Changing Lives Press Authors
Dr. Eric Weiss is the Co-Author of Educating Marston. Dr Weiss practices all aspects of plastic surgery including: breast reconstruction. He has recently incorporated Umbilical Cord Blood/Stem Cells into his practice after seeing the incredible healing properties in his son Marston. Born in Brunswick, Maine, he spent his early childhood in New York. His father was a physician and mother an active volunteer in his schools. Dr. Weiss graduated Magna Cum Laude from Davidson College with special attainments in chemistry. And attended Duke University Medical School.
Christine Weiss is the author of Educating Marston, a compelling memoir about a mother and son’s journey through autism. Chris was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts and is passionate about helping parents and children on the autism spectrum. She graduated from Clearwater high school and Florida State University with a BA of Science in “Food and Nutrition” as well as a minor in chemistry. Currently, Chris resides in Jacksonville, Florida.
Over his long investing career, Christopher Manske has helped many financial insiders and industry leaders to include Wall Street analysts, retiring investment advisors, and federal judges. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Manske has been praised, published, or quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Financial Advisor Magazine, and more. As a successful money manager and business owner, he’s enjoyed being a regular guest on both regional and national shows which can be heard via iTunes and iHeart Radio to include The Jim Bohannon Show, The Ozarks Today, The Entrepreneur’s Podcast Network, The Sales Whisperer, The Financial Quarterback, and others. His thoughts can be seen online at Yahoo! Finance, ThinkAdvisor, MSN.com, GoBankingRates.com, CEO World, Advisors Magazine, Home Business Magazine, Strategic Finance, Thrive Global, and many more. He was selected as a keynote speaker for the AARP and he and his team have addressed multiple companies such as Accenture and Boeing. Manske and his team have also worked directly with leaders at IBM, KPMG, GE, Microsoft, Exxon, and many others. Outside finance, Manske enjoys history and recently completed an award-winning restoration of a downtown building originally built in 1910.
John "Ace" Passmore, MD, is an eminent heart specialist, medical author and lecturer, novelist, pianist, and award-winning screenwriter with membership in Writer's Guild of America and Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. He has received numerous "Best Doctor" listings and honors including: AOA "Most Outstanding Faculty"; Joseph Whitehead "National Educator of Distinction"; John P. McGovern "Best Medical Professor"; and multiple resident teaching awards. Ace is also a nocturnal fictioneer who writes compelling stories for kids 9-90. His unlikey heroes rescue loved ones from evil doers of all stripes; discover that true magic is sparked by love; save Earth from a killer asteroid; and in the case of Red Stocking Society, form a secret club to promote the Santa spirit of global giving!
Phyllis Karas was satisfied with her literary career for 20 years. As a writer of young adult novels for Avon Books, Ms. Karas had a large, enthusiastic audience for whom she wrote humorous books that always had a serious subject woven into the humor. Phyllis even managed to write one adult novel, A Life Worth Fiction, as well as numerous magazine and newspaper pieces. When she wasn’t writing, Phyllis Karas was teaching writing at Boston University School of Journalism, where she is an adjunct professor. Along the way, she garnered a few writing awards, including the New England Press Association’s award for the Best Feature Story for a four part series of teenage pregnancy, and the Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Feature Writing for an article in Moment Magazine about kosher slaughter. Karas also wrote a regular column for the Boston Herald entitled “Living the Life: Wit, Wisdom, and Woe”. All in all, it was a pretty professionally satisfying life for Phyllis Karas.
However, a trip to Greece to celebrate her 30th wedding anniversary with her husband Jack changed all that. For it was on this trip where Phyllis Karas met Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos, Aristotle Onassis’s private secretary during his six-year marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Suddenly, the writer of young adult novels was being besieged by major publishers, one of whom paid $1,000,000.00 for the rights to her story about the memoirs of Onassis’s secretary. The finished book, The Onassis Women: An Eyewitness Account, by Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos with Phyllis Karas, was published on September 28, 1998 and has changed nearly every aspect of Karas’s personal and professional life. The book was the subject of a “Dateline NBC” story and Karas was subsequently interviewed by the New York Times, People, Vogue, Hard Copy and Extra, among others. Even the National Enquirer has featured her book, albeit without her consent. The book, re-titled Jackie O: The Onassis Years: Life After Camelot, was recently released as an eBook.
Phyllis Karas’ professional life took another turn, this time down a road she never expected to travel. A chance meeting with a gangster led her into the underground world of crime and her writing Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob, the story of a minor Irish mobster named Edward McKenzie, working under Boston mob boss James Whitey Bulger, who had been on the FBI Most Wanted List since 1994. From then on, she felt as if she had become the official biographer of the mob, evidenced by her next book. Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger’s South Boston Mob, which made the New York Times Best Seller List and is now available in paperback. Her coauthor on this book, Kevin Weeks, was Whitey Bulger’s top lieutenant for 25 years. The success of Brutal, and the countless stories that were omitted from that book, led her to write a book of fiction with Weeks, entitled Where’s Whitey about the realistic experiences of the mobster’s 16 years on the run. In an incredible example of truth trumping fiction, Whitey was captured two days after Where’s Whitey. Her book HUNTED DOWN: The FBI’S Pursuit and Capture of Whitey Bulger was published in July 2015.
When she is not writing about the world of crime, Phyllis Karas is most comfortable in the world of celebrities, where she wrote stories as a stringer for People magazine. One of her recent works, the memoir of academy award winner Louis Gossett Jr. titled An Actor and a Gentleman, was published by John Wiley & Son in May 1, 2010.
Karas’ newest book is WOMEN OF SOUTHIE: Finding Resilience During Whitey Bulger’s Infamous Reign.
Phyllis Karas is married to Jack Karas, a pulmonary physician, and is the mother of their two sons and the grandmother of three. She lives with her husband and balances her professional writing and teaching careers with her love of family, travel and sports.
Author and Workshop Creator Kat Cowley is giving Personal Development a personal touch. Lightly offering profound perspectives through life’s metaphors, she allows the parallels to speak softly to the hearts of readers.
Kat draws from her intimate interactions with those in her workshops to help readers sustain a tangible relationship with positivity in personal, sustainable doses.
For information on starting your own "Week to Strong" groups or future workshops please visit: www.katcowley.com.
Patrick Roth, M.D., is the Chairman of Neurosurgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and the director of its neurosurgical residency training program. Dr. Roth has practiced neurosurgery in New Jersey for the past twenty years. He has been a perennial recipient of Castle and Connolly “Top Doctors” and has been featured in New York Magazine’s “Best Doctors” and New Jersey Magazine’s “Top Doctors.”
Dr. Roth has authored numerous articles on the spine and been a contributing author in many neurosurgical publications. He also authors a blog that focuses on patient empowerment and the art, versus the science, of being a physician. The blog shares with the reader the perspective of a surgeon “without a scalpel.”
Dr. Roth lives in northern New Jersey with his wife, two chil- dren, and border collie. An avid athlete and tennis player, he has also competed in triathlons. His lifelong interest in fitness and diet has shaped his focus on minimally invasive and non-operative solutions to back pain.
Suzanne Krauss began her career as a junior film publicist for The Samuel Goldwyn Company. She then moved into magazine publishing for some of the largest brand names in the U.S., including YM and Cosmopolitan. She invented the fashion accessory, Zip-em in 2010 and is currently a marketing consultant. Suzanne lives in Fairfield County, CT with her husband and two children.
Steve Klausner is an award-winning creative director, screenwriter and essayist. He is the co-author of the MODERNCINÉ film Headspace, winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 2005 New York Horror Film Festival and Best Monster Movie at the 2006 San Francisco World Horror Convention. His original screenplay The Golem of Avenue B was chosen as an official selection of the Emerging Narratives section of the Independent Feature Project in New York City.
A specialist in media and entertainment advertising, Steve has created major campaigns in all media for ABC-TV, A&E, dozens of individual motion pictures, and authored a series of film directors’ biographies for Kodak Motion Picture Film, including Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. As the creative force behind numerous TV commercials, public service announcements, videos and online content (Mercedes-Benz, AT&T, the American Cancer Society, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Juvenile Diabetes Fund, Child Find), Steve has won many awards for both creativity and results, including the Advertising Emmy and the Clio.
He is also the film and book correspondent and critic for the magazine HaShiur, A Journal of Ideas. Steve has worked closely with many celebrities, most of whom still enjoy their positive profiles.
Feeling an unrest and dissatisfaction with the way her life was going, Jane increased her efforts to find a new direction. The search for meaning led her from church to church and from lecture to lecture.
Jane was involved with meditation, prayer and classes in spiritual exercises. She decided to try fasting as a means of strengthening her discipline. At this point, the letters began to arrive. Jane was surprised by their appearance and even more so when she was told that she would work with Anna Brown and that these letters were to be published in book form.
The letters themselves caused a great deal of soul searching and self analysis. At first, they were met with skepticism, fear, questions, disbelief. As mentors appeared who encouraged the sharing of the letters, they were able to accept what was happening.
By a series of events and circumstances which propelled the book forward the book went into several printings and was used in classes and seminars.
Anna passed away in 2005. Jane continues to believe in the love of God and the workings of spirit.
Fran Claro is a writer, editor, chef, baker and a long-time recipe archivist and creator. Her writing can be found in The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women and ongrandparents.com. She's nonna to 11 grandchildren and she lives in Westchester, NY, where she concocts Italian American feasts for her friends and family.
Beauty expert, activist & personal coach Kenetia Lee is one of America’s foremost professional makeup artists. She has worked at prestigious red carpet events. As a spokesperson for Revlon, Covergirl, Step Up Women's Network & numerous women's organizations, she has the privilege of sharing her unique perspective on the issues that women face regarding their beauty. Lee draws from her intimate interactions with women in her makeup chair to help each boldly & beautifully express her genuine self.
Author, producer, yogini Amy V. Dewhurst learned filmmaking from
legends including; Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Kirsten Sheridan
and Richard B. Lewis. To balance the demands of the fast-paced film
set lifestyle, Dewhurst began a disciplined yoga practice. She has
since helmed Sara Ivanhoe’s Yoganation, Mariel Hemingway’s M.
Hemingway Heritage and produced conscious content for OasisTV.
Dewhurst currently works in feature film development, produces Bhakti
Fest and is a contributing writer to magazines nationally. Amy
ascribes to the philosophy of her teacher, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi
"Just Love and Serve".
To learn more about Amy visit www.heartbreakyoga.com
Dr. Jayson and Mira Calton are among the world's leading experts on the topics of nutrition and micronutrient deficiency. Their consultancy has been highly sought after by top corporate executives and celebrities. In addition to their over two decades of nutritional research and practice, the Caltons have spent six years traveling to over 100 of the world's remote regions including New Guinea, the Brazilian and Ecuadorian Amazon, Tibet, Tunisia, India, China, and Indonesia to study first-hand the effects of micronutrient deficiency diseases.
To learn more about The Calton's visit www.caltonnutrition.com
William A. Donius spent nearly twenty of his thirty years in the corporate world at the Pulaski Bank in St. Louis, Missouri. He led Pulaski Bank through an initial public offering in 1998 and stayed on for an additional twelve years as the Chairman and CEO. At age 50, he chose to leave the corporate world in order to devote full time to his passions of writing, serving on community boards and advocating for human rights issues.
To learn more about Bill, visit www.WilliamDonius.com and www.thoughtrevolutionbook.com
Anne Glauber is an award-winning public relations executive. Her cause marketing campaigns for Liz Claiborne, Macy’s and her work with the UN have won every award in the PR industry. She started the Global Issues Communications group at Ruder Finn where she focuses on fostering social change through meaningful corporate social responsibility programs, advocacy initiatives and creative public, private, nonprofit partnerships. Her clients have included many UN organizations such as UN Women, United Nations Development Program, and United Nations Environment Program, corporations such as Gallup, Liz Claiborne, Inc., Ford, foundations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Pearson Foundation and nonprofits such as Global Green, where she worked directly with founder MIkhail Gorbachev. She founded the Business Council for Peace in 2002, where she served as its chair for two years and was named a 21 Leader for the 21st Century by Womens eNEws.
Her op-eds on behalf of clients have appeared in every major daily paper in the country, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and many others. She has published chapters in books including Growing up Female, by Willa Shalit and New Forms of Giving and Philanthropy by Dr. Susan Raymond.
Shanaya Fastje is thirteen years old and graduated high school in May 2012. She is an award winning, three time published young author, illustrator, singer and actor. Shanaya hopes to inspire...her life story has already surfaced interest for film/television.
To learn more about Shanaya visit www.shanayafastje.com
Jennifer Sheehan is the daughter of Barbara and Raymond Sheehan. She is a practicing registered nurse in New York, Florida and California. She is currently living in San Diego with her husband, Lt. Jesse Joyce, who is a pilot in the United States Navy. Jennifer is a co-author of the book "In Bed With the Badge" and remains very close with her mother.
Raymond M. Sheehan is the son of Barbara and Raymond Sheehan. Raymond is currently working in the New York Public School System, and is pursuing his master's degree as a physician's assistant. He and his fiancee, Shannon McCoy, plan to be married in 2013. He lives in Queens, New York, in the same home where he grew up.
After overcoming a congenital heart condition that gave her a short life expectancy, Julie dedicates her life to inspiring others to live with intention and passion. She is a life coach, an international motivational lecturer. Julie has released hundreds of health, fitness, and motivational videos. Julie believes she was given the gift of a second chance of life and share The 7 Life Miracles with you as a way to "pay it forward."
Katrina (Trina) Epp, raised in Ellensburg, Washington, began her career in sales working with a large international hay export company. This led to Trina starting her own
company marketing and selling hay internationally to Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Eager for a new challenge, Trina moved to Oklahoma where she began a new career as a commercial lines insurance agent. Four years later, she moved to Western Colorado, acquiring a position at a large commercial insurance agency. For the last nine years,she has juggled a full-time career and being mommy to her seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. She has been published in various publications about parenting and family life, includingCentral Penn Parent magazine on the Penn State rape scandal, and Divine Caroline magazine for her article, “The Seven-Year Itch,” as well as in the YummyMummyClub for her article on the “Uh-Oh Box.” Katrina also blogs about healthy eating, parenting,and family life at
www.must-have-wine.com.
Leah Speer is a parenting blogger at BabyCenter®, the #1 pregnancy and parenting web destination worldwide, which reaches 14 million moms in the United States every month. She is the mother of two sons, ages four and five. She has always had a passion for writing, inspired by her mom, a RITA Award nominated author who has found success in the publishing world as well. Leah has been published in various publications on families and parenting including an op-ed piece in the New York Post on the Sandy Hook tragedy and an article about families and Christmas time in The Baltimore Sun. Along with Katrina, she is a co-blogger at www.must-have-wine.com. Leah resides in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with her sons, husband, and faithful dog.
A Graduate of Rice University, for the past 4 years George has been active as a professional boxer, achieving a record of 15-0 (14 KO’s). From 2002-2009, George served as his father’s, George Foreman Sr., Manager. Every interview, appearance, endorsement contract, start-up, investment, publishing agreement, television/ movie contract and marketing campaign involving George Foreman Sr. was negotiated and/or executed under the direct supervision of George III.
After over 10 Years in the world of sports management, marketing, and being an athlete himself, George decided to combine the knowledge and experience from the two industries he knows best to form The Club; A lifestyle fitness brand that embodies the concept EVERYBODYFIGHTS. Understanding the need for a truly authentic fitness community based around A Fighting Spirit. George saw an opportunity to provide a third Home for the Everyday Fighter while servicing a sincere need in the market – providing a F.U.N. fitness environment that motivates you inside the facility and out. The Club is a community driven by its members of all ages and demographics. If you are a everyday fighter and embody our fighting spirit then you belong with us! EVERYBODYFIGHTS.
Mary McAlary is an author, a realtor, a nutritionist, a organic health food specialist, a healer, a mother, and a grandmother. Mary is so many wonderful things to so many people because of one simple fact: She is a Fighter - An Everyday Fighter. Mary lives the ideology ‘pay it forward’ everyday and does so by sharing her story and sharing the knowledge she has learned on her path.
Mary McAlary was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2004. She began traditional treatments but her health continued to decline. In 2007, Mary sought out a Holistic approach to battle her disease and her outcome has been remarkable. In 2008, she graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Mary possesses a strong “Fighting Spirit”, and believes that good health is attainable by organic nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Today, her MS is benign and she is feeling great. As a certified Holistic coach, Mary enjoys sharing her knowledge for healthy living with others.
Mary McAlary lives in Andover, Massachusetts. She loves spending time with her family, cooking and expanding her knowledge of healthy foods and lifestyles.
Jennifer Giustra-Kozek has a Master's Degree in Community Counseling, and a Bachelor's Degree in English/Criminal Justice from Western Connecticut State University. She is an accomplished licensed psychotherapist in private practice. She has over 15 years of clinical experience treating clients with an array of health disorders including
Asperger’s, depression, anxiety, OCD and ADHD.
Lora Krulak is a cook, nutritional muse, recipe re-creator, explorer and writer. She has appeared on TV programs such as The Rachel Ray Show, Plum TV, The Food Network and the National Ad Campaign for Match.Com as well as numerous national and international magazines such as Spa Asia, Us Magazine, People, The NY Post, In Style and many others. Lora’s own food allergies and intolerances inspired her to become a culinary adventurer and dietary problem solver. Intercontinental travel helped her to discover global flavors while decoding her own nutritional riddles.From Bali to India, Australia, London, Rome, Paris and NY, Lora explored different modalities of healing and found her balance in yoga, nutrition, herbology and even chocolate. She is currently focused on writing her blog, which is a part of Martha Stewart's prestigious Inner Circle as well working on her next books.
Real Estate Expert Brendon DeSimone's practical advice is featured weekly in the Zillow Blog, seen by 50 million visitors per month. His column is syndicated to 250 daily newspapers and top media sites online including Forbes, CNBC, Yahoo Homes, AOL Real Estate and Fox Business. Brendon has appeared as a national real estate expert on FOX News, CNBC, Good Morning America, Bloomberg & FOX Business. His real estate expert advice and opinion is often sought out by reporters and journalists writing about the national market and consumer issues. Brendon has been a featured expert on multiple HGTV shows. Brendon is licensed to sell real estate in both California and New York and has sold over $100 million in real estate in the past ten years. He owns real estate in the US and internationally.
Jane Silk, before having founded Main Street Radio Network with her husband, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host Alan Nathan, Jane had been both a national host and head of Business Development at Radio America. With business and broadcast expertise (armed with commercial and Arbitron success), she's packing more independent power than the law should allow. As the former host of Behind the Headlines, News You Can Use and later co-host of Cullum and Silk, Jane challenged, analyzed and (when circumstances permitted) celebrated the daily news affecting us all. Additionally, because of an enriched business history, she has maintained an all-encompassing grasp of the radio industry that leaves most in her path struggling to keep pace.
George Jehn, flew the Boeing 727, Douglas DC-9 and Airbus A-300 jets for Eastern Airlines for approximately eighteen years, from 1970 until 1988. He left Eastern to work for another large airline in 1988. During his time at Eastern, he spent six years as an elected pilot Representative from Eastern’s New York pilot base. George was a member of the Board of Directors of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)
Wendy Diamond is a cause-related entrepreneur whose accomplishments include two best-selling cookbooks that rose over $500,000 for homeless charities: A Musical Feast, featuring the recipes of musical artists such as Madonna and Steven Tyler, and An All-Star Feast, which features the favorite meals of various athletes, including Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter. She was also elected into the 1998-99 Rockefeller Foundation Corporation Leadership Program. She is an active supporter/fundraiser for homeless people and pets and also the author of It’s A Dog’s World (Ballantine, 2010) and How to Understand Men through Their Dogs and How to Understand Women through Their Cats (both published by Sterling in 2006).
For more information on Wendy, please visit http://animalfair.com/
Mariel Hemingway, Actress/Author & Bobby Williams, Author & Activist
Academy Award–nominated actress and successful entrepreneur, Mariel Hemingway has been pursuing her passion for yoga and health for the past twenty-five years and is now viewed as an authority on holistic and balanced health and well-being. As part of that role, she has led wellness retreats all over America, sharing her insights on movement, silence, nutrition, and home. In 2003, she published her powerful bestselling memoir, Finding My Balance. Her second book, Mariel Hemingway’s Healthy Living from the Inside Out, is a how-to guide to finding one’s balance and health through self-empowering lifestyle techniques. She is also the author of Mariel’s Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Healthy and Delicious Life. Hemingway believes that the health of the body, mind, and spirit is the first step toward becoming conscious of the health and well-being of our environment.
Bobby Williams is a nutrition expert, world-class adventure athlete, stuntman, actor, and practicing intuitive healer with deep ties to the world of alternative medicine and the raw food movement. He has been in the world of health and wellness for twenty-five years. Williams spends summers guiding thousands of people through the wilderness in places like Exum in the Grand Tetons and Yosemite, helping them connect with nature and ultimately themselves. He is passionate about transforming people’s lives by improving their performance and overall health through nature, nutrition, healthy living, and adventure.
Changing Lives Press
A broad spectrum publisher whose purpose is to inspire, inform, help, entertain and enrich lives.