Brett Baron-Marianetti
Brooklyn-born Brett bounced all over the country, attending 5 elementary schools and living in 5 far-flung states. A teacher in Austin and New York City from grades 1 through 9, she's back in Brooklyn for 21 years where she spends her down time with her husband, Robert, and two boys, Max and Zack, Lucky the cat, a lot of instruments, oodles of art supplies and too many records and books.
Karen Levy
Karen Levy is a New Yorker who spends her summers in Santo Domingo. She is currently working on a novel about life in the Dominican Republic.
Richard Jeffrey Newman
When Richard Jeffrey Newman was three years old, the man who owned the Lee’s clothing store around the corner had the marvelous idea of using Richard to model the new line of children’s jeans that Lee’s was trying to sell. Richard’s family thought this was a great idea and so a photographer was hired, and the shoot was scheduled for a sunny afternoon in front of the building where Richard and his family lived, but no matter how much the people in attendance encouraged him, Richard wouldn’t turn his young butt to the camera long enough for the photographer to take a picture with the Lee’s label prominently situated in the frame, ending Richard's modeling career before it even started. Who knows where Richard would be now, what kind of stardom awaited him, if he’d been able to stand still just a few second longer? (Standing still continues to be something Richard has difficulty doing.) Richard is the author of a book of poetry called The Silence Of Men and the translator of three books, The Teller of Tales, Selections from Saadi’s Gulistan and Selections from Saadi’s Bustan. He is Professor of English at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York, where he coordinates the Creative Writing Project. His website is www.richardjnewman.com.
Mike Stahl
Mike Stahl is a high school English teacher, and has been teaching for 10 years. He writes interviews for IntellectualTimes.com and has a film and television criticism blog called "Walter Peck Was Just Doing His Job." He has been a contributor of pop culture commentary to the multimedia website SugarNThunder.com as well. He is also the host and organizer of the "Look to the Cookie" literary reading that first featured at Waltz Astoria in July 2011.
