Mary Ann Detzler is a wife, mother and Unity minister who specializes in teaching meditation, prosperity and self-awareness. She loves to lead women’s retreats. As administrator for a spiritual education organization, she often travels internationally, assisting her husband in teaching spiritual healing. She can be reached at Spiritual Response Center, 727 245th PL NE, Redmond, WA 98053, or call 206-868-3643.
Cathy Downs is a reading specialist at East Burke Middle School in Icard, North Carolina. She enjoys each day in the classroom working with students who have reading difficulties. At the beginning of each year she shares her father’s story with her students. She can be reached at P.O. Box 1231, Valdese, NC 28690.
Linda Ellerbee is an award-winning television producer, bestselling author and one of the most sought-after speakers in the country. Over the past 25 years, she has earned a reputation as a highly respected and outspoken journalist, while winning all of television’s highest honors. Linda’s company, Lucky Duck Productions, is rounding out a decade of producing ground-breaking television. Her first bestseller, And So It Goes, is recognized as the most candid portrayal of television news ever written. She can be reached c/o LRB Services, Inc., 96 Morton Street, New York, NY 10014, or call 212-463-0029.
Betty Aboussie Ellis specializes in the design, development and presentation of customized training programs. She and her husband/business partner, Peter, devote their efforts to connecting training with the real work people do every day, setting up training for large service centers in the U.S. and Great Britain. Betty is a founding member of The Outsource Alliance. She reports she is in excellent health and can be reached at 8410 Hall, Lenexa, KS 66219, or call 913-541-9267.
Sandy Ezrine is an author, trainer and management consultant. For 20 years she has worked with foundations, universities, federal agencies and private corporations. Sandy specializes in organizational development, employee motivation and problem-solving. She is currently writing a new book, 1001 Ways to Organize Anything. She can be reached at PO Box 658, Cornville, AZ 86325, or call 520-639-3311.
Dave Farrell is an award-winning investigative journalist and syndicated columnist. During his 20 years as a daily newspaper reporter, he won numerous state and national awards, including the Professional Journalism Society’s National Investigative Reporting Award. In 1992, he received the prestigious Mike Wallace Investigative Fellowship at the University of Michigan. His column, Roadside Attractions Along the Information Highway, is syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate and appears in more than 30 newspapers in the U.S., Canada and Japan.
Joan Fountain is a powerful and engaging speaker who owns the training and consulting firm Joan Fountain & Associates. A sought-after motivational keynote speaker, Joan has appeared on the nationally syndicated television talk shows of Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue, Sally Jesse Rafael and Montel Williams. Look for her inspirational book, Nothing Bad Happens—Ever. Joan can be reached at 3104 0 Street, Suite 220, Sacramento, CA 95816, or call 916454-5412, or e-mail
[email protected] Beverly Gemigniani is a certified teacher and a four-time gold medal winner in the Senior Olympics. The Dancin’ Grannies have four exercise videos that have been a recommended buy for libraries and by Consumer Digest. The D.G.’s have been on Donahue, The Today Show and Arsenio Hall, and have danced in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They also performed at the White House. They dance, entertain and teach unique sitting exercises across the USA. Call 602-895-7052.
Rosemarie Giessinger is a columnist, speaker and psychic counselor who channels past-life information, spiritual lessons, angels and guides for her clients. She can be reached at PO Box 2024, Albany, OR 97321.
Randy Glasbergen’s humorous cartoons are featured in more than 25 countries. His cartoon panel, The Better Half, is syndicated daily and Sunday by King Features Syndicate to newspapers worldwide. He has created humorous illustrations for Hallmark, IDG Books, NAPA Auto Parts, Golf Digest, Woman’s World, American Airlines and many, many more. His books include Getting Started Drawing and Selling Cartoons,How to Be a Successful Cartoonist and Attack of the Zit Monster and Other Teenage Terrors. Randy lives and works in a big old and creaky three-story Victorian house, in a very small town in rural New York State. For more information or samples, please call or fax 607674-9492.
Diana Golden is a world-class speaker, writer and Olympic gold medalist. She lost her leg to cancer at the age of 12, and went on to take the ski racing world by storm. Winning an Olympic gold medal and 29 golds in World and National championships, Diana became the most successful ski racer in American history (Skiing Magazine). This articulate and humorous Dartmouth College graduate addresses such issues as creating opportunity out of change, weaving strong individuals into a powerful team, and the many faces of courage. Her electrifying presentations inspire audiences worldwide to break through their fears, pursue their dreams and never, never give up.
Elinor Daily Hall is a member of the Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul team. She also is in business with her husband, Ron. Their company, Global Coherence, Inc., markets products that enhance home and office environments by conditioning electricity and electrical devices. She can be reached at 800871-0078.
Patty Hansen has her priorities straight—being Mom is number one. As the other half of the “Mark/Patty Team,” she divides her time between being chief financial officer and troubleshooter at M.V. Hansen & Associates, Inc., and serving as full-time driver, caretaker and homework assistant to their two daughters, Elisabeth and Melanie. She also loves to squeeze in some time to garden, raise chickens and play on the beach. She is coauthor of Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul. She can be reached at 711 W. 17th St. D2, Costa Mesa, CA 92627. Call 714-759-9304 or from outside California, 800-433-2314.
Jean Harper is a pilot with United Airlines. She is married to another United Airlines pilot and is the mother of two children. She is a writer and public speaker whose favorite subjects are aviation, Christianity, interpersonal communication and inspirational/motivational topics. She can be reached at 8529 E. Nichols Ave., Englewood, CO 80112-2734.
Christine Harris-Amos has a history of formal art training. Her art has always had a sense of love, happiness and whimsy to it. She currently restricts her art shows to her home, which also serves as her gallery. Christine met Wally “Famous” Amos on a flight in which she was a flight attendant. They fell in love, and their common love of chocolate chip cookies became legendary. Christine created two cookie dolls named CHIP and COOKIE and travels with Wally and her daughter, Sarah, to promote them. Christine is a very happy mother, homemaker and artist residing on Oahu, watching the palm trees sway in the cool trade winds.
Jacqueline Hickey is a freelance writer living in Rockport, Massachusetts with her husband and three children. She works as an office manager at the beautiful Seaward Inn in Rockport, and is currently working on her first novel. Jacqueline can be contacted a 61/2 Rear Parker Street, Rockport, MA 01966.
Barbara Haines Howett’s novel of interrelated stories about culture shock in Indonesia, Ladies of the Borabudur, is being circulated by her agent. She received her M.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch University, has been adjunct professor at Northampton Community College, and conducts time management workshops geared to the writing life at writers’ conferences.
Linda E. Jessup is founder and director of the Parent Encouragement Program, Inc., a family education center in Kensington, Maryland. She has helped to raise seven children, three of whom are adopted. The author speaks widely and has been a guest on radio.
Teri Johnson serves as a United Methodist minister in the Dakotas conference, where she currently co-pastors the First United Methodist Church of Brookings, South Dakota. Teri loves preaching, writing and teaching, and is always looking for tips on how to juggle her 1,100-member “church family” and her seven-member immediate family. She and her husband, Marty, are the parents of five children: Taylor, Alyssa, Alec, Emily and Elliot. She can be reached at 625 5th St., Brookings, SD 57006, or c
all 605-692-4345.
Carol Kline is a parenting skills instructor. She teaches a course called “Redirecting Children’s Behavior” and is a self-esteem facilitator who works with both children and adults. Carol writes articles for local papers and loves to help others write their stories. She can be reached at P.O. Box 1262, Fairfield, IA 52556.
Christy Carter Koski grew up in Weatherford, Texas. She earned her degree from the University of Maryland Asian Division in Misawa, Japan, where she and her husband lived for three years. They currently reside in New Mexico, where she continues to write poems and stories. She considers herself a life explorer, eagerly anticipating each new adventure and all of the puzzling questions along the way. She can be reached by calling 505-356-6967.
Liah Kraft-Kristaine is a philosopher who devotes her life to the subject of human potential. A former practicing attorney and CNN broadcaster, she now speaks worldwide on self-esteem, stress management and soul growth. Author of six books, including A Course in Becoming and the bestselling 30 Days to Happiness, she has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including Oprah. She is the host of a PBS television special, The Myths of Happiness. She can be reached at PO Box 1505043, Nashville, TN 37215, or call 800-4277982. Lois Krueger is a full-time mother and friend to three boys. She is also a part-time floral designer and is active in bereavement and support for families as a hospice volunteer. She is currently considering working toward a degree in nursing. Lois resides with her husband, George, in Franklin Park, Illinois.
Alison Lambert is a member of the class of 2000 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She is a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) with the Newton Square Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 in Newton Square, Pennsylvania. Ali is also an ocean lifeguard in Long Beach Township, New Jersey.
Page Lambert has written the Pulitzer-nominated book In Search of Kinship: Modern Pioneering on the Western Landscape (Fulcrum Publishing 800-9922908). The book, from which her story is excerpted, is about Page’s life with Hondo and the other animals on her small Wyoming ranch. Page’s upcoming book Shifting Stars, a novel about the West set in 1850s Wyoming, will be available in summer 1997 from Forge Books. Page is available for workshops and speaking engagements, and can be contacted at P.O. Box 5, Sundance, WY 82729 or by calling 307-283-2530.
Jeanne Marie Laskas writes a weekly column, Uncommon Sense, for the Washington Post magazine. She is the author of The Balloon Lady and Other People I Know, a collection of essays. Her work has appeared in dozens of national magazines, including GQ, Life, Allure, Health, Red book, Glamour and Reader’s Digest. She can be reached via e-mail at
[email protected], or write to 1701 Benedum Trees Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.
Suzanne Thomas Lawlor has written hundreds of magazine articles and is the former senior editor of Cameron and Company, publishers of the Above San Francisco series. She has taught more than 500 people Transcendental Meditation over the past 24 years and lives with her husband, Tony, a noted architect and author, in Fairfield, Iowa. An avid gardener, she owns a dried floral business specializing in wreaths. Suzanne can be reached at 515-472-3159.
Bobbie Jensen Lippman is a prolific human-interest writer whose work has appeared in national and international publications. She hosts a radio program called “Bobbie’s Beat on the Air,” which is broadcast locally and in the Midwest. Bobbie is involved with the visually impaired and is also very active in hospice work. She may be reached at 13650 South Coast Hwy., South Beach, OR 97366, or call 541-867-3805.
Diana Loomans is a dynamic speaker and bestselling author who speaks internationally on the topics of self-esteem, communication and the power of laughter and play. She has written eight books including Full Esteem Ahead:100WaystoBuild Esteem in Children& Adults,The Laughing Classroom, The Lovables in the Kingdom of Self-Esteem, Positively Mother Goose, and Today I Am Lovable. She is a frequent guest on national radio and television. She can be reached at Global Learning, P.O. Box 1203, Solana Beach, CA 92075 or by calling 619-944-9842 or by faxing 619-942-5260.
Patricia Lorenz is an inspirational/humor writer of books, articles and columns. Her first two books, Stuff That Matters for Single Parents and A Hug a Day for Single Parents (365 daily devotionals) are published by Servant Publications in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over 400 of her non-fiction articles have appeared in 70 publications, including Reader’s Digest, Guideposts, Working Mother and Single-Parent Family. You can write to her at 7457 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Oak Creek, WI 53154.
Mary Miller is a marketing communications manager at a Fortune 500 company and the mother of six children. She writes for local publications and frequently delivers speeches to business groups.
Stacey Nasalroad was born in Fresno, California, and grew up in Modesto, California. She presently lives in Zimbabwe, where her husband is running a building company. She helps her husband with the business while enjoying life in a foreign country along with her daughter, Jessica, and her son, Adam. Although living in Africa is a benefit to her and her family in many ways, America will always be her home.
Sheryl Nicholson is an international professional speaker of 14 years. Whether speaking on leadership, sales or balancing our choices in life, Sheryl continues to spice up her workshops with real-life examples like the one in this book. She has authored several books, audiotapes and a computer-based training course for companies on assertive communication. You can reach Sheryl at 1404 Corner Oaks Drive, Brandon, FL 33510, or call 800-245-3735.
Lynn Rogers Petrak is a freelance writer and journalism teacher who lives in La Grange, Illinois, with her husband, Michael. She has written for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine and Romantic Homes Magazine, among other publications. Her submission is written in memory of her mother and great friend, Carol Rogers, who died in 1994 after a courageous nine-year fight with breast cancer. Lynn can be reached at 708-354-2854.
Debra Halperin Poneman, president of YES! to Success Seminars, is a celebrated speaker on the subject of success and how to achieve it. Debra’s warm yet professional style blends nuts-and-bolts practicality with deep and inspiring spiritual insight, making her a popular guest on radio and TV talk shows and a sought-after speaker for corporations and organizations nationwide. Her seminars have been taught in every major U.S. city and many foreign countries. Debra can be reached at 1520 Forest Ave., Evanston, IL 60201, or by calling 847-491-1823.
Carol Price has been a speaker/motivator throughout Australia, Europe and the United States. She has produced laughter, tears and energy for over 20 years. Her specialties include health care, stress management, real self-esteem, stopping difficult people, assertiveness and making life count. She is published on tape on many of these topics. She can be reached at P.O. Box 8731, Madeira Beach, FL 33738, or call 813-397-9111, or fax 813-397-3661.
Maureen Read was born in England in 1924. Her career includes four and a half years with the British Broadcasting Corporation and a year in Budapest, Hungary, with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. There, she met and married her GI husband and came to the United States. Widowed almost immediately, she later remarried, and she and her husband of 42 years raised three daughters, one of whom coauthored this book! She is an avid tennis player and, at 72, continues to play in USTA and other senior tennis tournaments. She resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Elaine Reese is a freelance writer in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Most of her articles are reminiscent of families, holidays, the country and the nitty-gritty of everyday life. She can be reached at 608-588-2284.
Lynn Robertson resides in a northwest suburb of Chicago with her husband and two sons. She co-owns an industrial design and contracting business with her husband, Doug, and enjoys interior design.
Jennifer Rosenfeld is currently writing Building Your Yellow Brick Road: Real Women Create Extraordinary Career Paths. She would love to hear more inspiring career profiles and can be reached at 212-794-6050.
Gina Barrett Schlesinger is president of Speaker Services, Inc.,
a professional speakers bureau located in the Philadelphia suburb of Springfield, Pennsylvania. A dynamic speaker herself, Gina gives speeches and seminars on the topics of powerful presentation skills and life leadership time management. She can be reached at Speaker Services, Inc., 491 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, PA 19064, or call 610-544-8899.
Harley L. Schwadron is a former newspaper reporter and public relations writer who lives and works in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has been a full-time cartoonist since 1985, specializing in business, health and topical cartoons. His freelance cartoons appear in magazines around the world, and his op-ed work can be seen in such papers as The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Dayton Daily News, The Los Angeles Times and The Des Moines Register. For many years his work was regularly featured in England’s Punch magazine.
Ann Winterton Seely is a nationally known professional quiltmaker. She and her sister, Joyce Stewart, teach quiltmaking workshops and have coauthored two books. Ann lives in Taylorsville, Utah, and can be reached at 4890 S. 1575 W., Taylorsville, UT 84123, or call 801-262-1553, or e-mail
[email protected] Pat Bonney Shepherd is the mother of two. She is the coauthor of the book Know Your Dreams, Know Yourself and has recently opened an office supply store/desktop printing service, The Write Stuff, in a thriving East Texas town. She can be reached at PO Box 1173, Pittsburg, TX 75686, or call 903-856-6924, or e-mail
[email protected] Louise Shimoff has been happily married to her husband, Marcus, for 53 years and is the mother of three children and grandmother of four. She enjoys golf, volunteer work and world travel. Throughout her life, she has been an avid reader and has passed on her love of language to her children, one of whom is coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul. Louise has enjoyed helping her daughter, Marci, with this book.