Meet Our Authors

	David H. Albert (What Really Matters co-author, coming Spring 2010) is a homeschooling father, writer and speaker. He is the author of a number of other books from other publishers, including And the Skylark Sings with Me, Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery and Have Fun. Learn Stuff. Grow. Homeschooling and the Curriculum of Love. He lives, works and writes in Olympia, Washington. Visit David’s website.
	Naomi Aldort (Life Learning contributor) is the author of Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves. Her advice columns are published in progressive parenting magazines worldwide. Aldort offers phone guidance and counseling internationally regarding all ages, babies through teens: attachment parenting; natural learning; peaceful and powerful parent-child relationships. Her website www.authenticparent.com makes available her book, CDs, counseling and a free newsletter.
	Deb Baker (Life Learning contributor) learns alongside her husband and children in Concord, New Hampshire. Her poems and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies in Japan, Europe, and North America. She sings in the Songweavers a cappella women’s chorus, volunteers with a refugee resettlement program and blogs about her family’s reading.
	Léandre Bergeron (For the Sake of Our Children author) is a well-known author and activist who was born in Manitoba. He studied in France and taught literature at Concordia University in Montreal before moving to the Quebec countryside with his wife Francine to live a life of voluntary simplicity. His many works range from a guide to home birth to the well-known Dictionnaire de la langue québecoise and the best-seller, Petit Manuel d'histoire du Québec, which has recently been updated and re-released. He is a tireless champion for the underdog and has long advocated for educational, political and social reform. Parents from all over Quebec seek his advice about homeschooling their own children. In 2008, Canada's National Film Board produced a documentary film about his life, entitled Léandre Bergeron – With Hopeless Conviction.
	Gaye Chicoine (Life Learning contributor) is a photographer by trade, mom to six life-learning young adults and partner to husband Ed. She has authored two books, loves to travel and after 18 years of un-schooling, still enjoys helping her children with their life directions and family business when it is requested of her. From 1997 to 2000, Ed and Gaye drove from Canada to the bottom of South America and back with their six children. Gaye has recently published a book Living Dreams, the story about her family’s South American journey and the learning that resulted.
	Amy Childs (Life Learning contributor) mentors homeschooling teens and their families around the country through workshops, classes, conference calls and personal support. She also works as a "Happiness Consultant," helping clients uncover their true selves and create lives that are authentic and fun. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her own three self-directed young people who make her laugh all the time and who constantly remind her how precious and amazing human beings truly are. Amy has a daily podcast which you can find at www.amychilds.com
	Robyn Coburn (Life Learning contributor) has been a costume, scenic and lighting designer in her native Australia, as well as Texas and California. She graduated a Bachelor of Creative Arts with Honors from the University of Wollongong. She taught technical theater to acting students prior to immigrating to the United States. She eventually chose to repurpose her life as a work-at-home unschooling mom. Her latest venture is a return to her roots as a textile artisan, developing a hand crafted line of art dolls and gifts called “Iggy Jingles.” She is also revising on her first sold screenplay, developing a crafting TV series and continues to be a regular contributor to several unschooling e-lists. Her writing has been featured in education magazines and on several websites that focus on home education and alternative parenting.
	Gea D'Marea Bassett (Life Learning contributor) lives in Seattle with her partner, Doug and their homeschooling son, Zizi. She was unschooled from birth until college and just completed an MA in Education from Goddard College. Her thesis was on contemporary homeschoolers in the Seattle area. Aside from traveling, cooking, and wearing flip-flops, her current projects include pursuing a doctorate in Education and unschooling, establishing a haven of exotic edible plants in her backyard, and continuing to practice life learning with her family.
	Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko (Life Learning contributor) lives, works and hikes in Hamilton, Ontario. For seven years, she and her family produced Radio Free School, a show by for and about homelearners, which is currently taking an extended hiatus, although she still maintains the blog . She unschools one daughter and is waiting for the other two to quit experimenting with school and return to home-based learning.
	Jan Fortune-Wood (Life Learning contributor) is a writer and educational adviser who home educated her four children. Dr. Fortune-Wood has written three novels, two poetry collections and several books on alternative education and parenting, including Winning Parent, Winning Child. You can find out more about Jan at her website.
no photo available	Ruthe Friedner Matilsky (Life Learning contributor) is an unschooling mom of five life learners who have all done some exciting things with their lives. She and her husband Terry subscribed to John Holt’s idea that if you provide your children with a stimulating environment they will learn what they need to know to get by happily in life, but just to make sure, they gave away their television set. With only one teenager still at home, Ruthe is now free to pursue her own life learning as she writes, plays guitar, gardens, does yoga and finds new ways to build community.
	Rachel Gathercole (Life Learning contributor) is the mother of three delightful, delight-driven children and the author of The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling. She is also the author of numerous articles and a popular conference speaker on homeschooling, unschooling and parenting. To learn more, visit www.rachelgathercole.com.
	Erica Gotow (Life Learning contributor) was unschooled through eighth grade then attended Blacksburg High School for three years prior to restructuring her education at home again to create more time for community service and extracurricular activities. She is currently attending the College of William & Mary. (In this photo, she is to the right and her mother and co-contributor Ann Lloyd is to the left.)
	Daniel Grego (Life Learning contributor) is Executive Director of TransCenter for Youth, Inc., a nonprofit agency that operates three high schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Grego is a popular guest speaker. He has taught in the Education Department at Alverno College and the Philosophy Department at the University of Wisconsin and been a consultant for the Institute for the Transformation of Learning, the Helen Bader Foundation and to Wisconsin’s Governor and Legislature. He is a founding member of the Alliance for Choices in Education (ACE). His writings have appeared in Encounter, the CYD Journal, Out of the Box, Education Revolution, Vitae Scholasticae and other publications. One of his interests is exploring the confluence of the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, Ivan Illich and Wendell Berry. He lives with his wife, choreographer Debra Loewen, and their daughter, Caitlin Grego, on a small farm in the Rock River watershed in Dodge County, Wisconsin.
	Pam Laricchia (Life Learning contributor) and her family live and learn joyfully in Ontario, Canada. She loves seeing her kids living with such intention. Choosing the best path for themselves from the rich palate of life gives them so many opportunities to learn about themselves: it's not always easy, but it is incredible." Read more about Pam, her family and philosophy of learning at www.livingjoyfully.ca.
	Marty Layne(Life Learning contributor) is a veteran homeschooling/unschooling mom, experienced life-coach, speaker, writer and published author. Her book (Learning At Home: A Mother’s Guide To Homeschooling is also published in Indonesia as Ibuku Geruku). She helps parents create positive learning environments. Her favorite quote is "Be yourself – you can’t be anybody else!" from Tubby the Tuba. Learn more about her at her website.
	Pamela Levac (For the Sake of Our Children translator) has a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University and has been translating in to French and English for over twenty years. Her work includes web sites, product packaging, press releases, numerous other publications and two books. Pamela is also a writer and has been published in several Canadian and American magazines and academic journals. Her passion for education and learning has been a constant throughout the years, expressed through teaching, tutoring and developing curriculum. She is the mother of two children who learned at home for eight happy years.
	Ann Lloyd (Life Learning contributor) is an unschooling veteran and the author of two books: Just 'Til I Finish This Chapter and Tips and Tricks for Homeschooling Survival. She has recently completed doctoral studies in Housing/Family Studies at VA Tech. Her work has been published in a number of homeschooling magazines. (In this photo, she is in the center and her daughter and co-contributor Erica Gotow is to the right.)
	Suzanne Malakoff (Life Learning contributor) and her husband are raising three incredible kids who have always learned at home and in their community in the Pacific Northwest. She earns her living working as a communications associate for a nonprofit research and advocacy group focused on a clean energy future and feels lucky to have wandered into to such important work. In her spare time she enjoys writing, gardening, spending time with her animals and getting outside whatever the weather. She has published several articles and essays on a variety of topics that include natural learning and parenting and is currently working on pieces of fiction.
	Dayna Martin (Life Learning contributor) lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her family has always unschooled and strives to live life in joy and abundance together everyday. Dayna is a writer and passionate public speaker advocating for natural birth, attachment parenting and unschooling. Her website is www.UnschoolingAmerica.com and her family blog is  at www.TheSparklingMartins.blogspot.com.
	Sarabeth Matilsky (Life Learning contributor) is forever indebted to her parents for giving her a free childhood. Twenty-nine years of adventures have taken her many places, including on a cross-country bike ride where she met her True Love, Jeff. Sarabeth and Jeff live in a cohousing community in upstate NY, with their two boys, Ben and Jem, who have unschooled since birth.
	Roland Meighan (Life Learning contributor) is an acknowledged “educational heretic” for his view that mass compulsory schooling is an obsolete, counterproductive learning system which abuses human rights and should be phased out as soon as possible. Dr. Meighan believes that schools should be recycled as part of a flexible learning system that is invitational and learner-directed. He is author of more than ten books and has been translated into twelve languages. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Director of Educational Heretics Press, Director/Trustee of the Centre for Personalised Education Trust Ltd., and formerly Special Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham, UK.
	Wendy Priesnitz (School Free author, Challenging Assumptions in Education author, Bringing it Home author, Life Learning editor and contributor) is a magazine and book editor, author, environmental journalist and change-maker. She and her husband Rolf unschooled their two daughters, beginning in the early 1970s, when she established the homeschooling/unschooling movement in Canada. In the mid-1990s, she was the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She currently co-owns and edits Natural Life magazine, which she and Rolf founded in 1976 and is writing a book of memoirs about mothering, daughtering and learning, entitled It Hasn't Shut Me Up. For more about Wendy, and to read her blog and selected articles, visit her personal website .
	Joyce Reed (What Really Matters - coming Spring 2010) is the parent of five successful home educated college grads. She served for 14 years as Associate Dean of The College at Brown University where she reached out to homeschooled teens. After retiring, she began consulting with primarily international and homeschooling families seeking to attend college. Visit Joyce’s website.
	Carlo Ricci (Life Learning contributor) teaches in the faculty of education's graduate program at Nipissing University, where he founded and edits the online Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning (JUAL). Dr. Ricci tries to incorporate the spirit of unschooling, democratic and learner-centered principles in all of his classes. He has taught in elementary and high school and in undergraduate, teacher education programs and graduate programs. He often says that everything of value that he has learned, he has learned outside of formal schooling. His personal schooling experience as a student and later as a teacher has inspired him to revolt against institutional schooling. He continues to heal from the wounds inflicted on him by formal schooling. He has two daughters ages three and five whom he hopes will decide to unschool. For more information, visit his website.
	Karen Ridd (Life Learning contributor) is an activist, educator, retired clown and delighted unschooling mother. Her children Daniel and Ben are responsible for the biggest growth curve in her life – and she appreciates that! Karen lives with her partner Gord and their boys in a fledgling co-housing community in the bush east of Winnipeg.
	Renata Rooney (Life Learning contributor) and her family continue to enjoy their always evolving eclectic homeschooling lifestyle. Every day is different and quite wonderfully ordinary. Their thanks go to those who walked on this path before them, those who chose to share about their life learning journeys, and those who have offered support and companionship.
	Nathanael Schildbach (Life Learning contributor) lives and learns in western Massachusetts with his wife, three sons, dog, cat, some racing pigeons, and many ducks. He can be reached at natehampton@gmail.com.
	Amy Spang (Life Learning contributor) is a homeschooling mother of three who resides and works on a small family farm in New York. She is a certified teacher who decided to homeschool her children after working in the public schools for a number of years and reforming her personal views on education. She maintains a blog of her experiences.
	Eva Swidler (Life Learning contributor) lives in Philadelphia with her husband and eight-year-old daughter, who has never been to school. She juggles spending time with her family, being part of an anarchist bookstore collective, seeking out community and teaching history. One of the places where she teaches is Goddard College in Vermont. Goddard has been a self-directed learning, low-residency college, based on progressive education principles – no grades etc. – since the 1960s.
	Lael Whitehead (Life Learning contributor) is a writer and musician who lives with her husband, architect Richard Iredale, in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. Lael and Richard raised their three daughters without any sort of formal schooling. The girls have grown into curious, creative and compassionate young adults who probe deeply and enjoy heartily the wonder of being alive.
	M. Jeanne Yardley (Life Learning contributor) experienced a quarter-century of formal education but attributes her most important learning to seven years of unschooling with her son and daughter in their converted schoolhouse near Cambridge, Ontario. When not worrying about their choice to go to high school, she continues part-time writing, editing and proofreading.
	Natalie Zur Nedden (Life Learning contributor) left her home in Montréal, Québec and quit school at the age of 13. She has been learning ever since, both through life experiences, including world travel, and university. In 2008 she completed her Ph.D.; she wrote the life history of Life Learning’s editor Wendy Priesnitz. Contact Natalie by email at nzurnedden@oise.utoronto.ca.

Natural Life Books specializes in adult non-fiction about ways that families and individuals can live and learn on Planet Earth in a healthy, socially responsible, environmentally sound, self-reliant manner. We are the retail division of The Alternate Press, an imprint of Life Media, a small, independent book and magazine publishing house established in 1976. We are proud to publish the largest selection of books and other information products about radical unschooling (also known as life learning) in the world.