Steve Allen, star of the critically acclaimed NBC series The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, has authored 52 published books, including the 1998 publications of Murder in Hawaii, Die Laughing and Dumbth. Mr. Allen has also written and published 8,000 songs (even though he doesn’t read music), including “This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” “Picnic,” “Impossible,” and “Pretend You Don’t See Her.” In 1999, he published Steve Allen’s 100 Song Lyrics. He created, wrote and hosted the Emmy award-winning PBS-TV series Meeting of Minds.
Jeff Arch went from anonymous writer to Oscar nominee with the 1993 release of Sleepless in Seattle, made from his original screenplay. He co-wrote Disney’s Iron Will, and wrote and co-produced the CBS telefilm Sealed with a Kiss. In addition to active projects in feature films and for television series, Jeff’s first novel, The Bell Tower, is scheduled to be published in 2001.
Kerry Arquette, an exhausted mother of three, has written for national and regional magazines, including Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Seventeen, Woman’s Day, Parenting and American Baby. She is the author of Daddy Promises, Scrapbooking with Memory Makers, Punch Your Art Out and What Did You Do Today?
Ethel Bangert has been writing and teaching for fifty years. She has written and published thirty books and more than 400 magazine articles. She taught creative writing in local colleges for nearly thirty years. Her second syndicated column “Collectibles” about antiques ran for twenty-three years. She received the Life-Time Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America and from the Outdoor Writers of America.
Hal Zina Bennett is the author of twenty-five-plus books. His titles include two novels: Spirit Circle and White Mountain Blues. His book Write from the Heart: Unleashing the Power of Your Creativity is on creative writing. In addition he has written three novels for young teens. Mr. Bennett’s e-mail: Writer@Saber.Net.
Lawrence Block has two instructional books for writers, Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and Spider, Spin Me a Web. His novels range from the urban noir of Matthew Scudder (Everybody Dies) to the urbane effervescence of Bernie Rhodenbarr (The Burglar in the Rye). His articles and short fiction have appeared in American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, GQ and The New York Times, and he has brought out three collections of short stories. He is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, and a multiple winner of the Edgar, Shamus and Maltese Falcon awards. He can be reached at Lawbloc@aol.com.
Dianna Booher has published thirty-seven books, including Communicate with Confidence, Worth of a Woman’s Words and Well Connected. Several have been book club selections. Her works have been translated into seven languages and several software, video and audio series. Booher Consultants offers keynotes and training on life balance/productivity and communication (written, oral, interpersonal, gender). Contact information: www.booherconsultants.com or call 817-868-1200.
Catharine Bramkamp lives in the wine country in northern California. She has a background in video and radio production, and experience as an on-air radio personality. She has published more than 300 newspaper and magazine articles, and lectures on fundraising on the Internet and Web design for nonprofit organizations. Despite the title, her website www.missbehaved.com does not capitalize on the #1 content found on the Web.
Kate M. Brausen has written news features, essays and fiction for various newspapers and magazines, and coauthored two business management books. She and her brother were diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as young children. Kate pursued an active business management career in publishing prior to her current writing profession.
Claire Braz-Valentine lives in Capitola, CA. She works with incarcerated writers through the Arts-in-Correction Program. She is a widely published poet, playwright and columnist. Her plays on Frida Kahlo, Susan B. Anthony and Amelia Earhart have been produced worldwide. She can be reached at Cbrazvalen@.aol.com.
Gordon Burgett has had eighteen books and 1,600-plus articles published, and twenty-five audio cassette programs produced. He currently speaks nationwide about the topic of his latest book, How to Create Your Own Super Second Life: What Are You Going to Do with Your Extra 30 Years? He hides at sops@fix.net and www.agemasters.com.
Dame Barbara Cartland, D.B.E.D.St.J., who passed away May 21, 2000, has written and published 723 books which have sold one billion copies. The Guinness Book of World Records named her the “Best Selling Author in the World.” She holds the world’s record for having published twenty-three books a year for twenty-one years straight. She has been published in every country of the world. She has been called the world’s best-known author of romantic fiction.
Judith A. Chance is a full-time writer who lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband, Larry, and two children, Joseph and Hailey. Author of three humorous middle-grade fiction novels, she is writing a humorous adult nonfiction book. She would like to grow up to be a combination of Erma Bombeck and Dave Barry; considering that she is forty-two and female, she has her work cut out for her. You can contact Judith by e-mail at jchance@telusplanet.net.
Christine Clifford is CEO/President of The Cancer Club, a company marketing humorous and helpful products for people with cancer. Author of two award-winning books, Not Now . . . I’m Having a No Hair Day! and Our Family Has Cancer Too!, Christine’s work has been featured on CNN Live, Leeza, Lifetime Television, and in or on more than 500 magazines, newspapers and radio stations. She can be reached at 800-586-9062; 6533 Limerick Drive, Edina, MN 55439; or by e-mail at canclub@primenet.com or her website at www.cancerclub.com.
Barnaby Conrad, an O. Henry Prize short story winner, has authored twenty-seven books, including Matador, Hemingway‘s Spain, The Complete Guide to Writing Fiction and Name Dropping!, the story of his San Francisco saloon. He wrote a Playhouse 90 script for John Frankenheimer, the screenplay for John Steinbeck’s Flight and a Broadway play from his novel, Dangerfield. New books are: Learning to Write Fiction from the Masters and The World of Herb Caen. He is the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference.
Bryce Courtenay, an Australian novelist, exploded on the literary scene with his international bestseller The Power of One, which was translated into eleven languages and became a successful movie. His other novels Tandia, April Fool’s Day, The Potato Factory (now a miniseries), Tommo & Hawk and his latest, Jessica, were also bestsellers. To reach Bryce, contact Bob Sessions, Penguin Books, 487 Maroondah Highway, Ringwod Victoria 3134, Australia. Phone: 03 9871 2400; fax: 03 9879 2791; e-mail: robert.sessions@penguin.com.au.
Chet Cunningham was born in Nebraska, blown out of the dust bowl, and moved to Oregon, where he was graduated from Pacific University. After two years in the army, he received his M.S. degree in Journalism from Columbia University in New York. As a freelance writer, he is closing in on 300 published novels. He married Rose Marie Wilhoit and has a grown son and daughter. He now lives in San Diego where he writes seven days a week.
Lois Duncan is the award-winning author of numerous magazine articles and forty-five books. Several of her teenage suspense novels, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, were made into movies. She is also the author of Who Killed My Daughter?, the true story of the murder of Kaitlyn Arquette, the youngest of Duncan’s five children.
Elizabeth Engstrom is the author of six books and more than seventy short stories, articles and essays, editor of two anthologies and publisher of two works of fiction. She is a sought-after instructor and speaker, teaching fiction since 1987. She is the coordinator of the Maui Writers Retreat and Director of their Continuing Education program.
Richard Paul Evans is the bestselling author of The Christmas Box, Timepiece and The Letter which complete The Christmas Box Trilogy. His other bestsellers include The Locket and The Looking Glass as well as two children’s books, The Dance and The Christmas Candle, which received the 1998 American Mothers’ Book Award. There are currently more than 10 million copies of his books in print.
Howard Fast, over a 67-year writing career, has produced more than seventy-five books, along with mystery novels (under the pseudonym E.V. Cunningham), science-fiction, innumerable newspaper and magazine articles, short stories, plays, screenplays and poetry. Among his best-known novels are Spartacus, Citizen Tom Paine, Freedom Road, April Morning, The Last Frontier and Redemption.
Terri Fields is a teacher and writer. She was named Arizona Teacher of the Year in 1986 and is part of the twenty-member 1999 All USA TODAY Teacher Team. She has written fifteen books, and her books have been nominated for awards in three states. Though her son Jeff is now grown up, his name still appears somewhere in each of the books she writes for children.
Barbara Jeanne Fisher, a prolific writer living in Fremont, Ohio, has been published in numerous magazines and in several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, including Women’s Soul, Single Soul, Writer’s Soul, and the upcoming Sister’s Soul. Her first novel, Stolen Moments, was based upon her experience in dealing with lupus in her own life. Her writing goal is to reach out from her heart to touch the hearts of others.
Ernest J. Gaines has written eight novels, including The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Gathering of Old Men and A Lesson Before Dying, which became an HBO movie, winning two Emmys for Best Drama and Best Script. He received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, was named a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), and elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Pat Gallant has written for The Saturday Evening Post, Writer’s Digest, The New Press Literary Quarterly and Poet Magazine. A former columnist, she was a finalist in the 1991 PEN Syndicated Fiction Project and one of seven finalists to the grand prize in the 1999 William Faulkner Literary Competition. She can be reached at 212-886-1818 or by writing to P.O. Box 42, Cathedral Station, New York, NY 10025.
Garri Garripoli is the author of two books, including Qigong: Essence of the Healing Dance, and many television scripts. A Harley-riding producer, director, Qigong instructor, and entrepreneur, he is CEO of WellRing.com, which provides complementary healthcare programs, services and products via the Web, television, and wellness centers worldwide. He can be contacted at 2060 Queen Street East, Suite 10, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E 3V7; e-mail: garri@wujiproductions.com or www.wellring.com.
Sue Grafton entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of, ‘A’ Is for Alibi, introducing female hard-boiled detective, Kinsey Millhone. The fifteenth novel, ‘O’ Is for Outlaw appeared in 1999. At the current rate, she will complete the series in the year 2015, give or take a decade.
Reg Green is a former journalist, who worked for England’s (Manchester) Guardian, The (London) Times and The Daily Telegraph. In the U.S., he was head of public information for the Investment Company Institute in Washington, D.C., then moved to Bodega Bay, California. He is author of the bestseller The Nicholas Effect, the story of his son’s death and how loss and tragedy were transformed into acts of love and hope.
Frances Halpern, a seasoned print and broadcast journalist, hosts “Connections,” a lively Saturday morning radio show in southern California, where authors, poets, editors, agents and screenwriters share their triumphs and failures. She is the author of Writer’s Guide to Publishing in the West (Pinnacle). Her weekly column “Words & Images” ran for six years in the Los Angeles Times. She is currently working on a memoir.
Edmund Hansen retired after a thirty-one-year career at the University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh. He writes for a hobby while promoting AIDS awareness. Those affected by AIDS may want to read his book, A Father’s Story. Contact him at 1011 Norfork Island Court, Sun City Center, Florida 33573 or at www.aidskilledmyson.com.
Amy B. Harris, with her late husband, psychiatrist Thomas A. Harris, M.D., coauthored I’m OK—You’re OK, which sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into twenty-five languages. A sequel, Staying OK, was also published by Harper & Row. A former newspaper and magazine editor, columnist, reporter and a governor’s press secretary, she continues her writing today at 1951 Empire Oaks Court, Gold River, CA 95670.
Johnny Hart created his comic strip, B.C., in 1958. Today B.C., distributed by Creator Syndicate, Inc., is featured in 1,300 newspapers worldwide, bringing laughter to more than 100 million readers. Hart has won numerous awards, including Best Humor Strip in America, The Reuben, and Cartoonist of the Year (National Cartoonists Society); and the Seger Award (King Features). Hart draws B.C. in his Endicott, N.Y., studio.
Frank Harvey wrote hundreds of magazine articles, many to the major magazines, and five books, four of them novels. A former war correspondent and world traveler, the late Mr. Harvey lived in Hackettstown, NJ and spent much of his free time flying—including advanced aerobatics.
Meg Hill is a wife, parent, teacher, school counselor and writer. She has written numerous articles, stories, poems, educational materials and teen novels. “Children and teenagers,” she said, “don’t let you grow old.” The theme of all her writing is: “Let’s get on with the business of living.”
Dierdre W. Honnold is a teacher, artist, musician, orchestra conductor, tour guide, linguist—but finds parenting and writing the most rewarding. More than 100 of her articles and essays have been published on four continents. Her books, fiction and nonfiction, have won many awards. Write her at: wordintl@.calweb.com.
Valerie Hutchins lives with her husband Mark and their two children, Kelly and Jake, in Sacramento, California. She is a freelance writer and illustrator. She is also an avid motorcyclist. She enjoys contact with readers and can be reached through her e-mail address at: argus@inreach.com.
Cheewa James is a master storyteller, writer, professional speaker and trainer. Throughout her keynote “Climb Off Dead Horses” and other presentations, she emphasizes finding balance in life and accepting change. Enrolled with the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, Cheewa often draws from Native American thought for illustration. Reach her at www.cheewa.com for her speaking topics, training subjects, books and articles.
Catherine Lanigan is the bestselling author of Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, Tender Malice and Wings of Destiny. She is the creator of the “evolving woman,” a new breed of heroine, who makes choices that enrich her internally, and, as a result, enrich the world around her as well. Lanigan drew upon her own life experiences to create this amalgam, and she does so from a perspective that is as passionate as it is personal.
Gregg Levoy, author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life and This Business of Writing, is a former adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Mexico, and former reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Omni, Psychology Today, Reader’s Digest and others. E-mail him at callings@gregglevoy.com.
Art Linkletter, a television and radio star for more than sixty years, performed in two of the longest-running shows in broadcast history—House Party, which ran on daytime CBS TV and radio for twenty-five years, and People Are Funny, which ran on nighttime NBC TV and radio for nineteen years and won two Emmy Awards. Kids Say the Darnest Things—one of the top fourteen bestsellers in American publishing history and number one for two consecutive years— is one of twenty-four books Art has written. His most recent national bestseller is Old Age Is Not for Sissies.
Patricia Lorenz has stories in many Chicken Soup for the Soul books (2nd Helping, 3rd Serving, 4th Course, 6th Bowl, Woman‘s Soul, Single Soul, Unsinkable Soul, Christian Family Soul and Writer‘s Soul). She’s the author of two books and more than 400 articles in such magazines as Reader’s Digest, Guideposts, Working Mother, Woman’s World and Single-Parent Family. She is a newspaper columnist and an inspirational speaker. You may contact her at 7457 S. Pennsylvania Avenue, Oak Creek, WI 53154. For speaking engagements contact Associated Speakers, Inc. at 800-437-7577.
Kris Mackay lives in Sacramento, CA. She claims her middle name is “Try Something New.” She has served as an editorial steno with the Sacramento Bee, a stewardess with United Airlines and secretary of Mitchell Junior High. She is the author of five books and countless articles. She and her late husband Ed traveled extensively, living in Switzerland twice. She can be contacted at KMackay525@.aol.com.
Garry K. Marshall is a writer, producer, director and actor. In the four decades since his career began, he has produced fourteen television series, directed eleven feature films, including Runaway Bride, and written three produced plays. His autobiography Wake Me When It’s Funny, released in 1995 by Adams Publishing, was written with his daughter Lori.
Jennifer Martin is a writer, speaker, educator and television producer living in Roseville, California. Along with Rosemary Dean, she is the coauthor of The Angels Speak: Secrets from the Other Side. She is working on her first novel. E-mail: bgardner@calweb.com.
Terry McMillan published two novels, MAMA and Disappearing Acts before compiling an anthology of contemporary African-American fiction titled Breaking Ice. She then wrote two novels that hit the New York Times bestseller list: Waiting to Exhale (Viking, 1992) staying for thirty-eight weeks, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (Viking, 1996) for twenty-one weeks. She cowrote the screenplays for both movies. Her new novel, A Day Late and a Dollar Short, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2000. She is also is a syndicated columnist for the New York Times.
Dan Millman, a past world trampoline champion, coach and college professor, is author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior, The Life You Were Born to Live and nine other books that have inspired millions of people in twenty-two languages, including leaders in the fields of health, business, education, sports, politics, entertainment and the arts. He is coeditor of the forthcoming book Chicken Soup for Body and Soul. To submit a story—or for more information about Dan’s work—visit his website: www.danmillman.com.
Ruben Navarrette Jr., a graduate of Harvard and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, has published more than 300 articles, editorials, and essays, hosted radio shows in three markets and lectured around the country. He is the author of A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano (Bantam), a former columnist for the Arizona Republic, and a contributor to the Los Angeles Times. He can be reached at: www.navarrette.com.
Erik Olesen, a licensed psychotherapist and a BCIA certified biofeedback trainer, has spoken to or consulted for more than one hundred organizations throughout the United States. His award-winning book, Mastering the Winds of Change, a Book-of-the-Month selection, was published in foreign editions in Europe, Asia and South America. He has written many magazine articles and a picture book for children, The Little Sailboat and the Big Storm. He maintains an office in Auburn, CA. His phone: 530-885-2673.
Philip Barry Osborne—a former writer for Time magazine and CBS, a former Senior Writer for Business Week, author of The War Business Must Win (McGraw-Hill), a member of the Academy of American Poets and a published poet, and most recently, former Assistant Managing Editor at Reader’s Digest—is now writing full time. He won a Loeb Award, two John Hancock Awards and a National Magazine Award. He lives with his wife Fran and their two rambunctious dogs in Chappaqua, NY.
Suzanne Peppers lives on a small ranch in Placerville, CA, with her husband, Sacramento Sheriff’s Lt. Cliff Peppers. They have two grown sons. She coauthored a syndicated column “The Generation Rap” with her mother for nine years, worked in television for sixteen years and now owns Peppers Productions, a video production company.
Gene Perret is a three-time Emmy winner for his work on The Carol Burnett Show writing staff. Gene has also written for Bob Hope since 1969, several of those years as his head writer. He traveled with Hope on his military shows to Beirut, the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia and on his Final Tour around the world. Presently, Gene writes a monthly humor column for Arizona Highways. He has written more than twenty books on humor, including the top-selling book in the field, Comedy Writing Step by Step.
Phyllis Taylor Pianka, a bestselling author, has published twenty novels with twenty-two foreign translations. Her latest novel is The Thackery Jewels trilogy. She teaches writing classes on the Internet and lectures at colleges and meetings across the country. Her text, How to Write Romances, is in its eighth printing. Her e-mail: ptpianka@aol.com.
George Plimpton, the editor of the literary journal, The Paris Review, is the author of numerous books, many with a sports background, including Out of My League, Paper Lion, The Bogey Man and Shadow Box. His latest book is an oral biography on author Truman Capote and The Writer’s Chapbook, a compendium of fact, opinion, wit and advice from the twentieth century’s preeminent writers.
Gregory Poirier, raised by hippies on Maui, attended the USC School of Theatre and the UCLA film school. His screenwriting credits include Warner Brother’s Gossip and Rosewood for which he won the Paul Selvin Award from the Writers Guild of America. He has done uncredited rewrites on such films as Disney’s Mission to Mars and Gone in 60 Seconds. He will direct his first feature film this year. Mr. Poirier lives in Santa Monica, CA, with his wife, Jana, and his two sons, William and Joseph.
Penny Porter, a veteran freelancer for the Reader’s Digest, has been published in Arizona Highways, Nevada Magazine, Catholic Digest, Guideposts and many other magazines. She has stories in five of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books with more scheduled. She is the author of five books including The Keymaker, a novel for grades 4 to 12, and Heartstrings and Tail-Tuggers (1999), her first illustrated collection of true stories. She is the current director of the Society of Southwestern Authors conference.
Cookie Potter, who writes mainly for Guideposts, Angels on Earth, Reader’s Digest and the cat magazines, wrote her first book Growing Up in My Childhood Paradise while in her twenties. She was the garden editor for the San Francisco Chronicle and west coast editor of Parents Magazine. For years, she taught creative writing to eight-year-olds.
Dan Poynter, the author of eighty books including The Self-Publishing Manual now in its twelfth printing, is a frequent speaker, successful publisher and renowned book-publishing consultant. He is leading the book-writing revolution, revealing how writers can make more money, get to press sooner and keep control of their work. Contact him at www.ParaPublishing.com. He lives in Santa Barbara, CA.
Hugh Prather was called “an American Kahlil Gibran” by the New York Times. Although a minister, columnist and radio talk-show host, he is best known as the author of fifteen books. His latest—from Conari Press—is the Little Book of Letting Go. Hugh can be contacted at www.prathernotes.com.
Marcia Preston is editor and publisher of ByLine, a national magazine for writers (www.bylinemag.com). She writes a “Final Draft” column for ByLine. She is also an active freelancer and novelist, living in Oklahoma.
Marilyn Pribus has more than 725 sales of fiction and nonfiction to magazines and newspapers worldwide. A freelance editor, she has edited a number of successful books; some were sold to publishing houses, many were self-published. Her e-mail address is: pribus@compuserve.com.
Tom Prisk has been a published cartoonist and illustrator since 1977. He has been published in The Saturday Evening Post (including The Best Cartoons), Woman’s World, Reader’s Digest, Yankee Magazine, Today’s Christian Woman, Leadership (including Best Cartoons), Writer’s Digest and ByLine magazine.
Nora Profit is an investigative journalist and freelance writer whose articles have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Magazine and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). She is currently working on a book about the plight of the families of America’s condemned—men who are incarcerated. She can be contacted at 5005 Arden Way, Paradise, CA 95969. Phone: 530-877-2292. E-mail: noraprofitross@msn.com or noraprofit@journalist.com.
Michele Bazan Reed is a public relations professional and writer of fiction, nonfiction and haiku. She dedicates “Cash Rewards” to her father, Bill Bazan, “one of the greatest storytellers and letter writers I have ever known.” She and her husband, Bill Reed, have a son and daughter, Mike and Katie, and live in Oswego, NY. Michele can be reached at bazanreed@hotmail.com.
Ed Robertson is the author of The Fugitive Recaptured, Maverick: Legend of the West, and This Is Jim Rockford/The Rockford Files, and also coauthor of The Ethics of Star Trek. He has collaborated on projects ranging from professional memoirs to books on writing and technique. Read more about Ed’s work at www.edrobertson.com or contact him at edsweb@slip.net.
Noel Phillip Rodriguez, a genuine troubadour, once took to collecting beaches the way most people might collect shells. He is a poet, novelist, painter, architect . . . prince, pauper, pirate and priest. He lived in Bali, Barbados and Baja, then spent years living with the Native Americans of Arizona. Now based in southern California, he has dedicated his story to the memory of Baron Munchausen, and all others who dare to think for themselves. E-mail him at varunadas@yahoo.com.
Gail Rosenblum is a journalist, essayist and public speaker. She is the mother of three young children. Her essay, “A Final Letter to a Father,” appeared in A Second Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul. To contact her for speaking engagements or to read more of her essays, visit her website: www.dealingwith.com.
Leigh Rubin created the cartoon panel, Rubes, in 1979. Distributed by Creators Syndicate, Rubes appears in more than 400 newspapers worldwide. U.S. newspapers include the Philadelphia Daily News, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Columbus Dispatch, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Newsday and the Orlando Sentinel.
Charles Schulz, the late cartoonist of the comic strip PEANUTS, made an inexorable contribution to our cultural landscape for fifty years, enthralling the world with his magical microcosmic world of a group of wise-beyond-their-years children and their beloved dog, Snoopy.
Connie Shelton authors the Charlie Parker mystery series, set in Albuquerque, NM. A commercial hot air balloon pilot, Shelton holds a women’s world altitude record. She has been featured in Who ‘s Who and The World Who‘s Who of Women. Her short stories have won several awards. Website: www.connieshelton.com.
Bob Thaves created the comic strip, Frank & Ernest, in 1972. The strip, winner of three Reuben awards from the National Cartoonists Society, appears in over 1,200 newspapers worldwide. Thaves, a former industrial psychologist, lives in California with his wife, Katie. You can see much more Frank & Ernest at www.frankandernest.com.
John Tullius is the Director of the Maui Writers Conference. He is the author of fourteen books including I’d Rather Be a Yankee, The Science Digest Book of Halley‘s Comet, and Once a Cowboy, and is the coauthor of the national bestselling novels Body of a Crime and Against the Law. He has also written scores of articles for dozens of magazines including Cosmopolitan, Playboy and Town and Country, and was a contributing editor for Tennis magazine.
Irving Wallace, after writing political articles, biographical profiles, human-interest stories, and fiction for the leading national magazines, turned to writing bestsellers—sixteen novels and seventeen nonfiction works—which sold more than 250 million copies around the world. The notable books of the late Mr. Wallace include The Chapman Report, The Prize, The Man, The Word, The R Document and The Plot.
Dottie Walters—author, consultant, and international speaker—is president of Walter International Speakers Bureau, and editor/publisher of Sharing Ideas magazine for speakers, meeting planners and speakers’ bureau owners. She is the founder of the Speakers Bureau Owners Association, IGAB, author with her daughter Lilly Walters of Speak & Grow Rich (Prentice Hall) and producer of audio albums. She can be contacted by phone 626-335-8069; fax 626-335-6127; or e-mail: dottie@walters-intl.com.
Naida West left careers in academia and lobbying to write history novels. Her River of Red Gold, according to West American Literature Journal, is “a gripping story firmly rooted in historical research, reads with the power of good fiction.” Likewise, her second novel Eye of the Bear, out in 2000, tells another important, untold story of the West.
Larry Wilde is a motivational humorist whose unique background as a former stand-up comedian, television actor and author of fifty-three bestselling books shines through on the platform. He speaks at conferences and conventions demonstrating why a healthy sense of humor is essential to success in today’s world. E-mail: larrywilde@aol.com. Website: www.larrywilde.com.
Josie Willis’s voice has sung in the whimsical: Frog Pond newsletter; the practical: Florida Gardening; and the serious in numerous national poetry publications. She is currently working on her life’s goal, a book about child abuse. Write her at 2602 Seacrest Blvd., Delray Beach, FL 33444; e-mail: josiewillis2000@yahoo.com.
Tom Wilson launched his cartoon, Ziggy, America’s lovable hapless hero, in 1971 in fifteen newspapers. Ziggy now appears in 600 newspapers, countless books and calendars, and in more than 50 million greeting cards purchased each year. The televised animation special, “Ziggy’s Gift,” won an Emmy for “Outstanding Animated Special.”
Marvin J. Wolf was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant while serving with the First Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam, where he shot hundreds of people, mostly at 1/250@F11. His FBI file is said to be better reading than his nine books and hundreds of magazine articles. He can be reached at http://come.to/marvwolf.