Mary Akers's fiction, poetry, and non-fiction have appeared in many journals and anthologies. She is the author of a short story collection, Women Up On Blocks, from Press 53. Although raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, which she will always call home, she currently lives in western New York.

Carole Kramer Arsenault, RN, IBCLC, is a nurse, parent educator, certified lactation consultant, and the founder of Boston Baby Nurses, where her team of nurses offers new parents lactation consulting, daytime visits, and overnight support. Arsenault also provides lactation consulting at many of Boston’s top birthing hospitals. She lives near Boston with her husband and their three children.

Mike Askew, a Professor of Math Education at King’s College London, taught in elementary schools for several years, and now works in teacher education.

Tess Ayers has worked in advertising and graphic design, written for game shows, and was a producer on a number of television talk shows. When she and her partner Jane Anderson decided to have a wedding ceremony in 1992, they were unable to find a proper guide for gays and lesbians, and The Essential Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings was conceived and born two years later. In the years since then Tess has been busy raising their son, now 17, and works on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations. Tess, Jane, and Raphael happily divide their time between Los Angeles and Marin County.

Andrew Bienkowski, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in the Korean War, worked as a psychologist for 40 years, including 32 years for New York state, designing and implementing mental-health programs and working directly with patients. He lives near Buffalo, New York.

Kelli Bronski is a graduate of Cornell University’s prestigious School of Hotel Administration, a ten-plus year veteran of the hospitality and restaurant business, and a lifelong baker and cook.

Peter Bronski is the coauthor of Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking and Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes and founder of the blog No Gluten, No Problem. Despite his celiac disease, he enjoys adventure sports, is a former Xterra off-road triathlon U.S. national championship competitor, and is currently an ultramarathoner.

Paul Brown is a public school teacher in Southern California who has coordinated many weddings and other special events.

Fiona Carns, a leading caterer in Melbourne, Australia, is the author of Low Carb High Flavor Made Easy. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children.

Jasmin Lee Cori, MS, LPC, is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in working with adults who experienced childhood abuse and neglect. She has worked in human service agencies and private practice, and taught psychology in colleges and professional schools. She is the author of numerous articles and five books, including Healing From Trauma.

Bob Deans, author of the 2007 book The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James, was the chief Asia correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other Cox newspapers, and for eight years covered the White House.

Arto der Haroutunian (1940–1987) was a restaurateur, painter, translator, and author of 12 cookbooks. He also composed music and translated Turkish, Arab, Persian, and Armenian authors.

Rob Eastaway has authored and coauthored several best-selling books that connect math with everyday life, including Why Do Buses Come in Threes? and How Many Socks Make a Pair?

Acclaimed children’s author of over 200 titles, Hazel Edwards is best known for her popular classic There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake.

Diane Ehrensaft, PhD, is a developmental and clinical psychologist and the author of numerous books and articles on child development, gender, and parenting. For the past twenty-five years, she has worked with gender-nonconforming children and their families, as well as speaking nationally and internationally on the topic in media presentations, in communities, and at professional conferences. She lives and works in Oakland, California.

Eileen Garvin was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. The youngest of five children, she has always been close to her sister Margaret. She completed her B.A. in English at Seattle University, and her M.A. in English at the University of New Mexico. She writes for newspapers, magazines, and Web sites from Hood River, Oregon, where she lives with her husband.

Tristan Gooley is a writer and navigator. His passion for the subject of natural navigation stems from his hands-on experience. He has led expeditions in five continents, climbed mountains in Europe, Africa and Asia, sailed small boats across oceans and piloted small aircraft to Africa and the Arctic. He is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehandedly across the Atlantic, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Royal Geographical Society. Prior to setting up The Natural Navigator school, Gooley gained extensive experience in the travel industry, and he is currently Vice Chairman of Trailfinders. He and his school can be found online at naturalnavigator.com.

Mary Gordon is an internationally recognized educator, author, child advocate, and parenting expert who has created award-winning programs focused on the power of empathy. In 1996, she founded Roots of Empathy, which now offers programs in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and elsewhere. Gordon speaks and consults to governments, educational organizations, and public institutions. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and an Ashoka Fellow. Her Web site is http://www.rootsofempathy.org.

Dr. Marc D. Lewis and Dr. Isabela Granic are developmental psychologists as well as parents of twin boys. Dr. Lewis is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Granic is a research scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children. Together, they have given educational seminars and workshops to parents and clinicians around the world. Drs. Lewis and Granic live with their children in Toronto.

Meta Chaya Hirschl took her first yoga class in 1978. Years later, after working in business, teaching in academia, and writing software manuals, she was drawn back to yoga after developing severe asthma. Her passion for yoga eventually led her to open a studio and later establish the YogaNow Teacher Training Apprentice Program, a nationally accredited curriculum incorporating a variety of traditions and styles. She teaches and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lolo Houbein first learned about growing fruits and vegetables from her Uncle Wim, whose food garden saved the family during the last years of World War II in war-torn Holland. In 1958, she emigrated to Australia with her husband and children. She studied literature and anthropology at the universities of Adelaide and Papua New Guinea, and has written numerous books and articles on humanitarian and conservation topics. Houbein lives and gardens in the Adelaide Hills of Australia.

Carla Kelly is an experienced cook and baker, having started well before the age of ten. As the eldest of five children, she often made baked treats and dinner for her family. She has been a vegan for over five years and a vegetarian for fifteen more before that, and has developed recipes to suit herself and her family on this journey. She writes the popular blog The Year of the Vegan (VeganYear.blogspot.com) and lives in British Columbia with her family.

Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, also teaches environmental law at Columbia University Law School. Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office for eight years, he created and led New York City’s environmental prosecution unit.

Nick Lomb was Curator of Astronomy at the Sydney Observatory for over thirty years (1979-2010). He continues to work as a consultant astronomer for the Sydney Powerhouse Museum and Sydney Observatory. He is the author of the Australian Sky Guide, published annually by the Powerhouse Museum, as well several books on astronomy including Astronomy for the Southern Sky (1986) and the catalogue produced for the Powerhouse Museum’s exhibition on the 2004 transit of Venus, Transit of Venus: The Scientific Event that Led Captain Cook to Australia (2004).

Kim Long is the creator of the award-winning Moon Calendar. His American Forecaster Almanac was published in 22 annual editions between 1984 and 2006. He is the author or coauthor of many other books, including The Moon Book. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

Scott Mansfield, a native Hoosier, moved to California in the 1970s for college, and stayed on for the people, climate, and lifestyle. He has been making wine, beer, cider, mead, and all manner of fermented beverages at home for the last fifteen years, incorporating local ingredients whenever possible. Always drawn to the outdoors, he also enjoys gardening and cooking.

Billy Sunday Mars is an athlete, artist, and spiritual seeker. He became an erotic dancer and instructor in Japan, where he also studied martial arts, Tantric disciplines, and massage. Billy has fused his understanding of spirituality, sexuality, martial arts, and dance into his proprietary "Fit for Love" programme. He teaches "Fit for Love" and related classes in San Francisco and Marin County, California, where he lives.

Colette Martin is a food allergy mom and an expert on how to bake allergen-free. When her son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies, she had to re-invent how her family ate. Having first learned to bake in her grandmother’s kitchen with wheat, butter, milk, and eggs, Colette understands firsthand what it means to transform a kitchen to accommodate multiple food allergies.

Andrew Martin is surprisingly well qualified to write a housework guide for men. Not only is he a man himself, but he does a lot around the house. On purely humanitarian grounds he recently took over some of the ironing from his wife; he then branched out into cleaning the bathroom, fairly regular vacuuming, and doing the dishes after dinner (when he wasn’t going out). For the purposes of this book, Martin has interviewed many experts, and can thus provide answers to such burning questions as: Do I need to bother about the controls on the iron? Is dust actually dangerous? What’s all this stuff about hard and soft water? The result is a genuinely enlightening read, combining practical housework advice with touching recollections from the author’s Yorkshire childhood and hilarious scenes from the daily sit-com of family life. How to Get Things Really Flat will amuse and instruct any slobbish man forced at gunpoint to read it.

William Martin has been a student of the Tao for 25 years. The author of numerous other Tao-inspired books, he conducts workshops and seminars at The Still Point Center for Taoist/Zen Practice, which he runs with his wife Nancy in Chico, California.

Taymer Mason grew up in a family of cooks who taught her to make—and love!—traditional Caribbean cuisine. She went vegan in 2006 while an undergraduate at the University of the West Indies and discovered that, far from being limiting, it was an exciting new way to cook her old favorites. Now she writes the popular cooking blog Vegan in the Sun. She lives with her husband and their cat in the French West Indies, but she appreciates the unique culture and cuisine of all the islands—and especially of her birthplace, Barbados.

Helen McGrath completed her undergraduate degree and Diploma of Education at the University of Sydney and her Masters degree and Ph.D at Monash University. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in the School of Education at RMIT University as well as a part-time senior lecturer in the School of Education at Deakin University. She also has a small private psychology practice in Cheltenham, Melbourne. Helen is a leading psychologist and educator with a particular interest and expertise in mental health, social skills and relationships. She is the author or co-author of 22 books for educators, psychologists and the general community.

Paul McGreevy, PhD, MRCVS, has worked with and studied animals professionally for more than 20 years. He is an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, where his research focuses on the behavior and welfare of dogs and horses, and is the author of six books and more than 80 peer-reviewed articles on animal behavior. He is also the proud owner of three dogs: Wally, Neville, and Tinker.

Melissa McLean Jory, MNT, is a nutrition therapist, with a degree in exercise science, and a certified yoga teacher, and has a personal interest and expertise in celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and holistic health. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, telemark skiing, and yoga as part of what she considers her “freedom from disease” way of living. She takes her wholesome gluten-free lifestyle on the road, on the trail, or into the mountains and has found there’s no reason you can’t live an active (even rather extreme) lifestyle once you learn the necessary steps to clean out your body, start yourself on a healing path, and regain your energy and wellbeing. This is her first book.

Tracey Murkett, a freelance writer and journalist, followed baby-led weaning with her daughter. She lives in London.

Sharon Palmer, RD, is a registered dietitian, editor of the award-winning health newsletter Environmental Nutrition, and a nationally recognized nutrition expert who has personally impacted thousands of people’s lives through her writing and clinical work. She lives outside of Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

Heli Perrett, PhD, a sociologist and microbiologist, has served as a senior technical specialist at the United Nations Development Programme and at the World Bank. She specializes in food, public health, and farming issues. She learned to love and grow food at an early age, and she continues to harvest organic crops at her home in Oakland, California.

Peter Popham has been an foreign correspondent and commentator The Independent for over twenty years, reporting from Albania, Mongolia, South Asia, and now Italy. He is also the author of Tokyo: The City at the End of the World. Married with two children, Popham currently lives and works in both Milan and England.

Claire Ptak grew up in Inverness, California, and worked for three years at Chez Panisse, as a pastry cook and then a pastry chef. Her acclaimed baking company and café, Violet, sells whoopie pies, cupcakes, and other popular serving-size desserts, all crafted with a focus on organic and seasonal ingredients.

A public health nurse for 20 years and the mother of three, Gill Rapley originated the theory of baby-led weaning as part of her master’s degree. She lives in Kent, England.

Sarah Samaan, MD, FACC, is a board-certified cardiologist at Legacy Heart Center in Plano, TX and co-director of the Women's Cardiovascular Institute at Baylor Heart Hospital. She is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and Texas Monthly magazine has consistently cited Dr. Samaan as a "Texas Super Doctor." She has been quoted in Prevention, Shape, and Good Housekeeping. She lives outside Dallas, TX.

Margaret Sasse founded Toddler Kindy GymbaROO in Australia in 1982, which now has 85 centers, 16 of them based internationally. An acknowledged authority on infant development, she wrote and produced several books and videos.

Sam Scholfield is a frequent contributor to Yahoo.com and has offered her expertise through Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and The Huffington Post. She has degrees from UCLA in English Literature and Bio-Geography (useful only at trivia nights and for blurting random facts at cocktail parties), dabbles in thinking about maybe training for triathlons, and has recently discovered the stress-relieving joys of zombie video games. She lives in San Francisco with her boyfriend and a houseplant named Bob.

Alicia C. Simpson has been cooking since she was tall enough to reach the stove. She is the creator of the popular Vegan Guinea Pig Blog, a contributing writer for the award-winning Vegans of Color blog, and has been featured in the documentary I’m Vegan. Alicia lives in Atlanta.

Del Sroufe, who contributed recipes to the first Forks Over Knives book, is chef and co-owner of Wellness Forum Foods, a plant-based meal delivery and catering company that offers healthy, minimally processed foods. He also regularly teaches cooking classes, and has worked in vegan and vegetarian kitchens for 22 years. He lives and works in Columbus, Ohio.

Keith Stewart has run Keith’s Farm in Orange County, New York, since 1986. Illustrator Flavia Bacarella, his wife, teaches painting and drawing at Lehman College of the City University of New York.

Editor Gene Stone is the author of the international bestseller The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick and the coauthor, with Rip Esselstyn, of The Engine 2 Diet. Stone, who has written or ghostwritten more than thirty books and numerous magazine articles, lives in New York and follows a plant-based diet.

Jim Taylor, PHD, has worked with young people, parents, and educators for more than 24 years. He has spoken at over 700 venues globally. His previous books include Positive Pushing: How to Raise a Successful and Happy Child (Hyperion, 2002). His dozens of past national and local TV appearances include NBC's Today and ABC's World News This Weekend, and he is regularly quoted by major print media. He lives with his family in Marin County, California.

Bill Turnbull is the award-winning longtime co-host of BBC Breakfast, Britain’s most-watched morning TV show. A career journalist, he has reported from more than 30 countries, and for four years was the BBC News foreign correspondent in Washington, D.C. He is President of the Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers and a public ambassador for the British Beekeepers’ Association.

Gillian Turner is a senior lecturer in physics and geophysics at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. The winner of numerous awards for excellence in teaching and science communication, Turner has published over fifty articles in scientific journals. This is her first book.

Gail Vaz-Oxlade has been a personal-finance writer and columnist for 25 years, following a career working for financial-services companies. She delivers her no-nonsense approach to money management as host of the television show Til Debt Do Us Part, which airs in the U.S. on CNBC, as well as in more than 30 other countries, reaching millions of viewers each week.

Lukas Volger, a longtime enthusiast of veggie burgers and vegetarian cuisine, has worked for many years at food establishments in New York City and in his native Idaho as a baker, caterer, prep cook, server, and occasional dishwasher. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.