Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. is an American actor, director, and children's television host. He is known for his roles as Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries Roots (1977), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek: The Next Generation franchise (1987–1994), and as host of the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for over 23 years (1983–2006), for which he has received 12 Daytime Emmy Awards, and a Peabody Award as host and executive producer of the show.
Erma Louise Bombeck was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her syndicated newspaper humor column describing suburban home life from 1965 to 1996. She also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers.
Phillip John Donahue is an American media personality, writer, film producer and the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, later known simply as Donahue, was the first talk show format that included audience participation. The show had a 29-year run on national television in America that began in Dayton, Ohio in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996.
Robot Chicken is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, most prominently Green, also provide many of the voices. Senreich, Goldstein, and Root were formerly writers for the popular action figure hobbyist magazine ToyFare. Robot Chicken has won two Annie Awards and six Emmy Awards.
Timothy Douglas Harford is an English economist, broadcaster and journalist who lives in Oxford.
Elister Larry Wilmore is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2014, and hosted The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in 2015 and 2016. He is also the creator of the sitcom The Bernie Mac Show. He served as an executive producer for the ABC television series Black-ish, and is the co-creator, with Issa Rae, of the HBO television series Insecure. Since May 2017, he has hosted a podcast, Black on the Air, where he discusses current events and interviews guests. He is the host of the talk show Wilmore.
Paul Mariani is an American poet and is University Professor Emeritus at Boston College.
The Church Times is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays.
Jim Weaver McKown Barnes, of Choctaw and Welsh descent, was born near Summerfield, Oklahoma. He received his BA from Southeastern State University and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. He taught at Truman State University from 1970 to 2003, where he was Professor of Comparative Literature and Writer-in-Residence. After retiring from Truman State, he was Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at Brigham Young University until 2006. On January 15, 2009, Barnes was named Oklahoma Poet Laureate for 2009–2010.
The Texas State University MFA Program at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, is a three-year graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. Fiction writer Doug Dorst is currently the director of the program. The faculty includes many award-winning writers.
Edgar Calabia Samar is a poet and novelist from San Pablo City, Philippines. He has received the Philippine National Book Awards for his novels and book of criticism, and the Palanca Awards for his poetry collections and short fiction. His novels Sa Kasunod ng 909, Si Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon and Si Janus Silang at ang Labanang Manananggal-Mambabarang all won the Philippine National Book Awards for Best Novel in a Philippine Language in 2012, 2015, and 2016, respectively. He has also been awarded the PBBY-Salanga Writer's Prize, the NCCA Writer's Prize for the Novel, the Gantimpalang Collantes sa Sanaysay, and the Gawad Surian sa Tula. His poetry books, Pag-aabang sa Kundiman: Isang Tulambuhay and Samantalang Sakop at Iniibig: Panibagong Tulambuhay were both nominated for the National Book Award. His award-winning children story Uuwi na ang Nanay Kong si Adarnahas been adapted into play and was staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines as part of The Virgin Labfest in July 2008. The same story was also adapted for television in a storytelling segment of GMA-7's Art Angel episode last May 29, 2008. His book, Walong Diwata ng Pagkahulog, was recipient of the 2005 NCCA Writer's Prize; its translation to English as Eight Muses of the Fall was longlisted in the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize. Samar is also fellow to the 2010 International Writing Program of the University of Iowa.
Allison Joseph is an American poet, editor and professor. She is author of eight full-length poetry collections, most recently, Confessions of a Bare-Faced Woman.
Albert Flynn DeSilver is an American poet, memoirist, novelist, meditation teacher, speaker, and workshop leader. He received a BFA in photography from the University of Colorado in 1991 and an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1995. DeSilver served as Marin County California's very first Poet Laureate from 2008-2010. His work has appeared in more than one hundred literary journals worldwide including ZYZZYVA, New American Writing, Hanging Loose, Jubilat, Exquisite Corpse, Jacket (Australia), Poetry Kanto (Japan), Van Gogh’s Ear (France), and many others. DeSilver has taught for many years in the Teen and Family Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He is the author of several books of poems and the memoir Beamish Boy, (2012) which Kirkus Reviews called "a beautifully written memoir, poignant and inspirational".
Timothy Patrick Farley is a computer software engineer, writer and instructor who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an expert in computer security and reverse engineering as well as a skeptic. He was a research fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Tim Farley is the creator of the website What's The Harm?, a resource where stories are documented and categorized about the damage done when people fail to use critical thinking skills. Farley was also instrumental in the apprehension of spammer "David Mabus."
Bruce Ferber is an American novelist and television writer/producer.
Francisco Garmendia was a bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1977–2001.
Eric Holthaus is a meteorologist and climate journalist. He started a publication called The Phoenix on Substack. He was a former columnist for The Correspondent, Grist, Slate and The Wall Street Journal who is known for his mentions of global climate change.
Michael Damian Thomas is an American magazine editor and podcaster. Thomas has won six Hugo Awards, a British Fantasy Award, and a Parsec Award as co-publisher and co-editor-in-chief of Uncanny Magazine with his wife, Lynne M. Thomas. He has also been active as an advocate for disabled children in Illinois.
Kirstie Blair, FRSE is chair in English at Strathclyde University and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021. She specialises in Victorian literature and the working class writing, poetry and literature, and working with museums and industrial heritage sites to engage the community around them. Her book Working Verse in Victorian Scotland: Poetry, Press, Community' won the Saltire Society Book of the Year and Research Book of the Year awards in 2019.
