| Author | Biography | Book Cover(s) |
|---|---|---|
Ellen Craine | Grief and Loss Expert Ellen Craine is a licensed clinical and macro social worker in the State of Michigan, founder of Craine Counseling and Consulting Group, and has over 25 years of experience working with couples, families, groups, and individuals in a variety of capacities. She has been a divorce and family mediator and parenting coordinator, working with high-conflict parents to improve their ability to co-parent more effectively. She is a relationship and life coach and therapist, incorporating the science of success with her social work experience. Ellen is a #1 International Bestselling author of Women Who Dream, Women Who Empower, and Leading with Legacy. All are in the Kate Butler’s Impact Book Series. Ellen writes on the topics of childhood cancer, her breast cancer journey, the loss of her husband to a brain tumor––and how to rise above the challenges presented by life. She is a Co-Associate Producer of the documentary, Authentic Conversations: Deep Talk with the Masters, written, directed, and produced by LA Emmy-nominated Dr. Angela Sadler Williamson. Ellen is a co-coordinating producer on the documentary, Authentic Conversations: Voices Rise in Unity, also written, directed, and produced by LA Emmy-nominated Dr. Angela Sadler Williamson. This is a documentary about social justice and pays tribute to the civil rights icon, Rosa Parks. | |
Brenda E. Bentley | What started as a hobby during her children’s teen years turned into a passion project for Brenda E. Bentley who wrote River Walks Ann Arbor; Walking Loops Along the Huron River. She spent many days poring over historical maps at the Bentley Library, and many, many days exploring on foot all the streets of Ann Arbor to design pleasing walking loops. Brenda got to know the trees of the city and its wonderful pioneer history. During this time, she fell in love with the ice-age history of the surface geology of Michigan. She decided to make the moraines and river a central theme of the book, interlaced with one-page stories of cultural history. Since the book project, Brenda has continued to explore and learn about the wonderful glacial deposits covering Michigan. She has a rudimentary Youtube channel, Brenda Ellen Bentley, on which (for example) she posts videos focussed on the glacial remains seen from the Kiwanis Rail Trail between Tecumseh and Adrian. She and her husband moved to Ann Arbor in 1992, raised their children there, and now are delighted to be grandparents. They also carry the agony of losing their beautiful 18-year-old son in 2007. They look daily toward spiritual sources of strength along this rugged path. |  |
Sondra Soderborg | I am a children's book writer. I have had many careers, including lawyer, teacher, and stay-at-home parent. All of that work has shaped and informed what I bring to writing. But finally finding the teachers and colleagues who helped me learn to write fiction has been a great joy in my life. I came to Ann Arbor from Salt Lake City in 1986 to attend the University of Michigan Law School. My husband and I were lucky enough to stay and raise our three great kids here. Erin Murphy of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency represents me. My debut novel, Sky Ropes, is published by Chronicle Books. |  |
Devika Dibya Choudhuri | Devika Dibya Choudhuri is a Professor of Counseling at Eastern Michigan University. A Professional Counselor (MI/CT), Board-Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor, and Certified EMDR Therapist. She has 20 years of clinical experience with refugees, immigrant and multicultural populations, as well as trauma survivors of violence, sexual assault, grief, and loss. Her scholarship focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access issues in counseling, supervision and pedagogy. She served as Director and Chair on the National Board of Certified Counselors from 2009-2015, the Minority Fellowship Advisory Council from 2015-2018, and as President of the Association for Specialists in Group Work in 2020. She is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, the Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, and a Reviewer for Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. She is a recipient of several awards and a 2015 American Counseling Association Fellow. | |
Andre F. Peltier | Andre F. Peltier (he/him) is a Pushcart and Best of the Net Nominee and a Lecturer III at Eastern Michigan University where he teaches writing and a wide variety of literature classes. He lives in Ypsilanti with his wife, children, dog and turtles. His poetry has recently appeared in various publications like CP Quarterly, Lavender and Lime Review, About Place, Novus Review, Fiery Scribe, and Fahmidan Journal, and most recently in Menacing Hedge, The Brazos Review, and Idle Ink. His debut poetry collection, Poplandia, is available from Alien Buddha. In his free time, he obsesses over soccer and comic books. |  |
Patricia Majher | Patricia Majher is a museum professional and an author of three books on Michigan history as well as a tour guide focused on her adopted hometown, Ann Arbor. One of her history books -- Great Girls in Michigan History -- won a Michigan Notable Book Award in 2016. Majher is also a past editor of Michigan History magazine, and a graduate of Central Michigan University (BA journalism) and Eastern Michigan University (MS historic preservation, emphasis on museum studies). She operates a museum consulting business called Majher Museum Marketing. | |
Amy Emberling | Amy Emberling has been an avid food lover and baker since her childhood in Nova Scotia, Canada. After high school, she moved to Cambridge, MA, and received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. She then followed her passion for food and learned to cook and bake at L’ecole de Gastronomie Francaise at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France and Michigan restaurants. In 1999 she received her MBA from Columbia University. Amy came to Zingerman’s Bakehouse when it opened in 1992 as one of the original bakers on the staff of eight. She soon became the first manager of the bread bakery, and then the manager of the pastry kitchen. In 2000, Amy became Managing Partner at Zingerman’s Bakehouse. She is the co-author of the cookbook Zingerman’s Bakehouse. As well as teaching at BAKE! Amy presents for ZingTrain on business practices. A few of the Bakehouse items she is personally responsible for developing are the Old School Apple Pie, Buenos Aires Brownies, and our Gingerbread Coffee Cake. In addition to developing items, Amy is a promoter of classic bakery favorites from many cultures and has brought traditional standards to the Bakehouse such as Paris Brest, Hummingbird Cake, and Dobos Torta. Amy lives in Ann Arbor with her husband Geoff, their two grown children, Jake and Ruby, daughter in-law Emily and grandson Miles. |  |
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes | Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is an Ann Arbor-based Puerto Rican writer. He is author of Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) and of Escenas transcaribeñas: Ensayos sobre teatro, performance y cultura (Isla Negra Editores, 2018) and coeditor with Deborah R. Vargas and Nancy Raquel Mirabal of Keywords for Latina/o Studies (New York University Press, 2017). His book Translocas: The Politics of Puerto Rican Drag and Trans Performance was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2021 as part of the Triangulations: Lesbian/Gay/Queer Theater/Drama/Performance series and received the 2021-2022 Sylvia Rivera Award in Transgender Studies from CLAGS, the Center for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of New York. He has published two books of fiction: Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails (Bilingual Press, 2009) and Abolición del pato (Terranova, 2013). He is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the former director and core faculty member of the Latina/o Studies Program. He is also Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of Women's and Gender Studies. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he received his AB from Harvard (1991) and his MA, MPhil, and PhD from Columbia (1999). He has coedited queer issues of CENTRO Journal, Sargasso, and Hostos Review/Revista Hostosiana and has published two books of fiction, Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails and Abolición del pato. Larry performs in drag as Lola von Miramar since 2010, and has appeared in several episodes of the YouTube series Cooking with Drag Queens. | |
Deb Pilutti | Deb Pilutti writes and illustrates books for children with humor and candor. She feels lucky to have a job where reading, playing with toys, and watching cartoons is considered “research.” Before becoming an author & illustrator, Deb was a graphic designer and created toys and packaging for Oliebollen.com as well as graphics for SeaWorld and Warner Brothers theme parks. Deb lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband, Tom, and Australian Shepard, Tater. She enjoys hiking, camping, reading and hanging out with friends and family. | |
Kathleen Vincenz | Kathleen Vincenz is a children's book author who enjoys writing about family, faith, warmth, and humor. She is the founder of Squirrels at the Door Publishing, a children's publishing outlet for middle grade novels and educational online content. She lives on a hill by a lake with her husband and woodland friends. In her other work, she is a technical writer and explains how to use software to solve engineering problems. | |
| Author | Biography | Book Cover(s) |
