Michael Nagler is one of the most respected scholars and advocates of Gandhi and nonviolence worldwide. He is Professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, Founder and President of the Metta Center for Nonviolence (www.mettacenter.org); and author of The Nonviolence Handbook, Our Spiritual Crisis, and The Search for a Nonviolent Future, which received a 2002 American Book Award and has been translated into Arabic, Italian, Korean, Croatian, and several other languages. Other writings of his have appeared in the Wall Street Journal among other venues, as he has spoken and written about nonviolence, meditation, and world peace for more than thirty years. Among other awards, he received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India in 2007. Michael is a student of Sri Eknath Easwaran, Founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (www.easwaran.org). He has lived at the Center’s ashram in Marin County since 1970 and is a presenter for their programs of passage meditation.

Stephanie N. Van Hook is passionate about the power nonviolence and constructive conflict resolution, especially in its practical applications in early childhood education and unarmed peacekeeping. Author of Gandhi Searches for Truth: A Practical Biography for Children, she is host of Nonviolence Radio and serves as Executive Director of the Metta Center for Nonviolence.