Healing Journeys Cancer Awareness: Presenters San Rafael, California Conference, September 13-14, 2003

Susan Chernak McElroy - is a New York Times bestselling author and lecturer. A long-term survivor of metastatic head and neck cancer, Susan remains passionately involved in issues of health and wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. As a "native in the land of healing," Susan speaks to those challenged by illness or by life in her uniquely grounded and inspired voice of authenticity, insight, and understanding. Susan's journey lead her to the path of her true life-passions: animals, nature, and writing. Exploring the healing potential inherent in "right relationships" - those with humans, and those with "others"——and championing the healing power of meaningful and impassioned living became the foundational cornerstones of her books and lectures. Her first book, New York Times Bestseller Animals as Teachers and Healers: True Stories and Reflections, is now published in more than twenty countries, and has found its way into healing institutions and centers around the world. From the unique world view of one powerfully initiated by illness and recovery, she weaves the connection between the quality of our other-than-human relationships, the level of our passion for life and meaning, and the current state of our health and well being.

Susan Chernak, Presenter

Karen Drucker - is a singer, composer, comedian and champion swimmer. She has completed 6 albums of her original material. Her first two albums are a collection of pop, blues and jazz, while the last four have focused on inspirational messages and songs of healing. Her songs have been called high energy and fun, as well as sensitive and heart-opening. She’s been a professional comedian, had her own television show at 21, has swum the English Channel, and was honored as “Volunteer of the Year” from the Marin County Volunteer Center. “Heartbeats Catalog” says, “...Karen’s songs are powerfully understated and her voice and music drive them home on a direct line to the heart and soul...” Karen is with us in honor of her mother who is currently living with metastatic breast cancer.

Devra Lee Davis, Ph.D., MPH - is a leading epidemiologist and researcher on environmental health and chronic disease. She is a Visiting Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School (1999-) and Honorary Professor, London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2002-). As the former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, she has counseled leading officials in the U.S., United Nations, World Health Organization and World Bank. Dr. Davis completed a Ph.D. in science studies at the University of Chicago, and a M.P.H. in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University. She has authored more than 170 publications, in books and journals ranging from Scientific American to the Journal of the American Medical Association and Lancet. Her award-winning, National Book Award Finalist work, When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution, was published in 2002, and covered on NPR, PBS, and major print media, ranging from Newsweek, London Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Science, and Scientific American. See www.whensmokeranlikewater.com.

Devra Davis, PhD, speaker at Healing Journeys Marin Conference

Lawrence LeShan, Ph.D. - is a research and clinical psychologist who has worked with people with cancer for over forty years. His research has led them to find new, often effective ways to triumph over their illness by using the challenge as a turning point to change and enrich their lives. Dr. LeShan was the recipient of the Gardner Murphy Award (American Society for Psychical Research), the Pathfinder Award (Association of Humanistic Psychology) and the Norman Cousins Award. The author of approximately 95 papers in the professional literature world, Dr. LeShan has penned many books, including You Can Fight For Your Life, Cancer As a Turning Point, and How to Meditate.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer - is the author of the inspirational prose-poem and international best-selling book, The Invitation (Harper San Francisco, 1999), a declaration of what the human soul longs for at the deepest level. Her subsequent book, The Dance (Harper San Francisco, 2001) explores how we can live our desire to live fully and passionately present in our own lives and in the world. Her latest book, the third in this trilogy, The Call (Harper San Francisco, 2003) looks at why we are here taking this journey from longing to living fully. With humor, personal stories and insight born of a life-long hunger to find the meaning enfolded in our human lives, Oriah guides us in finding and living our life's purpose. A gifted speaker, Oriah has shared her insights and stories with audiences throughout the world drawing upon her years studying both the shamanic ceremonies of North American tribal traditions and modern philosophy, and her work as a facilitator of spiritual retreats and a counselor assisting women and families in crisis. Her name was given to her by the elders with whom she apprenticed and means one who likes to push the edge. Oriah lives in Canada.

Sacramento Taiko Dan is a community based non-profit organization, formed in 1989 by a group of people who wanted to study the art of Taiko. The multi-cultural group, comprised of members ranging in age from 9 years old to over 70, is directed by Tiffany Tamaribuchi, a former performing member and current guest artist of the prestigious San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Tiffany has traveled extensively throughout Japan to study with several Taiko groups, including the world renowned Taiko group, Kodo. The word TAIKO means “big drum”. It is the word commonly used to describe the art of Japanese drumming, used for healing and religious ceremonies and once an integral part of Japanese life.

Linda Tillery and The Cultural Heritage Choir - is a veteran vocalist, percussionist, Grammy nominated producer and cultural historian whose career has spanned 35 years. Her powerful, shimmering alto voice has been showcased in such groups as the Loading Zone, Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra and her own Cultural Heritage Choir. Performing together since 1992, the Cultural Heritage Choir creates dynamic rhythms and sparking energy on stage. Their vocals are lush and vibrant - moving the listener to exuberant shouts and tears of joy. The Cultural Heritage Choir includes Rhonda Benin, Elouise Burrell, Melanie DeMore, Lamont Van Hook, and Linda Tillery. They have become world renowned for their breathtaking performances and commitment to the authenticity of African-American roots music, music that Linda calls “survival music”. It has the power to heal because it comes from one of the most essential part of ourselves - the human Spirit!

Alice Walker - winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for The Color Purple, is internationally honored as an essential writer of our time. She is the author of six novels, three collections of short stories, three collections of essays, five volumes of poetry, and several children’s books. Critically acclaimed bestsellers, her books have sold over ten million copies and have been translated into more than two dozen languages. In her most recent collection of poems, Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth, poems that cover the extraordinary range of human emotions explore what it truly means to experience and absorb life. Ms Walker has received numerous awards and honors; her teaching experience includes guest lectureships and appointments at prestigious colleges and universities. An activist and social visionary, she has been a participant in most of the major movements for planetary change; among them, the Human and Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement, and the Peace Movement.

Nina Wise - is a captivating performance artist and teacher. She is the Artistic Director of MOTION, a non-profit corporation which produces avant-garde multi-media theater pieces, video works and workshops in the performing arts. Since 1972 Nina has worked as producer, writer, director, and performer in an array of award winning theater pieces. She has also offered training in improvisation and the creation of original theater works to students all over the world. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Marin Arts Council. In addition to working with carefully scripted and designed material, Nina creates custom-designed performances out of the physical and thematic material of the immediate environment, current events, and her own personal experience ( including her experience with breast cancer). Nina is the author of A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life, published in May, 2002 by Broadway Books, a division of Random House.