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Jay Allison is an independent broadcast journalist. His work airs on NPR's *All Things Considered* and *Morning Edition*, PRI's *This American Life*, and other national programs. He is well-known for his role as the curator and producer of *This I Believe* on NPR, and is co-editor of the bestselling books based on the series. He was the 1996 recipient of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding contributions to public radio, the industry's highest honor. In 2002, he received the Public Radio News Directors' Leo C. Lee Award for lasting commitment to public radio journalism. Allison is co-producer of *Lost & Found Sound* and *The Sonic Memorial Project* and *Hidden Kitchens* (with the Kitchen Sisters), *The Miles Davis Radio Project* (with Steve Rowland & Quincy Troupe), *Beyond Affliction: The Disability History Project* (with Laurie Block), *Stories from the Heart of the Land* (with Emily Botein), and many other series, including *Life Stories* (with Christina Egloff). For ABC *News Nightline*, Allison worked as a solo-crew--shooting, reporting, and producing half-hour television specials. Ted Koppel has called him "a journalist in the finest tradition." He is the Executive Director of Atlantic Public Media (APM), a non-profit organization he founded to create a public radio service for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, in collaboration with WGBH-Boston. Locally, Allison hosts a weekly 4-hour "documentary DJ" program called Arts & Ideas. Allison is a founder of the Association of Independents in Radio and the originator and host of online forums for public broadcasting. Currently, Allison is working with The Moth in New York City to develop a new series for public radio.

Why I love writing erotica. Born in Aurora, Illinois, reared in New Orleans, Louisiana, throughout high school I was very shy and extremely curious about many things in life. English was my favorite subject and experiencing my first orgasm was my greatest discovery about my body. Writing allowed me to express what I would not say. Having sex at the age of 14, I desperately wanted someone to love me. It's not funny, rather strange, because at that time I didn't know the meaning of love. Love is a noun. It's a thing. How does one find and when does one lose . . . love? I got pregnant at 14, miscarried at 15, and experienced my first orgasm at 16. From our front door, through our shotgun home to the back door, no one, and I mean no one ever whispered let alone spoke openly about sex or love. So I had to figure out on my own what this phenomenon folks were raving about meant to me. Relationship 101 or should I say, "One on one?" I married at 21, gave birth to our son at 22, separated at 23, and divorced at 24. Like growing up in that shotgun house at 2118 Second Street in New Orleans, I journeyed a parallel path that didn't require me think about which door to open or shut. Having my son gave me someone to unconditionally love . . . eternally. I met my soul mate when I was 24 and we dated for I say 5 he says 7 years. It probably felt like 7 years to him. After we parted I decided to write a novel inspired by but not based upon our relationship. Seven years would pass before I wrote, Soul Mates Dissipate under my birth name, Mary B. Morrison. The juxtaposed dichotomy of love and sex intrigues me. In my writings you will find love or the lack there of is the underlying motivation for my characters' rational and moreso irrational behavior. I earned an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from Vista (now Berkeley) Community College and I've worked 18 years for the government (14 of those years for Housing and Urban Development). I was a GS-14 with a non-competitive GS-15. Translating that to dollars that made sense, I earned nearly six-figures when I resigned on June 3, 2000, withdrew my retirement, self-publish Soul Mates Dissipate, and am excited about doing my first movie. God is great and I am truly grateful . . . for you. Thanks for supporting me. I mean that from my heart to yours. Sexcapades is my ninth novel and my first erotica book published under my pen name, HoneyB. Between the pages, the lines, the lies, and lives of each character, I hope you'll find love.

Eugene Robinson, is a self-described polymath in the best of all possible ways, jacking all trades and mastering a ton. While his articles have appeared in *GQ*, *The Wire*, *EQ*, *Harp*,* Plan B*, *Grappling*, the *LA Weekl*y, *HUH*, *Vice Magazine*, *SF Weekly*, *Raygun*, *Code*, *Decibel*, *Art Forum*, *Corporate Computing*, *Highways*, *MaclLife*, *Hustler*, and a handful of European music magazines, Robinson is also a habitue of stage and screen. Scoring appearances with the likes of Bill Cosby, director Gus Van Sant, interviews with Chris Rock, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel Jackson, and an MTV-Style show on German Viva TV and going on to work with Lydia Lunch, Richard Kern, Marianne Faithfull, Henry Rollins and Steve Albini, the 6'1", 235 pound Robinson, former bouncer, 1998 CAAT Heavyweight Men's Sanshou Champ, 2nd place overall and first place divisional 2003 California Submission Fighting champ, is no stranger to confrontation. His chapter in O'Reilly Traveler's *Tales series on Death*, as well as his brief appearances in Feral Press's *Apocalypse Culture* and Susie Bright's *The Best American Erotica*, marks him as a dangerous and compelling read.

In April, 2002 Dr. Jeffrey P. Bonner was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Saint Louis Zoo. He served as President and CEO of the Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens from 1993 to 2002 and before that was Director of Exhibits and Programs at the St. Louis Science Center. Dr. Bonner received his B.A. in anthropology from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1975. He received his M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in anthropology from Columbia University in 1977 and 1979, along with his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1982. He is a Burgess Fellow, Traveling Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, President's Fellow and a recipient of the National Research Service Award. Dr. Bonner is the author of numerous articles, has written several books including *Sailing with Noah*, an insider's look at modern zoos. He serves on numerous national and international boards including the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of IUCN (the World Conservation Union), and ISIS (the International Species Information System.) He chairs the Madagascar Fauna Group, an international consortium of 39 zoos and related institutions, and is a council member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Elizabeth Strout is the author of *Abide with Me*, a national bestseller and Book Sense pick, and *Amy and Isabelle*, which won* the Los Angeles Times* Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and *the Chicago Tribune* Heartland Prize. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including *The New Yorker* and *O: The Oprah Magazine*. She is on the faculty of the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and lives in New York City.

Gene Baur grew up in Hollywood, California and worked in television, film and commercials, including some for McDonald's and other fast food restaurants. Today, he campaigns to raise awareness about the negative consequences of industrialized factory farming and our cheap food system. He lives in rural New York state and is the co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, America's leading farm animal protection organization. Gene holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University Northridge and a master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University. He played a significant role in passing the first U.S. laws to prohibit cruel farming systems including the Florida ban on gestation crates, the Arizona ban on veal and gestation crates, and the California and Chicago bans on foie gras. His efforts have been covered by leading news organizations, including The New York Times, The Larry King Show, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN. His book, entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food, was published by Simon and Schuster in March, 2008 and has become a National best-seller.

Dr. Kathleen Hall is the nationally recognized stress and work-life balance expert, founder of The Stress Institute, the Mindful Living Network and the founder and chief executive officer of Alter Your Life. Dr. Hall has studied under some of the world's greatest leaders in spirituality and medicine, including Nobel Peace Prize winners President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. As a member of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, she has spent the past decade directing a cardiac rehabilitation program focusing on stress management.