Reverend Gary Kowalski, a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Divinity School, is author of The Souls of Animals and Goodbye Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet, as well as other books on spirituality, nature, history, and science. He has served congregations in Vermont, New Mexico, Washington, and Massachusetts. His website is kowalskibooks.com.
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Lisa Kemmerer (B.A. in international studies, Reed College; M.T.S. in comparative religions, Harvard Divinity School; Ph.D. in philosophy, University of Glasgow, Scotland) is a philosopher-activist, artist, and lover of wild places, who has hiked, biked, kayaked, backpacked, and traveled widely. Kemmerer recently retired as associate professor of philosophy and religions at Montana State University, Billings.
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Fr. Thomas Keating was a founding member and the spiritual guide of Contemplative Outreach. He served on Contemplative Outreach’s Board of Trustees since the organization’s beginning and served as the Chairman of the Board. Fr. Keating was one of the principal architects and teachers of the Christian contemplative prayer movement. He lived for much of his life at St. Joseph’s Abbey, Massachusetts, and St. Benedict’s Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado. He died in 2018.
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Melanie Joy, PhD, is a psychologist, international speaker, and longtime vegan and social justice advocate. She is the award-winning author of six books, including Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism; Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters; Powerarchy: Understanding the Psychology of Oppression for Social Transformation; and Getting Relationships Right. Joy taught courses on privilege and oppression at the University of Massachusetts, Boston for over a decade, and she is the eighth recipient of the Ahimsa Award—previously given to the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela—for her work on global nonviolence. Her work has been featured in major media outlets around the world, and she is the founding president of Beyond Carnism.
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pattrice jones is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, and activist who, along with Miriam Jones, cofounded VINE Sanctuary, an LGBTQ-run farmed animal sanctuary that operates within an understanding of the intersection of oppressions. She is the author of Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies (Lantern, 2007), The Oxen at the Intersection: A Collision (Lantern, 2014), and has contributed chapters to Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth (Bloomsbury, 2014); Confronting Animal Exploitation: Grassroots Essays on Liberation and Veganism (McFarland, 2013); Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice (University of Illinois Press, 2011); Sistah Vegan: Food, Identity, Health, and Society (Lantern, 2010); Contemporary Anarchist Studies (Routledge, 2009); Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth (AK Press, 2006); and Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern, 2004).
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Kathie Jenni earned her Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of California, Irvine, then spent a year as an ethics in Society fellow at Stanford university before taking her current position at the University of Redlands. She has taught environmental ethics, animal ethics, moral psychology, ethics and law, and other courses at Redlands for twenty years.
Kathie’s interest in animals originated with her upbringing on a cattle ranch in central Montana and was intensified in graduate study in ethics, when she realized the scope of animal exploitation and embarked on the path toward veganism.
Her life changed again when she discovered Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southern Utah. Having long wanted to work more actively for animals, she found a way to incorporate that aspiration into academic life when she created the May term course that she has taught at Best Friends for ten years. “Taking Animals Seriously” combines a four-week internship in animal care with study in animal ethics; it won the university’s “Innovative Teaching Award” in 2004. Kathie currently directs the interdisciplinary Human–Animal Studies minor that she introduced to the College of Arts and Sciences in 2008. She lives with eight adopted companions—five cats and three dogs—who bring her inexpressible joy and make her laugh every day.
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J. R. Hyland was an ordained evangelical minister who worked in prison ministry and migrant farmworkers as well as actively supporting issues of female equality and animal rights. For several years, Rev. Hyland edited Humane Religion, a bimonthly journal, and contributed numerous articles to religious periodicals. J. R. Hyland died in 2007.
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Ruth Heidrich received her Ph.D. in Health Management in 1993 and is the author of The Race For Life Cookbook, Senior Fitness, and Lifelong Running. Diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer in her mid-forties despite thinking she was extremely healthy having run marathons, she researched possible causes of breast cancer when exercise was not enough. She came upon Dr. John McDougall’s research, which strongly indicated that the culprit was the Standard American Diet. A passionate example of how Ruth Heidrich turned tragedy into triumph using a medically sound diet and exercise program which has served her well for over forty years. Her website is ruthheidrich.com.
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Bill Hatcher has instructed geography and anthropology courses since 1994, including: Peace Corps Tanzania, Alaska Pacific University, Matanuska-Susitna College, Blackburn University, National Outdoor Leadership School, Colorado Mountain College, Trinidad State College, and Pikes Peak State College. As an author, he has written for Colorado Central magazine, appeared on local radio shows, and has previously written two books published by Lantern: The Marble Room investigates religion and racism, and Principles of Flight examines the intersections of sexism, animal cruelty, and religious jingoism. (Principles was judged a finalist in the 2018 National Indie Excellence Awards in Social and Political Change.) Bill now teaches in southern Colorado, where he lives with his wife, Kim.
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Dr. James D. Harris completed a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology while working full time for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He recently retired after 28 years of law enforcement experience. His assignments included the Hall of Justice Jail, Firestone Sheriff’s Station, Lynwood Sheriff’s Station, and periodic assignments to Lakewood Sheriff’s Station. He transferred to the Advanced Officer Training Bureau, where he wrote six movie scripts that explored officer-involved shooting incidents and provided training in the deployment of less-than-lethal weapons. He also provided training in “shoot-don’t-shoot” decision-making and combat shooting techniques. He has lectured to more than 35,000 law enforcement officer and fire department personnel on surviving the aftermath of critical incidents.
As a therapist, he responded with members of The Counseling Team to New York following the events of 9/11. He also responded to the Red Lakes Indian reservation near Bemidji Minnesota. He provided counseling to law enforcement personnel and the general population following a school shooting wherein a 14-year-old killed 3 adults and 6 children before committing suicide. He has provided counseling to hundreds of law enforcement officers in the aftermath of great human tragedies.
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