Spirit in Action

Steve Horn photographed throughout the former Yugoslavia in 1970, not returning with his camera until 2003, after the war in Bosnia. He documented the before and after of war and was able to take back to the people a slice of their pre-war past nearly lost. With his book, Pictures Without Borders - Bosnia Revisited, Steve teaches us to know our global neighbors. Raised in a Jewish family, Steve is a long-time resident of Lopez Island, Washington.

At that age of 76, Margaret Moore took part in the Teaching Drum Outdoor School family year-long, living naturally in the Northern Wisconsin woods for 11-months as an intergenerational clan of 42 people. Without the niceties of civilization, like books, soap, clocks, etc, Margaret and the rest experienced a connection to nature and each other badly missing for most people today.

Mark Kastel is co-founder and senior farm policy analyst for The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-originated organization serving as a watchdog for "good food" - organics, family farms, environmental and economic justice issues, all around food. With careful research and attention to the oft-missing integrity of our food system, Cornucopia helps plug the holes in our national organic food standards.

Marjorie Heins is the author of Priests of Our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge, examining the roots of free speech by teachers as a special concern of the US constitution, and the lessons we can learn from the way these rights were compromised badly during the McCarthy Era. Through decades of work as a civil rights lawyer, Marjorie carries a passion and deep insight into the ways our rights are, or are not, protected by our government.

Joe Wenke has just released You Got To Be Kidding: A Cultural Arsonist’s Literal Reading of the Bible, and with humor and sometimes sarcasm, he brings new, unjaded eyes to the writings of the Bible. He aims to disarm those who would use the Bible for oppression and domination and is seriously focused on making you laugh on the way to the unshackling. Joe has been a corporate speech writer, a stand-up comedian, and has trademarked the Cultural Arsonist moniker.

Peterson Toscano, using wit, humor & theater, illuminates non-conforming gender roles in the Bible, reclaiming existence for a variety of folks ignored & silenced by the mainstream. With his winning humor and incisive vision, Peterson found acceptance for his revolutionary insights when presenting at the joint 2012 conference of the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion. His newest theater production is Jesus Had 2 Daddies.

Nukewatch staffer John LaForge has produced the Nukewatch Quarterly for more than 20 years, carefully documenting the dangers and disasters of nuclear power & weapons, mixed with reporting on Nonviolent Direct Action. Originating in Madison, WI, Nukewatch has long been based near Luck, WI, with the Anathoth Community Farm, living organically, nonviolently, and mostly off the grid.

Marie Friedmann Marquardt is co-author of Living Illegal - The Human Face of Unauthorized Immigration, a book that combines head & heart to look at the realities around this political whipping boy of an issue. Marie is currently scholar-in-residence at Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia.

Aaron Ableman & Dave Room have founded Balance Edutainment to use a wide range of media in order to light young people's dreams with a vision of making a better world. They've just released Pacha's Pajamas and are rolling it out in many different forms - video, audio, app and book - with prominent names like Talib Kweli & Mos Def taking part.