Archives: Authors
Donald Brackett
Donald Brackett is a Vancouver-based popular culture journalist and curator who writes about music, art and films. In addition to numerous essays, articles and radio broadcasts, he is also the author of several artist biography titles, among them <em>Back to Black: Amy Winehouse’s Only Masterpiece</em> (2016); <em>Tumult!: The Incredible Life and Music of Tina Turner</em> (2020); and <em>Yoko Ono: An Artful Life</em> (2022). His most recent book, <em>Double Solitaire: The Films of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder</em>, is being published by Rowman Littlefield in September 2023.
Emily McRae
Emily McRae is the Editorial Assistant intern for LionsRoar.com. She recently graduated from the University of King’s College with a journalism degree, and plans to work in the publishing industry.
Mihiri Tillakaratne
Mihiri Tillakaratne (she/her) is an associate editor at Lion's Roar. She has a PhD in Ethnic Studies and Gender, Women, and Sexuality (UC Berkeley), a M.A. in Ethnic Studies (UC Berkeley), and a M.A. in Asian American Studies (UCLA). She learned Pali and studied Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in post-independence Sri Lanka at Harvard. Mihiri is the director of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEw5BQq_ENM">I Take Refuge</a>, a documentary on Sri Lankan American Buddhist identity, and the founder of <a href="https://www.srilankanamericansforsocialjustice.com/">Sri Lankan Americans for Social Justice</a>.
Mary Ray Cate
Mary Ray Cate is a physician, artist, and graduate of the Buddhist chaplaincy program at Upaya Zen Center. In addition to having a grown son, she has been a foster mom to many children.
Butterfly Tony Pham
Butterfly (Tony Pham) (they/he) is a meditation instructor, compassion teacher, and healer that occupies the intersection of queer and Asian/BIPOC identities. Butterfly stewards spiritual spaces where they offer practices rooted in compassion, indigeneity, and sacred lineages. They are a current student of Arinna Weisman (Theravada/Vipassana) and Lama Rod Owens (Vajrayana/Tibetan Buddhism) in addition to participating in the East Bay Meditation Center’s PiTA8 program for social justice activists. Tony previously received a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research in Vietnam; he has also completed compassion cultivation, death doula and non-violent communication training. Butterfly is honored to currently serve as treasurer on the board of directors of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. They now reside in Brooklyn (occupied Canarsie/Munsee Lenape land). For more information, please visit <a href="https://tonyopham.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">tonyopham.com</a>
Ken Kessel
Ken Kessel (Zen Master Jok Um) received transmission in the Kwan Um School of Zen. He’s a licensed clinical social worker, specializing in infant mental health.
Wendy Garling
Wendy Garling is an independent scholar with a BA from Wellesley College and MA specializing in Sanskrit language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She is author of the award-winning <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Raised-Buddha-Extraordinary-Mahaprajapati/dp/1611806690/ref=d_pd_sbs_sccl_4_1/131-6364331-1937914?pd_rd_w=sYQT1&content-id=amzn1.sym.d8274306-8eaa-4da3-9175-aca6400f9aa9&pf_rd_p=d8274306-8eaa-4da3-9175-aca6400f9aa9&pf_rd_r=Z3BTXPE4776634P3CJCY&pd_rd_wg=FD5yx&pd_rd_r=f42ad314-8770-4a16-bfb3-b73f27755407&pd_rd_i=1611806690&psc=1"><em>The Woman Who Raised the Buddha: The Extraordinary Life of Mahaprajapati,</em></a> with Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Shambhala Publications, 2021) and <a href="https://shop.taramandala.org/products/stars-at-dawn"><em>Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha’s Life </em></a> (Shambhala Publications, 2016).
Meido Moore
Meido Moore is abbot of Korinji, a Rinzai Zen monastery in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.