Authors
(Also See Poets)
- Cedar Barstow
- Don Berg
- Michael Cooke
- Reynold Ruslan Feldman
- Elizabeth Flanders
- Benedict Herrman
- Nirel Jackson
- Muhammad Isman Kanafsky
- David McCormack
- Ilene Pevec
- Hadrian Pollard
- Heather Starsong
- Latifah Taormina
- Pilar Walsh
- Rahima Warren
Cedar Barstow
Author
Cedar Barstow
Author’s website: rightuseofpower.org
Bio: Cedar Barstow is the Founder and Director of Right Use of Power Institute and the author of Right Use of Power.
Don Berg
Author
Don Berg
Author’s website: holisticequity.org
Bio: Don Berg is an author, education researcher, alternative education practitioner, and leader. The peer-reviewed journals Other Education and The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior have published his research. He has over 20 years experience leading children in self-directed educational settings. He has taught psychology at The Village Free School in Portland, Oregon. As the Executive Director of Deeper Learning Advocates he is on a mission to embed the psychology of learning in policy so that policy stops undermining learning. He has presented his work in education at conferences in the USA, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, and in China. As an entrepreneur he runs Attitutor Media and currently lives at the Joyful Llama Ranch in West Linn, Oregon.
SICA-USA Articles
Michael Cooke
Author, Actor, Jazz Pianist
Reynold Ruslan Feldman
Author
Reynold Ruslan Feldman
Authors website: reynoldruslan.com
Bio: An author of 12 books, half on wisdom for living, he is donating for the SICA fundraiser a signed copy of his memoir, published for his 70th birthday in 2009. That book, STORIES I REMEMBER, includes stories from his first 49 years in Subud, including his experiences with Bapak, Ibu Siti Sumari, Ibu Rahayu, the Granddaughters, Sudarto, Brodjo, Prio, Iksan, and Varindra.
Elizabeth Flanders
Author
Sam, Maddie, and the Mirror Dragon
by Elizabeth Flanders
Elizabeth Flanders
Authors website: https://silverlightdragon.com/index.html
Bio: After my bachelor’s degree, I traveled internationally teaching English as a foreign language. Afterwards, I went to graduate school earning a master’s in early childhood and special education. My professional life spanned 40 years, serving in public and private settings, often with children and families made vulnerable to poverty.
During covid I spent time on zoom with my 10-year-old grandson, who declared very young that he came here to help Mother Earth. Soon after I spontaneously started writing a children’s story, a love letter to Mother Earth and after a series of miraculous occurrences, the book was published. It is written for the middle grades, is a powerful read aloud for younger children and many adults love it as well.
Artist’s comments on how the Latihan influences their cultural flow: The grace of the latihan has guided all my professional choices and created many miracles in my work with children. Most recently its grace gifted me a story. I spontaneously began writing a story out of love for my 10-year-old grandson, a young environmentalist. Anything I needed to publish it just came, the money, the editor, the illustrator, and the book design company. All I had to do was ask for what was needed through prayer and it appeared, often from an unlikely source. I was quite ill during this process, so this little book is a latihan miracle indeed.
Benedict Herrman
Author
Benedict Herrman
Too Far from Home: is the first of a trilogy. Second book is titled, “Seeking Home” and the third is “Coming Home.” All three are in the spiritual science fiction genre, and sizeable, page-turner reads.
SICA-USA Articles
Nirel (Ma'Rel)
Author
Nirel (Ma’Rel) Jackson
Since early on, Nirel has been passionate about education as well as nature . Combining the two, Nirel has a dream to educate children and youth – about nature, sustainability and the cycles of life – in an interactive, engaging, and fun way. Nirel has been an amateur and professional writer and designer for more than four decades.
About Otter and the Ecotone: interactions between a boy called Otter, his grandmother and local wildlife offer learning on cycles of seasons and Nature. Otter lives in an urban suburb at the edge of a forest; the overlap of ecological boundaries is called the ecotone. Otter explores this rich environment; learning to listen to nature and analyze and plan ahead across four seasons.This story was originally written as a TV show with an interactive component. For now we have created this little children’s book. You may see the narrated version on YouTube at the following link: https://youtu.be/45ngKg1sX1c
Muhammad Isman Kanafsky
Author
Muhammad Isman Kanafsky
David McCormack
Author
David McCormack
Bio: David is a long time, second generation, Subud member, who writes, teaches and likes history, especially Subud history.
I have been writing seriously for 10 years. In my latihan I asked who was I was suppose to write for and I received clearly not for the general public but “for those who wish to worship”. So I have written fiction, poems and prayers, and nonfiction of experiences etc. Some of the short fiction stories will be out shortly in a hardback illustrated book called The Majestic World of Gracious Gifts Bestowed, Illustrated by Anna Schroeder. I am working on a small booklet of prayers, sayings, and poems and a nonfiction book of experiences and musings. (It is written but needs assembly.)
Happy trails until we meet again.—David McCormack
- Jacob and the Mouse (También en español)
- Selections from Answering the Blues with Rhyme Whimsy and Muse
- Notes on the Origin and History of the Chicago Group
- The Majestic World of Gracious Gifts Bestowed
Ilene Pevec
Author
Ilene Pevec
Bio: I was opened in Aspen, CO in 1970. In the first wave of talent testing in about 1980 I received I had a talent to promote culture. For quite a few years I worked in multicultural education for children in Canada and Portugal using myths, legends, art and theater. I went to graduate school for my MA in education to provide more opportunities for under privileged children. I investigated the impact on adolescents when they engage in school and community garden programs and interviewed 102 youth ages 14 to 19 across the US (the South Bronx, East Harlem, Boulder, CO, Carbondale, CO, Glenwood Springs, CO, Taos, NM, Albuquerque, NM, Chamisal, NM, and three programs in Oakland, CA). These youth from many cultural backgrounds learned to grow food, feed themselves and their communities healthfully and practiced business skills when they sold to restaurants and at Farmers’ Markets. Their young, honest voices make up the bulk of the book I wrote, Growing A Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health and Joy.
SICA-USA Articles
Hadrian Pollard
Author
Hadrian Pollard
Author’s Website: hadrian-pollard.com
Author’s Youtube Channel: Hadrian Pollard
SICA-USA Articles
Heather Starsong
Author
Heather Starsong
Author’s Website: HeatherStarsong.com
Bio: Heather Starsong has loved and told stories all her life. As a child, she used to gather with younger children in the neighborhood under a big forsythia bush and tell stories, making them up as she went along. As a teen-ager she was the storyteller and song leader in the local Girl Scout Day Camp, going from unit to unit and creating stories for the different age groups. As a mother and grandmother, she had lots of fun telling stories to her children and grandchildren, often about the mischievous adventures of their stuffed animals. She also created story packs for her grandchildren, the covers from greeting cards in a cloth bag from which the child could draw a card and Heather would tell a story about it. In 2007 Heather began to write her stories. Leaves in Her Hair- 2009, Never Again – 2015, The Purest Gold – 2017, Song of Eliria – 2019, Leaf Shadows and Sunshine – 2022.
SICA-USA Article:
Latifah Taormina
Author
Latifah Taormina
SICA-USA Articles
Pilar Walsh
Actor, Author, Filmmaker
List of Performances
Pilar Walsh
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Bio
Bio: Pilar Walsh, a SAG-AFTRA actress, singer, dancer, writer, filmmaker, producer and mother of four, has worked for many years in TV, film, and stage. Some highlights in the past few years were playing Liza Minnelli on MAD-TV, performing opposite Ken Page in Man of La Mancha with Broadway Austin, working on the Indie film Dog Barks opposite Michael Costello and dancing and singing in Bernstein’s MASS, Cabaret, Pippin and The Musical of Musicals in Hawaii. She worked with Alec Baldwin and Annette Bening on Running With Scissors and Kathy Najimi on Hope Floats and a half-dozen independent films along the way. She performed her own Cabaret Show in Seattle and Los Angeles, “Mostly Sondheim and a Little Lloyd- Weber” and still dances having worked 3 times on the Howie Mandel TV show Mobbed and most recently as an actor on a short film Sober in Los Angeles. She self-published a book of poetry Essentials: workds, rhymes and a story or two, and has her poems published in two poetry anthologies, Circle Dance and The God’s Eye.
In 2008, she moved to the other side of the camera with a documentary film The Eternal Rhythm – a Global Revelation of Drum, Dance and Song still in progress, and to promote her screenplay, she wrote, produced and co-directed a “showcase reel” of How I Survived the Sixties a hopefully, soon to be feature film. She is a recipient of the Actors Fund Teaching Artist Institute Certification. She lived in New York in 2012, performing at Symphony Space/Bar Thalia her own Cabaret set and at the Women’s Worldwide Initiative Anniversary Event as a guest artist. She moved to Wilmington, NC, and since coming to a place the locals affectionately call Wilmywood, she made a short film, I Was a Teenage Cough Syrup Junkie, was cast in the play ‘Night Mother for the Cape Fear Playhouse, published her book How I Survived the Sixties and completed writing a screenplay, Trolley to Lumina, which she hopes to also produce. She is currently residing in Los Angeles. In 2014, she will be hosting the California Regional Congress Friday Night Film Fest and is working closely with Michael Menduno on the Susila Dharma Production for the World Congress in Puebla along with finishing up her BA for Performing Arts with St. Marys College in Moraga’s LEAP (liberal education for arts professionals) program created exclusively for ex- and current professional dancers. She also attempts to spend as much time with her grown children (when they are in town) and grandchildren with whom she is very proud.
Pilar Walsh is a long time Subud member, a resident of Los Angeles and after working on stage, films and TV shows for most of her life, in 2008, she decided to go to college for the first time and discovered, when having to put together a documentary as a senior project, she fell in love with filmmaking. She is hoping to complete in the next year the doc, The Eternal Rhythm- a Global revelation of Drum, Dance and Song and is working to bring to life 3 screenplays, “How I Survived the Sixties” already a book and 9:13 sizzle reel, “Trolley to Lumina” a feature film with lots of great dancing and music from the 20’s, and “Hannah” a short story written by Pilar adapted to a screenplay. Recently, she has made trailers for these screenplays/films and a short film “I Was A Teenage Cough Syrup Junkie” working with college kids in North Carolina last year.
Creativity Inside and Out
Here is a peek at what’s coming next on “Creativity Inside And Out”. Pilar Walsh talks about her days dancing and performing and her latest projects which are incredibly beautiful books/screenplays that she has written. And, she’ll show us how she makes jewelry. I’m in awe, she is so multi-talented!!!
Rahima Warren
Author, Intuitive Artist
Rahima Warren
After beginning my career as a psychotherapist,I was opened in SUBUD in 1984. Slowly, I found myself drawn in unexpected directions. I had never thought of myself as a writer or artist, but in 1994, I sought out training in Expressive Arts Therapy and incorporated it into my work with clients, as well as in my own life. (see my artistic website)
After receiving to fast from excessive words one Ramadan, I began doing creative writing for fun. Now I am a published author of a trilogy, The Star Seer’s Prophecy, a powerful and compelling story of suffering, healing, surrender, and transformation.