Authors Biographies

Rochelle Carr Burns, PhD

Rochelle is a social historian who researches the good in the past to be tweaked to the modern day to make our lives more joyful now.
Rochelle has an Interdisciplinary PhD in American history and values, The Union Institute & University, Cincinnati; BA (hons), MED (history, education), University of Toronto; French, University of Tours, France.
She sits on numerous Boards including environmental and two universities; television interviewer on social/historical topics, College English teacher; Judge of the Citizenship Court; Woman of Excellence award 2002 for professional and volunteer achievements; extensive volunteering includes Founder Books Are Friends 2001 where over 5,000 books given to children of the working poor in North America and India so they can start their home library
Rochelle is author of two books for Ontario Human Rights Commission; House of Commons, Ottawa; she has also authored innovative teaching curricula for multicultural use; hundreds of articles and columns, and newsletters for companies using social history to help us today.
Rochelle’s books are: Wisdom for 7 days…and the rest of your life and Your Must: Your Purpose in Life. Visit Rochelle’s website here.

Emily L Butler

Emily L. Butler is a New York City Creativity Coach and Holistic Health Educator who empowers and inspires others to heal their bodies and reignite their passionate motivation. Known for her compassion, humor and down-to-earth practicality, Emily teaches with the enthusiastic conviction that only comes from real, lived experiences in self-healing. Healing herself from debilitating illness and pain marked a turning point in Emily’s life years ago that spurred her on to teaching others about their in-born power to transform their health. She delights in spreading this message of empowerment and hope through writing, speaking, workshops and personal coaching in NY, NY. To learn more, go to www.ascendanceholistichealing.com

Lily Casura

Lily Casura graduated from Harvard with honors in English and biology. Lily, however, combined her biology and English interests in some creative and unusual ways. She is a former Sysop for CompuServe’s natural medicine forum, a graduate of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s practitioner training and advanced training in the “Healing the Troops” track, and a graduate of the National Center for PTSD’s clinical training program. Her focus is combat veterans with PTSD and/or MST and integrative medicine.
As a writer, Lily is the author of “Gentle Medicine: Treating Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Successfully with Natural Medicine” and has written about complementary and alternative medicine (“CAM”) for 15 years for magazines and websites like MotherNature.com. She has also curated the Ovation television series on “Art and War.”

Lily Casura is currently the founder and host of the flagship site, Healing Combat Trauma, therapeutic resources for veterans with combat-based post-traumatic stress disorder.

Valerie C Clark

Valerie C. Clark studies how brightly colored amphibians obtain and use chemicals to defend themselves against would-be predators. She travels all over the world and camps for months at a time to study these critters. Val has appeared in National Geographic Magazine, Wild Chronicles, NG TV Dangerous Encounters, NG Weekend, several NG News pieces, and contributes posts to National Geographic Blog WILD. Her research and forest expeditions to study toxins in frog secretions has been covered in New York Times, on NPR shows, and much more, as seen at her Frog Chemistry website. Valerie’s amazing photographs of frogs and other reptiles and amphibians are now available on products from t-shirts and caps to baby clothes and clocks.

US buyers can explore Valerie’s products here,

UK buyers can explore Valerie’s products here.

Thomas Norman DeWolf

Thomas Norman DeWolf is the author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S.History (Beacon Press). In 2001, Tom traveled with nine distant relatives on a life-altering journey through New England, Ghana, and Cuba to film the Emmy-nominated documentary film, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, in which he is featured. An Official Selection for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Traces of the Trace premiered on national television on the acclaimed PBS series P.O.V. Sign up for Tom’s newsletter, schedule him to speak to your group, follow his writing and lectures at his website.

Michael Faraday

Organic farmer/prospector; conservator of Sticks & Stones Museum; overseer of Kids Orchard & Lapidary; National Wildlife Foundation Wildlife Habitat; WWOOFusa.org affiliation…and then I drum and play the flute…
Join Michael on Facebook at Kids Orchard and Lapidary.

Mark Fraser

Mark Fraser is President and founder of NatureWalksWithMark. He is also the Executive Producer and host of the innovative television series “NatureWalks with Mark Fraser.” He is a deeply rooted environmentalist/naturalist working very hard to get the word out about conservation. Mark creates wildlife documentaries for public Television called Nature Walks, with the hope of educating the public and spreading the word about the beauty, fragility and importance of conserving our environment.
Each episode is a virtual Nature Walk and is geared to teach the public about the creatures of North America. Mark’s blog is found here. You can watch his extensive collection of videos on Mark’s YouTube Channel.

Anthony P Johnson

Mr. Anthony P. Johnson, Ph.D. candidate, is the Founder & CEO of Dream Field Academy, a 501 (C) (3) mentoring and non-traditional sports (Fencing, golf, rugby) program. Mr. Johnson is also the Founder of the “Summit” Coalition, (2007) which is guided by the principle to build creative and trusting relationships with residents, community based and faith based organizations, school officials, public servants and families to provide quality programs to impoverished communities. Follow Mr. Johnson’s blog by clicking here.

Valli Keller

I am the person who puts everything on this page. So I talk in the first person. I am co-founder of The Moments Count Journal. You can read my bio here. It talks about tinker toys and chemistry sets so it’s a worth-while read in my opinion. You can also visit my website here. I am the technician and designer at The Moments Count Journal and several other websites. You can see samples of them at my personal website, the link to which (in a moment of shameless self-promotion) I will give you again here.

Dr. Sunitha Krishnan

Dr Sunitha Krishnan is a rare breed of individual who has committed her life as a founder and fulltime volunteer in Prajwala. A mental health professional, she has done extensive research and is essentially a field practitioner. She has been instrumental in rescuing hundreds of children from severely abusive conditions and restoring childhood to them. Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is making it possible for India’s government and citizens organizations to manage jointly a range of protective and rehabilitative services for children who have been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. For her efforts in the anti-trafficking she has been awarded Stree Shakthi Puraskar (national award), Perdita Huston Human Rights Award and the World Of Children Award.

As of 2007, Prajwala operated 17 schools in Hyderabad as part of Krishnan’s strategy to remove women from brothels by first giving their children educational and vocational opportunities outside of the red-light districts. In addition to her local work, she also has tried to increase pressure on foreign governments who, she says, fail to adequately enforce laws against sex-trafficking and sexual predation.

Adimu Madyun

In his lifetime Adimu Madyun has been blessed to see and hear the world through the eyes and ears of an artist.

His passion for social change and community development drives Adimu to integrate his multi-faceted art with thought-provoking creativity and insight. Having lived and traveled around the world, from Peru to Lesotho, experiencing the best of times and the worst, gives Adimu’s art the tools to create timeless masterpieces.

Passion, Spirit and Pain directly influence Adimu Madyun. Currently residing in Oakland, the California native is a prolific musician, actor and film maker taking his style of edutainment around the world. Adimu’s documentary film Operation Small Axe, an unflinching look at recent Oakland, California police shootings, is currently making the film festival circuit and is available for sale at his website 393Films.

Gale Madyun

Painter, poet, and writer Gale Madyun received her Master of Public Administration from City University, Renton, Washington, a B.A. in Geology from University of Montana, Missoula, and a B.A. in Social Work from California State University at Los Angeles. She has been a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Commission on Sex Equity, the KCET ( Channel 28) Community Advisor Board in Los Angeles, CA, and was a member of the 1998 Interim Board of Directors for Black Expressions. She has received scholarships from the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont and Point Way Inn for Artists on Martha’s Vineyard. Her articles have appeared in Essence Magazine, The LA Times, and numerous anthologies. She currently lives, paints and writes in Los Angeles, California, and is working on her first novel. You can browser her art gallery and her written work at her website.

Paresh Chandra Mangaraj

My thirst for knowledge left no place for life and living. Symbolically and literally, books left no place in my house for anything or anybody else and expenditure on books left nothing for anything else.

This went on for 50 years when reality in the form of painful relationships, poverty and physical and mental ailments forced a reappraisal of my beliefs and values. Now I have switched myself from the search mode to a mode of allowing, letting go, forgiving and expressing gratitude to all, including people with whom I had difficult relationships .

Oh forgiving is divine, gratitude is prayer and silence is the greatest tool for negotiating in the minefield of relationships. Now I bless all I meet. I keep my awareness and vigilance on complaining and grumbling. They require an unmindful “I” to feed on and grow. Let me just flow in my creativity, let me just sip in my breaths as I go on dropping my fears and guilts and my unconsciousness by the wayside and emerge whole and one in Love as that is what I am.

This bodymind is playing out its role as the Awareness guides and decides. I am just a witness in this great drama and lo, it is daily unfolding …

Visit Paresh on Facebook.

Donna Morask

Donna Morask has crafted a life of care and commitment to people with complex needs, devoting energy to enhancing the quality of all facets of their lives. She has worked in various areas of the fields of rehabilitation, mental health, developmental disabilities, adaptive employment, with the states of New York, Colorado, California, Arizona, Illinois among those benefiting from the work she has accomplish in her areas of expertise.

Donna currently manages Community Support Services forNorthPointe Resources in Zion,Illinois. While there she has helped hundreds of disabled adults recover and build personal resiliency as well as providing individual, network and healthy family relationship development.

At NorthPointe Resources, Donna helps disabled adults identify, realize and achieve their dreams.

Paula O’Sullivan

I am a 45 year old , unemployed, separated mum of two young boys. I was an early school leaver, but I am now very much looking forward to returning to studying as I am intending to train in life coaching, hypnotherapy and NLP in the near future. My passion is helping others to reach their highest potential, while I also strive to reach mine. I feel that it is never too late to begin again, it begins with our attitude of yes I can do it!

Visit my website.

Professor Chris Palmer

Author of Shooting in the Wild: An Insiders Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom

(Sierra Club Books, 2010)

Chris is the Distinguished Film Producer in Residence and Director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking, School of Communication, American University,  4400 Mass Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20016-8017

Chris can be reached at: palmer@american.edu cell 202-716-6160; office 202-885-3408; home 301-654-6137

For Chris’ complete SOC profile: http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/palmer.cfm
To Join Shooting in the Wild on Facebook or Chris’ personal Facebook page.
Or visit the Shooting in the Wild website.

Follow Chris on Twitter @chrispalmer_au
Chris’s blog: http://soc-palmer.blogs.american.edu

Chris is also:

President, One World One Ocean
President, MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation
cpalmer@mffeducation.org

Chief Executive Officer, VideoTakes, Inc.
chris@videotakes.com

Adam J. Pearson

Adam tries to take thorough reflection and hearty laughter in equal measure. He has taken courses in philosophy, literature, linguistics, history, psychology, sociology, philosophy of mathematics, history of science, and world religions and has a diverse range of interests. Besides writing, he enjoys producing electronic music, which can be heard for free here, cooking, reading extensively, and sharing the company and conversation of friends. Having undertaken Arts studies in philosophy and literature, Adam is working on a B.Ed in Secondary Education at McGill University.  Subscribe to Adam’s blog here.

Adam hails from a rich spiritual history. While he was raised a devout Catholic and taught Bible camp in his youth, in high school he began to think critically about the roots of Christian theology and came to disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity. Thereafter, he studied Islam extensively and finally decided to convert. He practiced the tradition devoutly for 2.5 years, praying in the Mosque, fasting Ramadan, praying over 5 times a day, doing all of the requisite ritual washings. After his mystical experience led him to sing with whirling Sufis in a Sufi Mosque, the call for direct experience led him on a new journey. He prayed alongside Jews in a Reformed synagogue. He participated in magical rituals with Wiccans and magicians of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He studied Zen meditation from the abbess of a Zen center and studied Hinduism and bhakti, jnana, and karma yoga with two Hindu Gurus.

After this winding journey, Adam “put it all down,” meditated, and decided to engage with reality directly without mediation from religious beliefs. He continued the practice of self-inquiry he learned from Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj and deepened with the British philosopher Douglas Harding. Taking up the formless meditation of Soto Zen, he learned to just sit, just abide as reality. Then insights came on their own and somehow he came into the deep experience of nonduality coupled with distinctness in which he now abides.

Christine Ranck, PhD

Christine Ranck, PhD, is co-author of the revolutionary consciousness-expanding book/soundtrack combo, Ignite the Genius Within, designed to change your brain, enhance your creativity, and re-discover yourself in ways you never imagined. Dr. Ranck is a trauma therapist and psychoanalyst in New York City. As a speaker and seminar leader, she holds workshops on freeing creativity all over the country.

Christine is also a professional singer, and her vocal trio, The Janes, currently tours and performs nationally. She has performed on and off Broadway, and has an extensive resume as an actress and musical artist.

Christine’s deep connection with the animal world also led her to spend time at Camp Leakey in the remote jungles of Borneo tracking and studying wild orangutans and assisting with the rehabilitation of illegally captive orangutans back into the wild.

It was upon becoming a psychotherapist, however, that Christine embarked on her greatest adventure. After an unspeakable amount of school, she now specializes in working with survivors of profound trauma as well as in creativity and performance enhancement for artists and performers.

Go to her website, www.christineranck.com and download the free Get Ignited! soundtrack.

Kevin Robison

Kevin Robison is a musician and writer living in Atlanta, GA. After receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of North Alabama, and a Master of Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Nevada, Kevin served as Resident Director of Music for the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and on the faculties of Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal-Poly Pomona, and Cal-State Fullerton. For three years he served as assistant conductor of Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, and artistic director of the South Coast Chorale in Long Beach. In 2007, he became the first full-time director of the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus, a position that challenges and inspires him to write about the connection between music, self-empowerment, and social change.

As a composer and arranger, Kevin has received commissions from some of the leading choruses in the nation, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, Seattle Men’s Chorus, Turtle Creek Chorale, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus. Kevin’s arrangements have been sung on stage by Malcolm Gets, Jenifer Lewis, Lily Tomlin, Joanna Gleason, Susan Egan, and many others. He has also collaborated on productions with Del Shores (of Sordid Lives fame), Kate Clinton, and Miss Coco Peru. Much of his music for male voices has been performed and/or recorded by Gay Men´s Chorus of Los Angeles, including his tribute to the music of Kander and Ebb, which received an OutMusic Award nomination for best new CD in 2005.

Read Kevin’s chorus blog or visit Kevin’s personal website.

Lauren Rosenfeld

Lauren Rosenfeld and her husband James McMahon first met while mingling at the birthday party of a mutual friend in January 1993. At the time, they were both were grad-school students in Boston (James was studying Atmospheric Chemistry at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., while Lauren was studying Jewish Mysticism in nearby Brookline). Despite their broadly diverse backgrounds, each of them instinctively knew that they had found a kindred spirit in the other. They are co-authors of Your To Be List, a book that reflects their deep belief that every moment in life is meaningful, and that everything we do in life presents us with a grand opportunity to practice at being the person we deeply aspire to be.

Catherine Ryan Hyde

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of 16 published and forthcoming books. Her newest releases are Jumpstart the World (Knopf, Fall 2010) and Second Hand Heart (Transworld UK, Fall 2010). Forthcoming is Don’t Let Me Go (TransWorld UK, Fall ’11).

Newer novels are Becoming Chloe (Knopf, March ’06), Love in the Present Tense (Doubleday, May ’06), The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance (Knopf, Spring ’07), Chasing Windmills (Doubleday, March ’08), The Day I Killed James (Knopf, May ’08), Diary of a Witness (Knopf, Summer 2009), and When I Found You (Transworld UK, Summer 2009).

Love in the Present Tense enjoyed bestseller status in the UK, where it broke the top ten, spent five weeks on the national bestseller list, was reviewed on a major TV book club, and shortlisted for a Best Read of the Year award at the British Book Awards. Electric God , Love in the Present Tense and Chasing Windmills are also optioned for film and currently in development.

Older works include the story collection Earthquake Weather, and the novels Funerals for Horses, Pay it Forward, Electric God, and Walter’s Purple Heart.

Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries. The mass market paperback was released in October 2000 by Pocket Books and quickly became a national bestseller. It is still in print, and was rereleased in a trade paperback edition in April of 2010.

More than 50 of her short stories have been published in The Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train and many other journals, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts and the bestselling anthology Dog is my Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and nominated for Best American Short Stories, the O’Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in Best American Short Stories.
She is founder and former president (2000-2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with Americorps members at the White House and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.

Join Catherine at her website, on Facebook, hear Catherine read excerpts from her books at her YouTube Channel or get children involved in changing their world through the Pay It Forward Foundation.

Adele Schiller

I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, grew up mostly in North Carolina and South Carolina, and make my present home in St. Charles, Missouri. I have lived in or visited nearly every state in the USA, and I have traveled extensively throughout the European continent.

I am a mother of two daughters, a writer, an artist, an actor, and a lover of learning all manner of things. I teach English, Art, Theatre and Speech Communications, and I most enjoy observing the interconnectedness and great beauty of our amazing universe! It is my hope that I will help motivate others to follow their dreams and to love being who they truly are. My particular interests are in areas of the Arts, Music, Philosophy, Theosophy, Science, Buddhism, and world religions and cultures (more specifically myth, storytelling, art, masks, costumes, music and traditions of indigenous peoples, world travel, and the culinary arts.) Of course I also enjoy reading and exploring the the world of communication through the Internet.

There are many causes I strongly support, but presently there are none more important to me than working to help end world slave trafficking and all forms of abuse of children, world hunger, and to help find solutions to environmental problems on our beautiful planet. As I see it, educating our children about the very real challenges facing our global community on these fronts will accomplish this best.

Having said all of these things may give you some idea where I have been and where my interests lie, but if you would know me better converse with me, read what I write, observe my artistic expressions, and let’s do something together to make a difference.

Sandi Severson

When it came time to pick a focus, it was a wrestling match between photography and music. Music won in a big way. Sandi was formally trained through Azusa Pacific University (BA and MA). But it’s her informal training that carried her into the electronic music field that is her professional love and life now.

Sandi grew up with the midi and electronic music field and is now one of the most authoritative voices in the field for the California Central Coast region. Teaching at Allan Hancock College she is turning out a new generation of musicians capable of handling sophisticated equipment and a broad range of music and musical applications.

Sandi is currently working on the release of her first independent album project, Pathways, through her Upbeat Music.

Brooke Leigh Sheldon

Brooke Leigh Sheldon is co-founder of The Moments Count Journal. She is an authority on the philosophy and psychology of leadership and life empowerment. She has been consistently recognized for her strategic intellect, negotiation skills, organizational revitalization, managerial guidance and humanitarian endeavors.
Brooke has impacted the lives of people throughout the globe with her book and articles, radio show, entrepreneurship, therapeutic work, public speaking engagements, multimedia, and live events.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Sciences in Counseling and Therapy.
As co-owner of the life enrichment organization Moments Count, Brooke commits daily to the truth of this concept in every interaction and endeavor she embarks upon. Visit Brooke’s website here.

Shoot 4 Change

Shoot 4 Change is a nonprofit organization of professional and amateur photographers, designers, artists and other dreamers who share part of their time, free of charge, for documenting humanitarian issues for NGOs and other social organizations.
S4C isn’t intended just to be a charitable organisation, but rather a hub of experience and best practices.
S4C envisions a world without fear and restrictions, where information flows freely and where everybody is free to express their opinion.
S4C believes in the power of information to change people’s lives and help them raise their voices.
S4C trusts in a world where everyone, through its work, can participate in creating a new concept of communication and in bringing people’s untold stories into the light.
S4C believes in the power of local engagement, which, combined with other local initiatives can gain global scope.
A world which everyone can contribute to improve.

Visit the Shoot 4 Change website and consider contributing to their work.

John W. Strobel III

John W. Strobel III, is retired from 35 years in Radio and Television News Journalism in the Los Angeles market. John served in news departments as Editorial Supervisor for KHJ-TV (Tony La Frano director), Assignment Editor for KTLA-TV (Clete Robert’s Reports), Morning Reporter for KMPC Radio (Hugh Brundage Editor), Field Reporter for KNX News Radio, News Director for KBBY/KBBQ, KGMS Radio, Sacramento and KAFY Radio, Bakersfield and ended his exciting journalism career as Assignment Editor for KADY-TV.

John taught Journalism at Moorpark College, produced educational film strips for Walt Disney Educational Materials Company, and filmed and produced A Trip With a Princess documentary aboard the Princess Italia cruise ship, for Martin V. Smith Enterprises.

John wrote a series of articles for Delta Connection, an airline magazine (Copies available on request) and has now turned his writing skills to creating novels. He has completed five novels. The first is a biographical story of his Grandfather who was Shanghied from the docks of San Francisco in 1892, taken aboard a Chinese sailing merchant ship and lived and worked with the Chinese people for four years. He learned to speak five different Manderin dialects and was instrumental in converting their ships to steam.

John’s other novels range from fiction, The Joshua Tree Mine, to the Lost Painting to Winds of Horror. He is working with an editor now for publication. He also writes poetry and short stories. John is interested in publication of his novels and film adaptations of his stories. Contact John W Strobel III for more information

T. Parker Vollmer

Writing this is close to impossible. When they asked for it, I drew a blank. But I know I am anything but blank. I have experienced a great deal of life, but almost none that we, as humans in the now, typically experience. I do not hold a university degree. Yet, I know I still know a great deal. I have a lifetime of books that have afforded me my own version of educated. I did not have a typical childhood, in any sense of the word. Yet, I have been much mothered and fathered. I never married. And I have been loved well. I do not have children. Yet, I raised one for a decade. We all have our stories. I have come to know we are all so very unique and arrive where we are in a wake of, I think, callings, fate, luck and loss. I don’t promise to be the authority on anything. There is still so much to know and I am curious. I will not always be inspirational. I will not always be melancholy. I will however, promise to be real with you. I promise you my personal truth.

Alexandra Wallace

Raised by two photographers, Alexandra Wallace has been near a camera from a young age. While she enjoys destination and travel photography, portraiture will always be her first love. Her education includes a stint at Brooks Institute of Photography and reading many interviews with Autumn DeWilde. Alexandra also enjoys dinosaurs, puns, and vanilla chai.

Join Alexandra on Facebook.       Browse Alexandra’s online portfolio.

Elizabeth Wescott

My Reiki training began in 1997 and I completed the Reiki Master training in 2008, just before I came to learn Qigong healing. I know life as fully trustworthy; it has been coming through very difficult experiences that has made this clear to me. I draw from the study of Buddhism, Christianity and Quantum Physics. These teachings support my ongoing growth as a ‘spiritual being having a human experience’. A forward direction can be found even when there is no physical evidence to suggest that. These are words I live by. I love being a part of people’s journey of renewal. This work requires that I see the good in people and that I walk side by side with others on their journey. Actually, it’s what we all do. We just don’t always know it. Visit Ms. Wescott’s webpage by clicking here.