our bloggers
Martha Woodroof
...author of How to Stop Screwing Up: Twelve Steps to a Real Life and a Pretty Good Time, is an award-winning public radio reporter whose features air frequently on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace. Martha Woodroof was born in the South, went to boarding school and college in New England, lived in Texas for a while, then fetched up in Virginia, where she's been ever since. She co-owned a couple of Charlottesville restaurants in her thirties (built around her cooking), then turned to broadcasting, finding true professional love in public radio. She's currently a reporter for WMRA in Virginia. Her ambition is to do a good job of telling other people’s stories, and her work can be heard nationally on National Public Radio and Marketplace. She is effervescence personified and her energy is contagious. She lives with her husband in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Their closest neighbors are cows.Lee Stringer
...is a writer, a lecturer, a teacher and a recovering crack addict. Author of the critically acclaimed "Grand Central Winter: Stories From the Street", (a 1998 NY Times notable book), 2000's "Like Shaking Hands With God: A Conversation About Writing" (with Kurt Vonnegut) and 2004's "Sleepaway School: Stories of a Boy's Life", Stringer began his career in the news bureaus of public Television stations in Dallas where he worked for Jim Lerher and Detroit and later served as editor of Street News for several years. His commentaries can be heard in the All Things Considered archives on NPR.org. Lee Stringer lived on the streets from the early eighties until the mid-nineties. He is a former editor and columnist of Street News. His essays and articles have appeared in a variety of other publications, including The Nation, The New York Times, and Newsday. He lives in Mamaroneck, New York, and is currently finished his fourth book. He will also be presenting a workshop entitled "Writing Through a Crisis" at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, Virginia on March 27, 2008, hosted by The Second Road.Mark Harris
...M.A., coordinates The Recovery Center, a project of the Multicultural Substance Abuse Prevention Program at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. As a national, state, and local level consultant he has written successful grants, co-authored curricula, and worked in successful and innovative prevention programs in California and Oregon. He has provided technical assistance to numerous community coalitions on Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, Gang and Violence Prevention, and other Multicultural Issues. Mark’s writing will grab you, make you think, and will be sure to elicit a response. He is bold and direct in communicating his ideas and his sometimes radical thoughts concerning recovery make for some animated dialogue.William C. Moyers
...vice president of external affairs, "carries the message" about addiction and recovery into the public arena, especially to policy makers and civic groups across America. He uses his own personal experiences to highlight the power of addiction and the power of recovery. His life as an active crack addict is intensely and honestly described in his book "Broken", which was published in 2006. He has been in recovery since 1994.In 1998 his efforts were honored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), which awarded him and his family its highest achievement award the Gold Key. He and his parents, Bill and Judith Moyers, also received the Arthur Liman Public Interest Award from the Legal Action Center. This award salutes families and individuals whose work has advanced public understanding of public policy issues related to addiction. Before first joining Hazelden in 1996, Moyers was an award-winning journalist for 15 years. He has worked at CNN, Newsday and various other newspapers around the country. In 1981, Moyers received his BA degree in journalism from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. He has appeared on Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the Today program, and his work has been featured in the New York Times and Newsweek magazine.