 1971 to 1973.</span></span></span></p>
    Butch Patrick
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Generational Leadership TM is the most requested area of study by human resource personnel and by people designing their careers in leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Herding Ostriches encompasses elements of emotional intelligence, behavioral styles, and leadership image. Then, it goes deeper. This book examines how generational differences play a role.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Age alone does not cause someone to be an exact fit into any generational definition given here. Of course there are also developmental factors and life experiences that mold each of us.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">However, I have come to accept that patterns exist as experts say and therefore predictability must exist.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The challenge for me as a leader has been in determining which of the profile systems gives me the most accurate information. There are so many to choose from.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Our team at Herding Ostriches, which offer some great work as contributing authors, suggests that generational influence supersedes and affects the results of all of the profile systems.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">With the assistance and Jonathan Peters, Ph.D, we have developed a &ldquo;performance indicator&rdquo; that brings the profile systems together.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">I am a game-changer by nature. If you are visiting this site, you probably are as well. I have spent most of my life resisting being placed into any box or being assigned to any label. However, in my years of leading teams and of company ownership, I have come to accept that at the end of the day, I do fit into certain boxes, as do my team members.</span></span></span></p>
    Kate Sheridan
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Dana Damara has embraced yoga as a lifestyle both on and off the mat. She radiates that power of soulfulness and spiritual awakening in everything she does. Dana is a spiritual coach, thought leader, author, yoga instructor, community connector, visionary, and mother of two young girls. She embodies a balance of strength and grace, encouraging others to find that sweet spot within themselves.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Dana creates a flow that strengthens the body, opens the heart and quiets the mind. Her inspiration to dive deeper into the practice came when she began studying the subtle body. This knowledge not only shifted her yoga teaching but also changed her own life, igniting her purpose to educate others about the power of yoga. She is the author of Off the Mat, a book about the yoga practice.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">On the mat, my passion is proper alignment, powerful breath and effortless flow. Time on your mat is sacred space where you find more depth, authenticity, and integrity in your life. Yoga heals and brings you to the awareness you crave to move past those wounds, once and for all, so you can live the life you truly desire. &ndash; Dana Damara</span></span></span></p>
    Dana Damara
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Randy Haveson knows addiction. As an alcoholic in long-term recovery, he decided to help others regain control over their lives. He is a 25-year veteran in the field of addiction, with extensive experience as a treatment center counselor, Director of Health &amp; Alcohol Education at highly accredited universities, and he has spoken about harm reduction, self-esteem, leadership, and supporting students in recovery on over one hundred campuses.</span></span></span></p>
    Randy Haveson
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Laird has over 30 years sales experience in communications, collaboration and technology solutions selling. Laird has served as an individual contributor, Sales Manager, Vice President of Sales and President for a wide range of technology companies including two he co-founded. As an entrepreneur, Laird has dealt first hand with the unique challenges of bringing new and innovative solutions to market and he brings his &ldquo;real world&rdquo; experience into the workshops he conducts.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">In his book &ldquo;Selling The First Oyster, From Selling Technology to Selling Transformation&rdquo;, Laird highlights why selling transformational solutions such as Unified Communications, Collaboration and Cloud Computing is different than selling non-transformational technologies. He also provides valuable insight into how to overcome the technical and non-technical risk of change, how to quantify the impact of change and how to engage in a transformational conversation with business decision makers.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Laird has lead over 200 workshops centered on Unified Communications, Collaboration, TelePresence and Data Center Virtualization in over 23 countries.</span></span></span></p>
    Laird Smay
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Roy Hunter is a highly respected author and trainer in the hypnotherapy profession. Originally trained and certified by Charles Tebbetts in 1983, Roy started a practice in the Seattle/Tacoma area. He started teaching his mentor&rsquo;s 9-month professional hypnosis course in 1987 at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington (USA); and has taught classes and workshops over the years in 17 different countries. He is the published author of several books, based on the work of Tebbetts and updated by his professional experience.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Hunter&rsquo;s first book was a book on self-hypnosis inspired by his years of sales experience prior to learning hypnotherapy. He self-published it in 1986; and three publishers published different versions with different titles in the years since. The current version is Mastering the Power of Self-Hypnosis, 2nd Edition (2011, Crown House Publishing).</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">After Charles Tebbetts passed on, Hunter wrote a two-volume text based on his mentor&rsquo;s course. The Art of Hypnosis (now in its 3rd edition) and The Art of Hypnotherapy (now in its 4th edition) are either recommended or required reading at numerous hypnosis schools worldwide. Hunter also has three other published books, including one he co-authored with Bruce N. Eimer, PhD, ABPP, who is a licensed clinical psychologist and published author of several books. It is entitled The Art of Hypnotic Regression Therapy: A Clinical Guide. This book comes highly praised by hypnotherapists, psychologists, and physicians who use hypnosis.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Roy has received numerous awards through the years, including recognition for lifetime achievement from three different organizations. He is a Fellow of the Association of Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, and a Life Diplomate of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association. His awards are listed at his website. His experience as a hypnosis trainer includes presenting a 2-day masterclass on parts therapy at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis, as well as numerous hypnosis conferences and venues in five continents. His website is:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.royhunter.com/">www.royhunter.com</a></span></span></span></p>
    C. Roy Hunter
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Wendy Wolff spends most of her days working with others to make their lives easier. Over the past twenty years she has positively impacted communities throughout the United States with her work as a strategic planning consultant. Wendy&rsquo;s forte is to recognize the issues that impede the ability to thrive and develop appropriate solutions that lead to an improved quality of life. Her collection of essays aimed at making life easier can be found in several magazines including Kidz Edge Magazine, The Indypendent Reader, and Your Teen Magazine. After the tragic loss of her sister in a car accident, she started the idea for the Letter Writing Project, and her goal is to get the world around her writing letters again &mdash; for the purpose of healing and dealing with the joys and tragedies of life.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Find out more:<br /> Letter Writing Project on Facebook: facebook.com/letterwritingproject<br /> Letter Writing Project on Twitter: @lettersproject</span></span></p>
    Wendy Wolff
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Radivoj &Scaron;ajtinac is one of the most well known, award-winning Serbian authors featured in our SMiLe Series. In addition to his translated book, Victims of the Biedermeier, he writes poetry, fiction, and literary and art criticism. He also translates Russian and English, and is an example of one of Serbia&rsquo;s finest contemporary authors.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Born in 1949, &Scaron;ajtinac grew up in Zrenjanin. He then moved on to study General Literature and Literature Theory in Belgrade. Currently, he is an active member of the Serbian Literary Society and the Society of Writers Vojvodine. His first book was published in 1970, and he has had 25 more published since that year. He writes characters of depth that are a result of his analysis and accurate portrayal of human behaviors.</span></span></span></p>
    Radivoj Sajtinac
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Los Angeles-based Gloria Lintermans is a former internationally syndicated columnist. Her column appeared in English and Spanish language newspapers across the U.S. from Hawaii to New York, and worldwide from Saudi Arabia to South America.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Lintermans is the author of THE SECRETS TO STEPFAMILY SUCCESS: Revolutionary Tools to Create a Blended Family of Support and Respect (Llumina Press, May 2010), THE HEALING POWER OF GRIEF: The Journey Through Loss to Life and Laughter, (Sourcebooks, 2006), THE HEALING POWER OF LOVE: Transcending the Loss of a Spouse to New Love (Sourcebooks, 2006), CHEAP CHIC: A Guide to LA&rsquo;s Resale Boutiques (1990), the &ldquo;ultimate guide to recycled fashion,&rdquo; and forerunner of RETRO CHIC: A Guide to Fabulous Vintage and Designer Resale Shopping in North America &amp; Online (Really Great Books, Los Angeles, 2002) and THE NEWLY DIVORCED BOOK OF PROTOCOL, (Barricade Books, New York, 1995). A freelance writer, she has also written for national and local magazines.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Lintermans has appeared on radio and television talk shows across the country including: the &ldquo;Donna Mason Show,&rdquo; Raleigh, NC; &ldquo;Steve Kalk Show,&rdquo; Beaver Falls, PA; &ldquo;Morning Drive with John Dawson,&rdquo; Albany, GA; &ldquo;Tim Quinn Show,&rdquo; Bridgeport, CT, &ldquo;What You Should Know About,&rdquo; Philadelphia, PA; &ldquo;Memphis in the Morning,&rdquo; Memphis, TN; &ldquo;Kent Slocum Show,&rdquo; Grand Rapids, MI; &ldquo;The Michael Jackson Show,&rdquo; Los Angeles, CA, among others. She has hosted her own &ldquo;Looking Great with Gloria Lintermans&rdquo; cable television and radio shows and is a popular lecturer and commentator.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Lintermans is a member of The Authors Guild, Inc. and S.A.G./A.F.T.R.A. (American Federation of Television &amp; Radio Artists).</span></span></span></p>
    Gloria Lintermans
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Best-selling author and radio personality Sally Shields contributes frequently to various magazines, including My Day, Girlfriendz, For the Bride, and Star Magazine. Endorsed by Martha Stewart and Dr. Laura as an authority on popular women&rsquo;s issues like dieting and marriage, Shields has also appeared on Fox and Friends, Rachel Ray, and The Tyra Show. In addition, her hit book The Daughter-in-Law Rules has landed her repeat visits on the nationally syndicated show The Daily Buzz.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">As a pianist, composer, and winner of the 17th annual Great American Jazz Piano Competition, Shields also performs, speaks and gives music workshops worldwide. Her music is currently featured on the ABC TV daytime drama All My Children. And while not traveling and performing, she lives at home in New York City with her husband and two children, where she also co-hosts the exciting new BlogTalkRadio book show &ldquo;Blurb!&rdquo; with Dr. Kent Gustavson.</span></span></p>
    Sally Shields
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">A full-blooded Cajun boy from a small south Louisiana town known as Duplessis (25 miles from Baton Rouge,) Marvin LeBlanc graduated in 1986 from Louisiana State University where he earned varsity letters for four years on a full student-athlete scholarship, studied sports medicine, and served as an athletic trainer for LSU football.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In 1987, Marvin became a &ldquo;commission only insurance agent,&rdquo; and has been &ldquo;eating what he kills&rdquo; for 23 years as a passionate, full-time, fully engaged, overly optimistic insurance agent. He, along with many others, experienced a life-defining, life-altering event on August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina damaged all 27,000 homes in Louisiana&rsquo;s St. Bernard Parish: &ldquo;My office in St. Bernard received 12 feet of water.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">We would never return to do business or occupy that office again after August 29th. Though I did not have a permanent office until April 1st of 2006, I still needed to maintain my business. Yet, all but one of my employees were gone and hundreds of my customers were no longer in the state. I could not insure them, so all that income was lost.&rdquo; Marvin LeBlanc is an eight-course Dale Carnegie graduate and certified instructor on the book Split Second Choice:</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">The Power of Attitude, written by his mentor Jim Winner. Recognized as an &ldquo;honored citizen&rdquo; of St. Bernard parish and given the &ldquo;keys to the city&rdquo; for his community involvement in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Marvin was never one to be in politics or put election signs up, never one to even attend parish government council meetings. But he was drawn to action, and he became one of the charter members of the St. Bernard Citizens Recovery Commission.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Today, Marvin is called upon to bring not only wisdom and insight gained from his years in the insurance and finance industries, but also to empower others through his unique sharing of lessons and techniques from years of corporate and leadership training and motivational programs.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Finally, Marvin brings a passionate presence to his presentation, one that has not been doused but rather has been doubled in the process of overcoming adversity after Hurricane Katrina.</span></span></span></p>
    Marvin LeBlanc
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Jelena Lengold, born in Kru&scaron;evac in 1959, is a short story writer, novelist and poet.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">She received the &ldquo;Đura Jak&scaron;ić&rdquo; Award for her book of poems, Images from the Life of a Kappelmeister, and the &ldquo;Jefimijin vez&rdquo; Award for A Well of Harsh Words. For her book of short stories, The Fairground Magician, she received the European Union Prize for Literature (2011), as well as the &ldquo;Female Pen&rdquo;, &ldquo;Biljana Jovanović&rdquo; and &ldquo;Hit Liber&rdquo; Awards. Her poetry and fiction have been translated into English, Italian, Danish, French, Bulgarian, Rumanian, Ukrainian and Czech. Jelena Lengold&rsquo;s stories and poems have been included in several anthologies of modern Serbian literature, published both in Serbia and abroad.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">She has published books of poems including: The Deterioration of Botany (Raspad botanike,1982), The Spindle (Vreteno,1984), The Poppy Region (Podneblje maka, 1986), The Passing of Angels (Prolazak anđela, 1989), Images from the Life of a Kappelmeister (Sličice iz života kapelmajstora, 1991), A Well of Harsh Words (Bunar te&scaron;kih reči, 2011); short story books: Rain-Drenched Lions (Pokisli lavovi, 1994), The Elevator (Lift, 1999), The Fairground Magician (Va&scaron;arski mađioničar, 2008, 2009) and Saw Me in Half (Pretesteri&scaron;i me, 2009); and a novel, Baltimore (2003, 2011, 2014).</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Jelena Lengold spent ten years working as a journalist and editor in the Radio Belgrade Culture Department. Until 2011, she was the Project Coordinator of the Conflict Management Program for Nansenskolen in Lillehammer, a Norwegian Humanitarian Academy. She current lives in Belgrade.</span></span></span></p>
    Jelena Lengold
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Todd Millar is marking a refreshing new era in the corporate world grounded in humility and simplicity.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In May of 2005, transformative speaker, author, and coach Todd Millar was involved in a private equity transaction that yielded a profit margin of 700 million dollars. He was barely 40, and it was one of biggest deals ever brokered in the history of Bain Capital, a powerhouse international asset management firm. This was the crowning glory of an executive career driven by steely determination and commendable ethical practices. But, right then, during the celebratory gathering for the big sale, Todd Millar decided to walk away from it all.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Millar experienced what he calls the &ldquo;golden handcuffs&rdquo; which represents the addictive cycle of &ldquo;it&rsquo;s never enough&rdquo; &ndash; being tied to the endless cycle of pursuing the next big deal, no matter the costs. Millar&rsquo;s current life&rsquo;s work has been devoted to helping people break free from this toxicity and have fuller, healthier lives while still staying headstrong in their commitment to their ambitions. All companies have core values its employees adhere to, but how often &ndash; while scrambling up the ladder&mdash;do executives neglect their own personal core values? Success shouldn&rsquo;t come at the sacrifice of our health or the demise of our personal or domestic lives.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Millar puts people back in touch and newly in line with life&rsquo;s basics. His lifestyle philosophy is elemental and accessible; it combines emboldening self-belief tenets with fundamental &ldquo;golden rule&rdquo; ethos but it enriches this by looking at life holistically. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re really simple principals; it&rsquo;s about maintaining a balanced life.&rdquo; Millar explains. &ldquo;You can have success, however you define it. You just have to make the right choices in your life to make it happen.&rdquo; Millar is also an acclaimed author book of the groundbreaking bestseller Boardroom to Base Camp (Blooming Twig) that draws parallels between the life and leadership lessons learned from Millar&rsquo;s role in the $2.6 billion dollar Bain Capital transaction and his life changing climb to Mount Everest Base Camp.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Millar has also penned literally a game-changing book on the problems of adult bullying, children&rsquo;s safety, and overall respect in Canada&rsquo;s minor hockey league called Moron &ndash; Behind The Scenes Story Of Minor Hockey (Blooming Twig).</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Millar&rsquo;s personal story is an inspiring tale of the guy next door who went on to have an extraordinary career. With no post-secondary degree he climbed the corporate ranks up to the high-powered executive realm because he possessed deep self-belief, unshakeable determination, powerful leadership skills, and a good-natured moral compass. However, what&rsquo;s really revelatory about Millar&rsquo;s story is that the truly rewarding journey began once his relentless outward success-driven one ended.</span></span></p>
    Todd Millar
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Louis J. Castriota, Jr., currently president and CEO of Leg Up Farm, began with a desire to help children with special needs. This vision grew when his daughter Brooke was diagnosed with a condition that causes cognitive and motor function delays. Discovering huge gaps in the availability and affordability of services that could help children like Brooke, Castriota undertook a 13-year journey that would culminate in the 2010 ribbon-cutting ceremony of Leg Up Farm in Mt. Wolf, Pennsylvania. This involved raising more than $10 million in funding through private contributions, public fundraisers, loans, and grants.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Observing his success, David Skerpon, Vice President at Capital Blue Cross, told Castriota, &ldquo;You are evidence that, when one has a vision and is passionate about making it a reality, unbelievable things happen.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Castriota has been the recipient of many honors, including awards for National Comcast Spotlight Hero and Non-profit Innovation in Management Operations. He was named a York Federal Fellow in Nonprofit Community Leadership and led Leg Up Farm&rsquo;s successful Silver LEED Certification. Since Leg Up Farm opened, Castriota has become involved in mentoring nonprofit leaders in the area. He is also the author of Leg Up! The Courage to Dream.</span></span></span></p>
    Louis J. Castriota, Jr.
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Mary B. Sellers is a born and bred southerner. She graduated from The University of Mississippi in May of 2013, with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in English. She is the associate publisher for Blooming Twig, as well as a freelance writer for several publications. She&rsquo;s had stories and essays published in Thought Catalog, Deep South Magazine, Mississippi Magazine, Portico Magazine, Danse Macabre, Gingerbread House, and ThatLitSite.com. She also writes books reviews at WhatIsThatBookAbout.com. Sellers now lives in Jackson, MS.</span></span></span></p>
    Mary B. Sellers
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">James Sutton is passionate about design, education, and all things creative! He is currently the creator behind &lsquo;Our Story Book&rsquo;, an experimental project, which aims to create the first ever book about immortality that is 100% crowdsourced on Kickstarter. The idea is to find people from around the world, from all walks of life, to each write one page of the book, just sharing their take on immortality.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">The story behind this book began many years ago, soon after James graduated from architecture school, when suddenly discovering that he required urgent heart surgery due to a severe aortic aneurysm. Thankfully, everything turned out okay for him and now he is the proud owner of a mechanical heart valve, which according to his surgeon, should last for 400 years! It was this difficult experience that inspired him to create a book about immortality, and is what he believes drives him to spend his time pursuing meaningful and creative ideas.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Today, James can be found living in Brazil, working as a social entrepreneur and founder of the Bloomtrigger project, a pioneering rainforest conservation platform.</span></span></p>
    James Sutton
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Vincent (Vinny) Boles is a Two-Star General (ret.), whose expertise is in leading people and building teams in large organizations to accomplish the toughest tasks, supporting our deployed sons and daughters, under the toughest conditions: combat. As an expert in supply chain management, Vinny provided what our nation&rsquo;s troops needed, where they needed it, and when, in order to be successful around the world. For five consecutive years after the attacks of 9-11, the Army assigned Vinny to command Soldiers, civilians, and contractors in five continents, including combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">A great interview with Vinny about his book, 4-3-2-1 Leadership before a presentation in August 2013.</span></span></p>
    Vincent E. Boles
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Michael Hickey has taught at the Stony Brook School, one of the most prestigious college preparatory schools in the nation, but for over two decades, the route he took to get there was a circuitous one.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">He graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in engineering and a commission in the U.S. Navy in 1980. After sailing on oil tankers as an engineer, he spent two years as a missionary on the MV Doulos, an evangelistic missions ship. And in 1983, he joined the pastoral staff at Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle, where he served for three years before coming to the Stony Brook School in 1986.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Currently, Hickey teaches AP Biology and physics. Over the years, he has also tutored hundreds of students individually in preparation for the SAT and has taught SAT preparation courses for the school as well. Hickey&rsquo;s students regularly do well on this exam, and the average increase in test score has been a significant leap of 240 points per student. He is the author of Rock the Test, a book designed to help students prepare for the SAT.</span></span></span></p>
    Michael Hickey
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Thought leader Anthony Metten is ushering in a new era of life skills with an empowering message born from rigorous introspection and bold vulnerability. &ldquo;Who we are isn&rsquo;t who we are,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about being in the present. The past is depression; the future is about anxiety.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">For Metten, self-perception is the gatekeeper of all the great things in life. &ldquo;Success favors those willing to look deep inside. Those brave enough to remove the veils that once protected them but now hinder their growth,&rdquo; he reveals.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Metten shares his message through speaking engagements and via his innovatively written book #upshift(Blooming Twig Press). His methodology blends tenets of psychology, career counseling, and real world experience.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">At the core, Metten&rsquo;s emboldening approach is about our relationship to the self, but its benefits fluidly extend to the workplace. Career success begins with the bonds we have with our coworkers, winning is a team-based activity fortified by deep interpersonal bonds.<br /> For executives, Metten encourages them to be brave and strong enough to be vulnerable. He also encourages them to establish trust and understanding through transparent communication with clear boundaries &ndash; that&rsquo;s where success starts. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s the deal: You have to recognize other people,&rdquo; Metten says. &ldquo;Successful businesses are built on the people who work there. They help bring the accomplishments; it&rsquo;s not about the boss, it&rsquo;s about the people. That&rsquo;s leadership.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">He recommends company rising stars to take chances but stay self aware as they make big decisions. &ldquo;The question isn&rsquo;t where you are on the continuum, it&rsquo;s whether you&rsquo;re on it, and what you&rsquo;re willing to do to consistently improve self understanding. Along the way you will have setbacks and hurdles but don&rsquo;t worry, we all have them. It&rsquo;s what you learn and do with them that sets you apart,&rdquo; Metten says.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Onstage Metten exudes an assured, bold but refined demeanor. He&rsquo;s an in-the-moment speaker cued into the audience&rsquo;s energy, making dynamically meaningful twists and turns so each engagement is vibrantly unique. The constant in his work is always giving attendees a reason to pause and consider what could be possible, for both their careers and their personal lives.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Metten&rsquo;s own life has been defined by consistently and continually redefining his self-conception. Growing up he internalized the distorted imaging surrounding him and descended into a life of frustration and low self-esteem. When he found himself a single parent, high school dropout, bankrupt and living on a friend&rsquo;s couch, he knew it was time to hit the reset button. He transformed his own life through the lessons he teaches others. Metten went onto earn a Bachelor&rsquo;s Degree in Business Administration and a Master&rsquo;s Degree in Counseling Psychology and Career Development from Santa Clara University. Previous to his thought leader work, Metten was a Senior Vice President at one of the largest global financial institutions in the financial industry.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">&ldquo;You need to do the hard work,&rdquo; Metten says. &ldquo;And you&rsquo;ll know you&rsquo;re doing the hard work when you&rsquo;re honest with yourself. Get into areas you&rsquo;re unfamiliar with, stretch, and get a little uncomfortable; those are the areas where growth and opportunity lie.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Bio written by Lorne Behrman</span></span></span></p>
    Anthony Metten
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Harold L. Lustig has devoted his life and career to helping seniors protect their assets and enjoy a higher standard of living in their old age. He focuses on increasing income, reducing tax obligations, and simplifying retirement, estate, and longterm care planning for elderly people.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Lustig is founder and CEO of the California Estate and Elder Planning Center and managing member of Lustig Financial Services LLC. He has over 30 years of experience in financial planning, is a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), and holds licenses in life/health insurance and investment advising. He obtained his master&rsquo;s degree in business administration (MBA) from Drexel University.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">In 1999, he authored the first financial and estate planning book for homosexual couples, Four Steps to Financial Security for Lesbian and Gay Couples (Ballantine Books), and his upcoming book, Naked in the Nursing Home, will provide readers with valuable longterm care insight.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Lustig and his wife, an elder care advocate and registered nurse, work closely together and live in California.</span></span></span></p>
    Harold L. Lustig
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">D. Castle-Shepard is a 27-year citizen-soldier (Lieutenant Colonel) and veteran of Iraqi-Freedom (2003). His education includes a Master of Divinity (M.Div) and a Master of Social Work (MSW). He lives in a rural community with his wife and two children, practicing social work with low-income clients and their families. He is the author of Faith, Country and the New Militia.</span></span></span></p>
    D. Castle-Shepard
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Melanie Gall, author and illustrator of Europe, A Savvy Girl&rsquo;s Guide, wrote the new children&rsquo;s fiction title, Katie&rsquo;s Critters, with the help of Katie and Lauren Culkin, two young girls who help their mother Wendy run the Katie&rsquo;s Critters small animal rescue in Long Island, New York.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Gall is a professional singer who has traveled the world to perform concerts and recitals. She received her B.A. from the University of Alberta, completed two artist diploma programs in voice, and went on to receive her Master of Music (M. Mus.) degree from Brooklyn College in New York.</span></span></span></p>
    Melanie Gall
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Jennifer Powers is a fearless, loving heart who insists on making a difference in the world before she checks out. She coaches, speaks and writes from a place of honesty, service and pure giddiness. She is a believer in the human spirit and her mission is to help others find their truth, whatever that may look like. And whether she has met you yet or not, she is your biggest fan.</span></span></span></p>
    Jennifer Powers
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Dan Holdridge graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1995, and earned the Masters Degree of Executive Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of New Haven. Holdridge served as a Trustee of the National 4-H Leadership Trust from April 2002 to 2004 and currently serves as Board Member and Vice Chairman of the New London County 4-H Foundation. He is the author of Surviving September 11th and Pentagon Prayer, and a contributor to The Speaker Anthology, a collection of motivational and inspirational true stories.</span></span></span></p>
    Dan Holdridge
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">David Allen is a keynote speaker, author, executive coach, and has been a successful entrepreneur for more than twenty years. He is a dynamic blend of education and experience paired with perspectives from coaching on the athletic fields and leading in the boardrooms. Allen is the author of Stick it, a book about making positive choices and how to stick to them. He has also contributed to The Speaker Anthology, a book of true stories intended to motivate and inspire others. Today, he speaks to and works with corporations, organizations, CEOs, small business owners, and individuals, providing foundations to excel in the face of challenge and change.</span></span></span></p>
    David C. Allen
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Diana Donald is a psychotherapist, mother, grandmother, and author. It has always been her greatest wish to reach the hearts of young children: to allow them to believe in themselves, and to reassure them that they are not alone in the world.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">In her studies, she learned that people are stitched together by emotional childhood experiences and begin to live on a continuum of those experiences. When she had her family of two boys and two girls, she began to understand the immensity of what life could teach her.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">She went back to university at the age of 54, and started a whole new life. Most people looked in askance. But what made the difference was the love she had in her heart for what she saw in the hearts of her children. Diana says it&rsquo;s all about how unique we truly are and what we carry around within.</span></span></span></p>
    C. Diana Donald
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Patti Beckham works in sales and marketing effectiveness as the senior vice president of public relations and communications for Agricultural Workers Mutual Auto Insurance. She started her life in the West Texas town of Orla, where sparse roads lie beneath wide skies, where kids make their own adventures, and where people put God first in their lives and family second.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Having raised her son as a single parent while her career took her away from the countryside and dropped her down in the big city has made her very proud. To raise him, love him, and be his mother has been her greatest achievement, and he has been the greatest gift she could have ever received. She is the author of The Orla Flash and a contributing author in The Speaker Anthology, a collection of stories that motivate and inspire others.</span></span></span></p>
    Patti Beckham
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Dr. Kykosa Kajangu is an African wisdom keeper from the Bashi people and a scholar of indigenous wisdom traditions. His lifelong quest is to put the study of indigenous African wisdom traditions on its feet. To this end, he traveled on the superhighway of African wisdom learning at the feet of sages in various centers of wisdom. Furthermore, he trained at the University of California System (Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSB) and received his Ph.D. from UCSB in Religious Studies.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Kajangu&rsquo;s main goal is to develop innovative approaches that simplify complex African modes of thought and being so that wisdom seekers may gain insights from African wisdom traditions in their journey to enlightenment. His new book, Wisdom Poetry, the first of its kind, offers an integral approach to wisdom traditions by weaving proverbs into poems. This work embodies and displays the rhythms of the &ldquo;talking drum from beyond&rdquo; (wise sayings of the ancestors) and the &ldquo;dances of the world&rdquo; (quest for knowledge on earth), which invite wisdom seekers to dance their lives.</span></span></span></p>
    Kykosa Kajangu
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">I love writing spending time with family and friends reading and gardening.<br /> &mdash; Pamela Reynolds</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Pam Reynolds is an author and speaker on children issues and relationships.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">She had written books about:</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">&bull; The effect parents have on their children and education.<br /> &bull; The ongoing struggle between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law as they strive to foster a harmonious relationship for the benefit of their son/spouse.<br /> &bull; A stray cat that changed our family and taught us many lessons about life and the meaning of family and caring.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">She is currently completing a 3 book set of insights into life lessons on faith, family, and hope.She posts frequently on her blog (blog.pamreynolds.me) Pam has appeared on television, radio and on-line programs. She has appeared on news shows in Boston, Baltimore and Hartford as well as the Huffington Post online. Pam earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master of Science degree in Education from the Eastern Connecticut State University.She was a teacher and is certified in special education and regular classroom instruction for grades K to three.In addition, she is a Certified Emergency Medical Technician and past member of the Board of Directors on her local Fire DepartmentPam has four grown and married children with nine grandchildren. She brings her experiences to her writing and speaking focusing on relationships and the power of the human spirit.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Mother of 4, grandma of 9 mothers-in-law to 3 daughters-in-law and 1 son-in-law.<br /> Masters degree in education and dual certification in regular and special education for grades pre-K to Grade 3 Certified Emergency Medical Technician spent over 13 years as a volunteer on my town ambulance.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Seven of those years were concurrently spent on the Board of Directors.</span></span></span></p>
    Pamela Reynolds
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Vicki R. Whiting, Ph.D. brings over twenty-five years of business and managerial experience to organizations throughout the western United States. Vicki has focused her work and consulting experience in the area of organizational management. During the past several years, Vicki has consulted in both public and private organizations including OC Tanner, Alta Medical Management, L-3 Communications, Mountain Family Physicians, Chevron Corporation, Backcountry.com, and AT&amp;T. Consulting engagements have ranged in scope from large scale organizational development opportunities, to individualized executive success coaching and CEO succession coaching.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Vicki is currently a senior faculty member at Westminster College and has taught at the University of Utah and at the University of Southern California. She authored a joint memoir with her son Kevin Whiting that has won numerous awards, including Best of State (Utah) and the International Book Awards.</span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Vicki received her doctoral degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. As a doctoral candidate, Vicki was chosen to represent the college at the request of the University&rsquo;s President when she received the prestigious Sample Fellowship award. Vicki has published numerous academic articles, and is a noted thought leader in the field of mentorship and global leadership. She received her M.B.A. from Seattle University and her B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University.</span></span></p>
    Vicki Whiting
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Dejan Stojiljković was born and raised in Nis, Serbia, a small town that is best known as the birthplace of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Perhaps using that historical backdrop as an inspiration in his own works, Stojiljković is one of the most popular and widely-read authors in Serbia. His The Omen of Angels was hugely successful in 2013, a riveting biographical novel about Constantine. That was just the latest in a long line of releases which won prestigious literary awards and critical accolades all over Europe.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">One of those earlier novels, Constantine&rsquo;s Crossing, was originally released in Serbia in 2009, and has now been translated to English for the first time. Published by Blooming Twig Books, it was nominated for two international book awards: Balkania and IMPAK Dublin. Again using his hometown as the setting, this time at the height of World War II, Constantine&rsquo;s Crossing focuses less on blood and death, and more on individual responsibility during war and what causes evil in man. The words flow easily and somehow takes the reader to a dark, dreary, war-torn town, yet makes the reader want to stay.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">In addition to his traditional novels, Stojiljković has also written several comic scripts and a collection of essays on comics. His writing style spills from fantasy to horror and everywhere in between, delighting readers in English, Russian, Macedonian, Greek, and his native Serbian.</span></span></span></p>
    Dejan Stojiljković
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">James R. &ldquo;Beau&rdquo; Landrum works as a video production manager for a court reporting firm in Birmingham, Alabama, and lives in a small suburb of Birmingham with his wife, Delilah, and their two children. Rise of the Dunamy, his first novel, is the first installment of his Dunamy Series. Beau&rsquo;s interest in the world of fantasy fiction began with Greek mythology at an early age and carried on through adulthood. He says, &ldquo;The most intriguing stories for me have always been the ones that make fantasy seem obtainable in reality; a trait I hopes to carry into my own writing.&rdquo; The idea of the Dunamy came to Beau while watching television in 2008. A show that illustrated the amount of gang violence around the U.S. caused him to question how to keep his soon-to-be-born daughter safe in a world filled with such violence. In the days and weeks that followed, the story of the Dunamy began to unfold; and in the years that followed, the first portion of the story was written, centering around the character of a young, strong female protagonist. Stay tuned for the next installments in the Dunamy Series</span></span></p>
    James R. Landrum
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Julie LaNasa has over twenty years of consulting experience working with a broad base of clients (typically branded companies) on strategic and organizational issues. She has worked at all levels of senior management, throughout sales and marketing organizations from top executives to field personnel, and has been integral to the creation of business strategies and customer partnerships in several Fortune 100 companies. Julie is the Founder of Collaborative Consulting, LLC. Prior to launching Collaborative Consulting, Julie worked as a Principal for Swander, Pace &amp; Co., a San Francisco based, boutique consulting firm serving Fortune 500 Branded Consumer Product Companies. Julie started her career with Accenture in the Information Technology Division.Julie LaNasa has over twenty years of consulting experience working with a broad base of clients (typically branded companies) on strategic and organizational issues. She has worked at all levels of senior management, throughout sales and marketing organizations from top executives to field personnel, and has been integral to the creation of business strategies and customer partnerships in several Fortune 100 companies.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Julie is the Founder of Collaborative Consulting, LLC. Prior to launching Collaborative Consulting, Julie worked as a Principal for Swander, Pace &amp; Co., a San Francisco based, boutique consulting firm serving Fortune 500 Branded Consumer Product Companies. Julie started her career with Accenture in the Information Technology Division.</span></span></span></p>
    Julie LaNasa
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Dr. Eve Meceda is a research psychologist, author, consultant, and award-winning speaker.</span></span></span><br /> &nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">After obtaining her Ph.D. in Social Psychology, she spent many years working with several leading research and consulting firms, partnering with Fortune 500 and Global 1000 organizations on issues such as leadership development, performance management, employee engagement, and the attraction and retention of high-potential employees.</span></span></span><br /> &nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Dr. Meceda is a recipient of the Vistage International &ldquo;Speaker of the Year&rdquo; award, and her work with clients has taken her to virtually every corner of the world. In the course of delivering more than 1,200 speaking engagements over the years, she has had the privilege of working with organizations in 18 countries (and counting) on six continents. She is still trying to figure out how to arrange a session in Antarctica to make it a clean sweep of all seven.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">When she&rsquo;s not on the road working with clients, Dr. Meceda lives and works in the beautiful Denver, Colorado area.</span></span></span></p>
    Eve Meceda
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">John Graham shipped out on a freighter when he was sixteen and took part in the first ascent of Mt. McKinley&rsquo;s North Wall at twenty. He hitchhiked around the world at twenty-two, covering every war along the way for the Boston Globe&mdash;and spending three days in an Iranian jail, falsely accused of spying.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">A Foreign Service Officer for fifteen years, he was in the middle of the revolution in Libya and the war in Vietnam. For three years in the mid-seventies he was a member of NATO&rsquo;s top-secret Nuclear Planning Group, then served as a foreign policy advisor to Senator John Glenn. As an assistant to Ambassador Andrew Young at the United Nations, he was deeply involved in U.S. initiatives in Southern Africa, South Asia and Cuba. By most measures, he was very successful.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">But something was missing.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">In 1980, a close brush with death aboard a burning cruise ship in the North Pacific forced him to a search for meaning in his life. Now out of the Foreign Service, he began exploring, then teaching better ways of handling challenge and conflict. Since 1983 he&rsquo;s been a leader of the Giraffe Heroes Project, a nonprofit that moves people to stick their necks out for the common good. In that role, he&rsquo;s helped move millions of people to lives of courageous and caring citizenship.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><span class="wixGuard">​</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">A frequent keynote speaker, he&rsquo;s also done TV and radio all over the world. He&rsquo;s the author of Outdoor Leadership, It&rsquo;s Up to Us, and Stick Your Neck Out&mdash;A Street-smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond. Walking his own talk, he&rsquo;s an international peacebuilder, working to end conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Graham has a degree in geology from Harvard and one in engineering from Stanford, neither of which he&rsquo;s ever used. Read John Graham&rsquo;s latest entries at the Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com/john-graham/</span></span></span></p>
    John Graham
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">A native of Los Angeles, Rick Allen is a blues, rock, and R&amp;B organist and pianist. He has worked with a variety of musicians, including Howlin&rsquo; Wolf, Etta James, Delaney &amp; Bonnie, Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King, and Dr. John. Allen toured with Bonnie Bramlett, Loggins &amp; Messina, The Doobie Brothers, Canned Heat, Rory Gallagher, Rod Stewart, The Beach Boys, and many others. Relocating to New Orleans in the &rsquo;80s, Allen worked in blues clubs, playing and recording with an assortment of blues and cajun performers, including Ernie K-Doe, King Floyd, Marcia Ball, and Freddy Fender. In the 1980s, he began doing studio work at Allen Toussaint&rsquo;s Sea Saint Studios, and in 2000, Allen was nominated for a Grammy with The Dukes of Dixieland, for the album, Gloryland.</span></span></span></p>
    Rick Allen
    <p><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Abby Brown is an educator of twenty-five years, the mother of two teenaged boys, and a breast cancer survivor. Her new book, What About the Hair Down There? is an incredibly powerful journal of her experiences with cancer, and her writing is marked by its simplicity, honesty, humor, and pain.</span></p> <p>​</p> <p><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In the Introduction to the book, she writes, &ldquo;Writing became one of my solaces during the months of chemo and radiation for breast cancer. I shared thoughts &ndash; honest and sincere &ndash; regardless of their sensitive nature. And though I knew many people who had been diagnosed with this disease, I didn&rsquo;t know much about living through the experience of treatment. I&rsquo;m a mother of two teenage boys, have a wonderful husband of 31 years, and I love my job as a teacher of 25 years at Marine Elementary School in Marine, Minnesota. Add to that mix the family and friends I love I decided to do what I could to stick around a while longer.</span></p> <p>​</p> <p><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">As a veteran elementary teacher, Abby Brown still spends her energy and days with fifth and sixth graders at her little grade school in Marine, Minnesota, a small town on the St. Croix River that most say is the place upon which Garrison Keillor based his fictional town of Lake Wobegon.</span></p> <p>​</p> <p><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Abby made national news in 2009 with her &ldquo;Stand Up for Learning&rdquo; initiative, and her small school made front page headlines in the New York Times for its use of the now-patented Alphabetter Student Desk &mdash; an adjustable-height standing work station for students.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">&ldquo;From the hallway, Abby Brown&rsquo;s sixth-grade classroom in a little school here about an hour northeast of Minneapolis has the look of the usual one, with an American flag up front and children&rsquo;s colorful artwork decorating the walls. But inside, an experiment is going on that makes it among the more unorthodox public school classrooms in the country, and pupils are being studied as much as they are studying. Unlike children almost everywhere, those in Ms. Brown&rsquo;s class do not have to sit and be still. Quite the contrary, they may stand and fidget all class long if they want.&rdquo;</span><br /> <span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">&mdash; From the NY Times article about Abby Brown and her classroom at Marine Elementary</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman">c</span></p>
    Abby Brown
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Alexis Asbe founded one of northern California&rsquo;s leading wedding and special event companies in 1990. With tremendous passion for creative and evocative design, Alexis began with only a small space in her garage and developed one of the most celebrated event and design companies, designing for over 3000 events as the founder. She is the author of At the Altar in Your Underwear, a book that discusses challenges and solutions for brides-to-be. </span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">With over twenty years in the business, she has consulted and designed more weddings and events than any other designer in the country. She has personally interviewed thousands of people, and has worked for many celebrities and their families. Her designs have helped well-known political figures and British royalty. Her work has been featured on CBS&rsquo;s Evening Magazine, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and has been published in Modern Bride. She is a wife, mother, bestselling author, artist, and consultant, who is hopelessly addicted to the stuff that really matters.</span></span></span></p>
    Alexis Asbe
    <p style="font-size:16px"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, teacher and poet Renata Treitel started out life with a penchant for travel. She grew up in Italy and Argentina, but she decided to go to graduate school in the United States, where she continues to live. Treitel earned her M.A. from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, where she also taught Spanish for many years.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">In 1973, Treitel became Romance Language Editor of the highly-acclaimed prose and poetry magazine Nimrod, a position she would hold for the next 10 years. Her published poetry translations include Distancias by Susana Th&eacute;non (Sun &amp; Moon Press: 1994), Splendida Lumina Solis by Rosita Copioli (Sun &amp; Moon Press: 1996), for which she won the Oklahoma Book Award, and Las Cacer&iacute;as by Amelia Bigioni (Xenos Books: 2003).</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Her published original poetry books include After the Aftermath (Blooming Twig Books: 2009) and German Notebook (Hadassah Press: 1982). Treitel was first runner-up in the Bordighera Prize for Poetry for an unpublished poetry collection, and she has been a finalist and semi-finalist in several well-known poetry contests across Oklahoma and elsewhere.</span></span></span></p> <p style="font-size:16px"><br /> <span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496,sans-serif">Magazines in which her poetry has appeared include: Nimrod, Crazyhorse, Calyx, International Poetry Review, Oxford Magazine, Cimarron Review, Adirondack Review, and The Absinthe Literary Review.</span></span></span></p>
    Renata Treitel
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    BLOOMING TWIG is an a prize-winning boutique publishing book house. Founded in New York City, we have published more than 400 titles in all genres, and built up a like-minded following for our authors. 

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