Daniel Pink is an award-winning author and speaker whose books on business and professional success have sold millions of copies in dozens of countries and been translated into over 35 languages. His latest book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, is a deep dive into the science of timing.
Pink has written six books, including four New York Times bestsellers. His first book, Free Agent Nation, set off a national debate on the changing nature of work and was praised by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. His second book, A Whole New Mind, predicted the rise of right-brain thinking in the workplace and spent six months on the New York Times bestseller list.&nbsp;
His third book, Drive, a No. 1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, explored the science of motivation and revealed the surprising truth about what really drives us to succeed. His fourth book, To Sell is Human, looked at the changing nature of sales, and was named one of the best books of the year by Amazon, Apple, and the Financial Times. His fifth book, When, is a deep dive into the science of timing.&nbsp;
As well as writing books, Pink is a leading business speaker and consultant. He has been described by the American Management Association as “one of the most influential business thinkers in the world,” and millions of people around the world have watched his talks. He has advised a range of leading organizations, including the United States and British governments, Microsoft, Pixar, and the NFL.&nbsp;
Pink has also been a contributing editor at Wired, a columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, and a frequent commentator on National Public Radio. He was a top-ranking student at Northwestern University, where he won a Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Award, and he holds a degree in philosophy from Yale University.&nbsp;
Pink’s books have been praised by a wide range of business, academic, and political leaders. Former U.S. President Barack Obama said of Pink’s book Drive, “It’s a book that every leader in America should read.”&nbsp;
Daniel Pink’s books, talks, and consulting services have inspired millions of people around the world. He is widely recognized as one of the leading authorities on business, motivation, and success.

Daniel

Winston Churchill was a British statesman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, leading Britain through its darkest hour during World War II.
Churchill was born in 1874 and was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. He began his career in the British Army and later transitioned into politics, serving as a Member of Parliament for over 60 years. He held several government positions throughout his career, including as the First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, and Secretary of State for War.
During World War II, Churchill served as Prime Minister and played a key role in leading Britain through the war. He made powerful speeches that rallied the nation and inspired the British people to keep fighting, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. His speeches are widely considered to be some of the greatest in history, with phrases such as "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never" and "We shall fight on the beaches" becoming famous.
One of Churchill's greatest achievements as Prime Minister was his strong alliance with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Together, they led the Allied powers to victory over Nazi Germany.
After World War II, Churchill served as Prime Minister again from 1951 to 1955 but was defeated in the general election. He remained an active Member of Parliament until 1964 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his six-volume memoir of the war. He died in 1965 at the age of 90.
Churchill's legacy continues to this day, with many seeing him as a symbol of leadership, courage, and determination in the face of adversity. He is often ranked as one of the greatest British Prime Ministers, and his speeches are still studied and admired by people all over the world.
Winston Churchill was a prolific writer throughout his life, publishing books on a wide range of subjects. One of his most notable literary achievements is his six-volume memoir, The Second World War, which he wrote during and after the war. The work, which was published between 1948 and 1954, provides a detailed and personal account of the war from Churchill's perspective, including his thoughts and decisions as Prime Minister. The memoirs were international bestsellers and were praised for their historical accuracy and Churchill's literary skill.
In addition to his memoirs, Churchill also wrote several other books throughout his life. Some of his most notable works include:
<ul>
<li>"The World Crisis" (1923-1931): A five-volume work that covers the period of Churchill's life from 1911 to 1928 and includes his thoughts on World War I and its aftermath.</li>
<li>"My Early Life" (1930): An autobiographical work that covers Churchill's childhood and early career.</li>
<li>"A History of the English-Speaking Peoples" (1956-1958): A four-volume work that covers the history of the English-speaking peoples from the Anglo-Saxon period to the end of the 19th century.</li>
<li>"Painting as a Pastime" (1948): A book in which Churchill reflects on his hobby of painting and its therapeutic effects.</li>
</ul>
Churchill's books have been widely read and praised for their historical accuracy and literary merit. They provide valuable insights into the mind of one of the most important figures of the 20th century and continue to be studied and admired today.

Winston

Herbert Ypma is a bestselling author and photographer whose groundbreaking HIP Hotels series inspired an entirely new genre of travel publishing. His many other books include RSVP: Simple Sophistication, Effortless Entertaining, and Amazing Places Cost Nothing.

Herbert

Donald Arthur Norman is a professor emeritus of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego, and a Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University. He also co-directs the dual degree MBA + Engineering degree program between the Kellogg School and Northwestern Engineering. Norman is on numerous company advisory boards, including the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica.&nbsp;
He currently splits his time between consulting, teaching, and writing. He co-founded the Nielsen Norman Group, a consulting group on matters of usability, which also includes Jakob Nielsen and Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini. Many of Norman's books deal mostly with usability or with cognitive psychology. He loves products that are enjoyable to use, a feature that he attributes to putting together emotion and design, or heart and mind.

Helen Hennessy Vendler (born April 30, 1933) is an American literary critic and is Porter University Professor Emerita at Harvard University. Helen Hennessy Vendler was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 30, 1933, to George Hennessy and Helen née Newman Hennessy.  She was the second of three children. Her parents encouraged her to read poems as a child.&nbsp;
Vendler's father taught Spanish, French, and Italian at a high school, while her mother had taught in a primary school before marriage. Vendler attended Emmanuel College over the Boston Girls' Latin School and Radcliffe College because her parents would not let her enroll in "secular education." She received an A. B. from Emmanuel.
Vendler was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, attending the Université catholique de Louvain from 1954 to 1955 for mathematics. But while traveling to the university, she decided that she would rather study English than math, and the Fulbright commission allowed her to switch her focus to literature. Upon returning to the U.S., Vendler took 12 undergraduate courses in English at Boston University in a year and 1956, entered Harvard University as a graduate student in English.&nbsp;
The department's chair told her within a week of entry that "we don't want any women here." At the same time, Perry Miller refused her entry in a seminar he led on Herman Melville despite viewing her as his "finest student," according to The New York Times. Other Harvard professors offered her more support, notably I. A. Richards. Vendler was offered a job teaching in Harvard's English department in 1959, making her the first woman the department offered a job as an instructor. She declined.
Vendler graduated with a Ph.D. in English and American literature the next year. She began teaching English at Cornell University in 1960, after her husband at the time, Zeno Vendler, moved to teach there. She left Cornell in 1963 and spent several years at various other institutions, including a year (1963-1964) teaching at Haverford College and Swarthmore College, two years (1964-1966) as an assistant professor at Boston University, and another two (1966-1968) as full professor.&nbsp;
Vendler spent a year as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Bordeaux. After this, she was Boston University's director of graduate studies in the English department from 1970 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1979. Vendler has been a professor of English at Harvard University since 1984; from 1981 to 1984, she taught alternating semesters at Harvard and Boston University. She has said that she retained her affiliation with BU for several years to ensure that she wasn't "some little token person" at Harvard.&nbsp;
In 1985, Vendler was named the William R. Kenan Professor of English and American Literature and Language. From 1987 to 1992, she served as associate dean of arts and sciences. In 1990, she was appointed the A—Kingsley Porter University Professor,  the first woman to hold this position. In 1992, Vendler received an honorary Litt. D. from Bates College.
Vendler delivered the 2000 Warton Lecture on English Poetry. In 2004, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected her for the Jefferson Lecture, the federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities. Her lecture, "The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar," used poems by Wallace Stevens to argue for the role of the arts (as opposed to history and philosophy) in studying humanities. In 2006, The New York Times called Vendler "the leading poetry critic in America." It credited her work with helping "establish or secure the reputations" of poets, including Jorie Graham, Seamus Heaney, and Rita Dove.
Vendler has written books on Emily Dickinson, W. B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, John Keats, and Seamus Heaney. She is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She has also been a judge for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1974, 1976, 1978, 1986) and the National Book Award for Poetry (1972).&nbsp;

Helen

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he created and popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories.&nbsp;
Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York state. He attended Princeton University, where he befriended future literary critic Edmund Wilson.&nbsp;
Owing to a failed romantic relationship with Chicago socialite Ginevra King, he dropped out in 1917 to join the United States Army during World War I. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante who belonged to Montgomery's exclusive country club set. Although she initially rejected Fitzgerald's marriage proposal due to his lack of financial prospects, Zelda agreed to marry him after he published the commercially successful This Side of Paradise (1920).&nbsp;
The novel became a cultural sensation and cemented his reputation as one of the eminent writers of the decade. His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. He wrote numerous stories for popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire to maintain his affluent lifestyle. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway.&nbsp;
His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), received generally favorable reviews but was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 23,000 copies in its first year. Despite its lackluster debut, some literary critics now hailed The Great Gatsby as the "Great American Novel." Following the deterioration of his wife's mental health and her placement in a mental institute for schizophrenia, Fitzgerald completed his final novel; Tender Is the Night (1934).
Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works amid the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. While living in Hollywood, he cohabited with columnist Sheilah Graham, his final companion before his death. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940 at 44. After Fitzgerald's death, his friend Edmund Wilson edited and published an unfinished fifth novel, The Last Tycoon (1941).

A breakout literary phenomenon and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Rupi Kaur wrote, illustrated, and self-published her first poetry collection, 'milk and honey' in 2014. Next came its artistic sibling, 'the sun and her flowers', in 2017. These collections have sold more than 10 million copies and have been translated into over 40 languages. Her latest poetry collection, 'home body', debuted at #1 on bestseller lists across the world. As she has done from the very beginning, Rupi self-produced Rupi Kaur Live, the first poetry special of its kind, which debuted on Amazon Prime Video in 2021.&nbsp;
Rupi Kaur has also graced the stage across the globe on world tours, performing her poetry across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the UK, Europe, and more. Intertwined with visuals, music, comedy, and anecdotes, Rupi performs her classic poems and unpublished pieces, tailoring each show to the city she visits.&nbsp;
Rupi’s work touches on love, loss, trauma, healing, femininity, and migration. She feels most at home when creating art, performing her poetry onstage, and spending time with family and friends.

Rupi

Robert Bresson (French: [ʁɔbɛʁ bʁɛsɔ̃]; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have led his works to be regarded as preeminent examples of minimalist film. Much of his work is known for being tragic in story and nature.
Bresson is among the most highly regarded filmmakers of all time. He has the highest number of films (seven) that made the 2012 Sight &amp; Sound critics' poll of the 250 greatest films ever made. His works A Man Escaped (1956), Pickpocket (1959), and Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) were ranked among the top 100, and other films like Mouchette (1967) and L'Argent (1983) also received many votes. Jean-Luc Godard once wrote, "He is the French cinema, as Dostoevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is German music."
Bresson was born at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of Marie-Élisabeth (née Clausels) and Léon Bresson. Little is known of his early life. He was educated at Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris, and turned to paint after graduating. Three formative influences in his early life seem to have marked his films: Catholicism, art, and his experiences as a prisoner of war. Robert Bresson lived in Paris, France, in the Île Saint-Louis.
Initially also a photographer, Bresson made his first short film, Les affaires publiques (Public Affairs), in 1934. During World War II, he spent over a year in a prisoner-of-war camp−an experience which informs Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (A Man Escaped). In a career that spanned fifty years, Bresson made only 13 feature-length films. This reflects his painstaking approach to the filmmaking process and his non-commercial preoccupations. Difficulty finding funding for his projects was also a factor.
Although many writers claim that Bresson described himself as a "Christian atheist," no source ever confirmed this assertion. Neither are the circumstances clear under which Bresson would have said it. On the contrary, in an interview in 1973, he said, There is the feeling that God is everywhere, and the more I live, the more I see that in nature, in the country. When I see a tree, I see that God exists. I try to catch and convey the idea that we have a soul and that the soul is in contact with God. That's the first thing I want to get in my films.
Furthermore, in a 1983 interview for TSR's Spécial Cinéma, Bresson declared that he had been interested in making a film based on the Book of Genesis. However, he believed such a production would be too costly and time-consuming.&nbsp;
Bresson was sometimes accused of an "ivory tower existence." Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, an admirer of Bresson's work, argued that the filmmaker was "a mysterious, aloof figure" and wrote that on the set of Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971), the director "seemed more isolated from his crew than any other filmmaker I've seen at work; his widow and onetime assistant director, Mylene van der Mersch, often conveyed his instructions."
Bresson died on a Saturday in December 1999 at his home in Droue-sur-Drouette, southwest of Paris. He was 98. He made his last film, L'Argent, in 1983 and had been unwell for some time.

Robert

Stewart Brand is an American writer best known as the editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded several organizations, including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation. He is the author of several books, most recently Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto.
Brand was born in Rockford, Illinois, and attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. He studied biology at Stanford University, graduating in 1960. As a soldier in the U.S. Army, he was a parachutist and taught infantry skills; he later expressed that his military experience had fostered his competence in organizing. A civilian again in 1962, he studied design at San Francisco Art Institute, photography at San Francisco State College, and participated in a legitimate scientific study of then-legal LSD in Menlo Park, California. In 1966, he married mathematician Lois Jennings, an Ottawa Native American.
Brand has lived in California since the 1960s. He and his second wife live on Mirene, a 64-foot (20 m)-long working tugboat. Built-in 1912, the boat is moored in a former shipyard in Sausalito, California. In addition, he works in Mary Heartline, a grounded fishing boat about 100 yards (90 meters) away. One of his favorite items is a table on which Otis Redding is said to have written "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." (Brand acquired it from an antique dealer in Sausalito.)
By the mid-1960s, Brand became associated with New York multimedia group USCO and Bay Area author Ken Kesey and his "Merry Pranksters." Brand co-produced the Trips Festival, an early effort involving rock music and light shows, in San Francisco with Kesey and Ramón Sender Barayón. This was one of the first venues at which the Grateful Dead performed in San Francisco. About 10,000 hippies attended, and Haight-Ashbury soon emerged as a community. Tom Wolfe describes Brand in his 1968 book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
The Whole Earth Catalog implied an ideal of human progress that depended on decentralized, personal, and liberating technological development—so‑called "soft technology." However, in 2005 he criticized aspects of the international environmental ideology he had helped to develop. He wrote an article called "Environmental Heresies" in the May 2005 issue of the MIT Technology Review, in which he describes what he considers necessary changes to environmentalism. He suggested, among other things, that environmentalists embrace nuclear power and genetically modified organisms as technologies with more promise than risk.
Brand later developed these ideas into a book and published the Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto in 2009. The book examines how urbanization, nuclear power, genetic engineering, geoengineering, and wildlife restoration can be powerful tools in humanity's ongoing fight against global warming. In a 2019 interview, Brand described his perspective as "post-libertarian," indicating that when the Whole Earth Catalog was being written, he did not fully understand the significance of the government's role in developing technology and engineering. In his environmental position, he self-describes as an "Eco-pragmatist."

Stewart

Jessica Hische is a graphic designer, illustrator, and author based in San Francisco. She is best known for her hand lettering, typography, and illustration work in the design and advertising industry.
Hische began her career as a freelance designer in 2005, working with various clients on various design projects. She quickly gained recognition for her unique and elegant hand lettering style, and her work began to be featured in publications such as Communication Arts, Print, and HOW magazine.
In addition to her design work, Hische is also an accomplished author. She has written several books on design and typography, including "In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector" and "Tomorrow I'll Be Brave." Both books offer a glimpse into Hische's creative process and provide valuable insights and tips for designers and illustrators.
Hische has also been a guest speaker at several design conferences and events, sharing her knowledge and experience with other designers and creative professionals. She is also known for her "Daily Drop Cap" project, a series of illustrated letters she created and shared daily on her website.
Overall, Jessica Hische is a highly respected and accomplished designer, illustrator, and author, known for her beautiful hand lettering and typography work. Her unique style, attention to detail, and dedication to her craft have earned her a reputation as one of the industry's most talented and influential designers.

Jessica

Stephen King is an American author known for his horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy novels. He was born in Portland, Maine, in 1947 and began writing at a young age. He published his first novel, "Carrie," in 1974, which was a success and later adapted into a film. He has since published over 60 novels and 200 short stories, many of which have been adapted into movies, television shows, and comic books. Some of his most famous works include "The Shining," "It," "Salem's Lot," "The Stand," and "Misery."&nbsp;
Stephen King began his career as a writer in the early 1970s while working as a teacher. His first short story, "The Glass Floor," was published in 1967. However, his first novel, "Carrie," was not published until 1974. Nevertheless, it was a success and was adapted into a film in 1976. This success encouraged him to continue writing and publishing novels. In the 1970s and 1980s, he published a string of successful horror and supernatural stories, including "Salem's Lot," "The Shining," "The Stand," "Firestarter," "Pet Sematary," "It," and "Misery."
His novels have been adapted into films, television shows, and comic books. Some of the most famous adaptations of his work include the movie "Carrie," "The Shining," "Stand by Me," "Misery," "The Shawshank Redemption," and "It." He also wrote several non-fiction books and short story collections.
In recent years, he has continued to publish novels, including "Doctor Sleep," "Under the Dome," "Joyland" and "Revival." He is considered one of his generation's most successful and famous authors and has sold over 350 million copies of his books worldwide.

Stephen

David Sedaris is an American humorist, essayist, and author. He is best known for his autobiographical works and his sardonic wit. He was born in Johnson City, New York, and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School and then went on to study at Kent State University in Ohio.
Sedaris is best known for his sarcastic, observational, and often self-deprecating writing style. His stories are often based on his life experiences, from his childhood to his travels worldwide. He has written several bestselling books, including Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. He is also a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and National Public Radio.
Sedaris has been praised for his unique perspective and ability to bring his stories to life vividly. His work often incorporates elements of dark humor and satire, and he frequently uses irony to make his points. He often includes absurd yet relatable characters in his stories and humorous observations about human behavior. In addition to his writing, he is also known for his live performances, where he reads his stories accompanied by music.
Sedaris has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Grammy nomination for his audiobook Live at Carnegie Hall. He is also a member of the International Institute of Humor, an organization that promotes the power of humor to bring people together.
In addition to his writing and performances, Sedaris also hosts an annual Christmas show in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also works with a variety of charities, including the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.
David Sedaris is a beloved figure in the world of humor and literature. His writing is a unique blend of wit and insight that has made him a favorite of readers and listeners around the world. He is an inspiration to many for his ability to bring humor to even the darkest of subjects.
Sedaris is also an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and has spoken publicly about his own experiences. He has a large following of fans who appreciate his openness and willingness to talk about his struggles. He frequently uses his platform to raise awareness about community issues and offer support to those who need it.&nbsp;
Sedaris is also an avid traveler and has visited many countries across the globe. He has written extensively about his experiences and often incorporates his observations into his work. He is also an active philanthropist, supporting a number of charitable organizations, including the ACLU, PEN America, and the National Immigration Law Center.&nbsp;
David Sedaris has made a lasting impact on the world of literature and humor. His work is beloved by millions of people around the world, and his influence continues to be felt today.

David

Alicia Keys is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and actress. She was born on January 25, 1981, in Manhattan, New York City, and began playing the piano at the age of seven.
Keys began her music career in the late 1990s and early 2000s, releasing her debut album, "Songs in A Minor," in 2001. The album was a commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide and winning five Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'."
In addition to her successful music career, Keys is also known for her activism and philanthropy. She is the co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, an organization that provides medication and healthcare to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Harlem Children's Zone. This non-profit organization provides education and support services to children and families in Harlem, New York.
Keys has also acted in several films, including "The Nanny Diaries" (2007) and "Smokin' Aces" (2006). She also made guest appearances in several TV shows.
Alicia Keys has won numerous awards throughout her career. In addition to the five Grammy Awards she won for her debut album "Songs in A Minor," she has won a total of 15 Grammys, including Best R&amp;B Album for "The Diary of Alicia Keys" (2004) and "As I Am" (2008), and Best R&amp;B Song for "No One" (2008).
She has also won numerous other awards, including multiple BET Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and American Music Awards. Keys has also been honored with several humanitarian awards for her work with Keep a Child Alive and other charitable organizations.
In addition to her music awards, Keys has received numerous accolades for her activism and philanthropy. She was honored with the "Keep A Child Alive Black Ball Award" in 2007 and was named one of Glamour magazine's "Women of the Year" in 2008.
In 2013, Keys was honored with the "Billboard Women in Music's Powerhouse Award." In 2019 she received an award from the "She Is the Music" organization which works to empower female songwriters, composers, and producers.
It's worth mentioning that her recognition goes beyond the music industry. She has also been honored by various organizations for her philanthropy and activism, such as the "Keep A Child Alive Black Ball Award" in 2007 and the "Harlem School of Arts Visionary Leadership Award" in 2010.
Keys continues to be one of the most successful and respected musicians of her generation and has sold over 65 million records worldwide. She is also known for her powerful and soulful voice, as well as her skillful piano playing. She continues to release albums, tour, and do philanthropic work and activism.

Alicia

Blake Snyder (October 3, 1957 – August 4, 2009) was an American screenwriter, consultant, author, and educator based in Los Angeles who, through his Save the Cat trilogy of books on screenwriting and story structures, became one of the most popular writing mentors in the film industry. Snyder led international seminars and workshops for writers in various disciplines and consultation sessions for some of Hollywood's largest studios.
Snyder died unexpectedly on August 4, 2009, of what was characterized as either a pulmonary embolism or cardiac arrest. A public memorial was held at the Writers Guild of America, West, on September 29, 2009.
Snyder's father, Kenneth C. T. Snyder, was an Emmy-winning TV producer of many children's shows in the 1960s and 1970s. Among them were The Funny Company, Hot Wheels, animated segments on Sesame Street, Big Blue Marble, and Roger Ramjet.
At the age of eight, Snyder was hired by his father as a voice talent for an animated special starring Sterling Holloway. Snyder continued doing children's voices alongside Gary Owens, June Foray, and others until his voice changed, and his producer father fired him.
Snyder went on to earn a B.A. degree in English from Georgetown University and returned to Los Angeles, where he began his career writing for the Disney TV series Kids Incorporated. Snyder began writing full-time as a screenwriter in 1987. He was a member of the Writers Guild of America for over 20 years.
Snyder's first spec screenplay sale was in 1989 for the script Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, which sold for $500,000 in a bidding war. Million-dollar script sales include Blank Check, co-written with Colby Carr for Walt Disney Pictures, and Nuclear Family, co-written with James Haggin for Amblin Entertainment.
Snyder's nonfiction book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need was the number one-selling book among screenwriting manuals on Amazon, and 2018 is on its 34th printing. The book describes in detail the structure of the monomyth or hero's journey, providing a by-the-minute pattern for screenwriting.

Blake

Walter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals and the author of several books, generally on the subject of theater and cinema. Kerr was born in Evanston, Illinois, and earned both a B.A. and M.A. from Northwestern University., after graduation from St. George H.S. also in Evanston.
He was a regular film critic for the St. George High School newspaper while a student there and was also a critic for the Evanston News Index. He was the editor of the high school newspaper and yearbook. He taught speech and drama at The Catholic University of America. After writing criticism for Commonweal, he became a theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune in 1951. When that paper folded, he then began writing theater reviews for The New York Times in 1966, writing for the next seventeen years.
He married Jean Kerr (née Collins) on August 9, 1943. She was also a writer. Together, they wrote the musical Goldilocks (1958), which won two Tony Awards. They also collaborated on Touch and Went (1949) and King of Hearts (1954). They had six children. Kerr died from congestive heart failure on October 9, 1996. David Niven portrayed him pseudonymously in the 1960 film Please Don't Eat the Daisies, based on Jean Kerr's best-selling collection of humorous essays.&nbsp;
Kerr was one of his era's harshest New York theatre critics, giving the fewest favorable reviews. He was well known for musically ambitious panning musicals. Notoriously he is credited with one of the world's shortest reviews, "Me no Leica," for John Van Druten's I Am a Camera in the New York Herald Tribune, December 31, 1951. Many of the shows he critiqued were those of Stephen Sondheim.&nbsp;
About Sondheim's Company, Kerr wrote that it was too cold, cynical, and distant for his taste, though he "admitted to admiring large parts of the show." About Sondheim's Follies, he wrote, " 'Follies' is intermissionless and exhausting, an extravaganza that becomes tedious for two simple reasons: Its extravagances have nothing to do with its pebble of a plot; and the plot, which could be wrapped up in approximately two songs, dawdles through 22 before it declares itself done. Mr.&nbsp;
Sondheim may be too much a man of the seventies, too present-tense and sophisticated. The effort to bind it up inhibits the crackling, open-ended, restlessly varied surges of sound he devised with such distinction for Company." He praised A Little Night Music, saying, "The score is a gift, the ladies are delightful, and producer Harold Prince has staged the moody meetings with easy skill."
He expressed mixed sentiments about Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, praising the music but deeming it too lilting for the show's grisly subject; his conclusion- "What is this musical about?" He wrote a follow-up article on his observation that the musical contained a plot from Molière's The School for Wives, posing the question of who, of all of the authors who had revised the tale of Sweeney Todd over the years, had put the plot into the story.
Nevertheless, in 1977, he wrote of Sondheim, "I needn't tell you that Stephen Sondheim is, both musically and lyrically, the most sophisticated composer now working for the Broadway theater." In reviewing Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, he focused on the dancing: "the most savage, restless, electrifying dance patterns we've been exposed to in a dozen seasons... The dancing is it. Don't look for laughter or—for that matter—tears."
In his review of the original 1956 Broadway production of Candide, he wrote that it was a "really spectacular disaster." However, in reviewing the 1973 revival of Candide, he wrote that it was a "most satisfying resurrection. 'Candide' may, at last, have stumbled into the best of all possible productions... The show is now a carousel, and we are on it quite safely... The design of the unending chase is so firm; the performers are so secure in their climbing and tumbling...that we are able to join the journey and still see it with the detachment that Voltaire prescribes."
Of Frank Loesser's "musical with a lot of music" [sic. Opera], The Happiest Fella, he wrote: "the evening at the Imperial is finally heavy with its own inventiveness, weighted down with the variety and fulsomeness of a genuinely creative appetite. It's as though Mr. Loesser had written two complete musicals—the operetta and the haymaker—on the same simple play and then crammed them both into a single structure."
Kerr was also notable for his lack of enthusiasm regarding the plays of Samuel Beckett. For instance, in Beckett's Waiting For Godot, he wrote, "The play, asking for a thousand readings, has none of its own to give. It is a veil rather than a revelation. It wears a mask rather than a face."
Walter Kerr won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1978 for "articles on the theater". In 1983, Kerr was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 1990, the former Ritz Theater on West 48th Street in the Theater District, New York, was renamed the Walter Kerr Theatre in his honor.

Walter

Kevin Kelly is a writer, editor, and speaker who has had a diverse career exploring the intersection of technology, culture, and business.
In the early days of the internet, Kelly co-founded Wired magazine in 1993 and served as its Executive Editor until 1999. He helped to shape the magazine's coverage of technology and digital culture, and his writing and editing helped to establish Wired as a leading voice in the field.
After leaving Wired, Kelly continued to write and speak about technology and its impact on society. He has written several books, including "Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, &amp; the Economic World" and "What Technology Wants," which explore how technology shapes our world and our future.
In recent years, Kelly has been a sought-after speaker and advisor on technology and its impact on society. He has spoken at conferences and events worldwide and advised companies and organizations on navigating the rapidly changing technological landscape. Kelly is also a co-founder of the All Species Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to cataloging and identifying every living species on earth. The Long Now Foundation focuses on long-term thinking and responsibility.
Overall, Kelly's career has been dedicated to understanding how technology shapes our world and helping others understand and navigate those changes.

Kevin

Greg

If you have a sense of humor, and you want to share your giggle-worthiness with others, here's the book for you! Greg Dean teaches budding comedians how to perfect their craft by providing advice on everything from writing funny material to overcoming stage fright.  A must-read for aspiring comics and current comedians alike, Step By Step To Stand-Up Comedy is a fun and informative guide to making people laugh!

Anthony Jeselnik is an American comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is known for his dark comedy style, which emphasizes ironic misdirection, non-sequiturs, biting insults, an arrogant demeanor, and a stage persona that frequently takes amoral stances.
Jeselnik was a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in its first season and hosted Comedy Central Presented in 2009. After releasing his critically acclaimed debut album Shakespeare in 2010, he began writing for the Comedy Central Roasts and moved up to performer in the 2011 roast of Donald Trump. He continued to perform on the roasts of Charlie Sheen and Roseanne Barr in 2012. In 2013, he hosted his own Comedy Central series for two seasons, The Jeselnik Offensive, and released his second album, Caligula, which doubles as an hour-long stand-up special.
On July 22, 2015, Jeselnik replaced J. B. Smoove as the new host of NBC's Emmy Award-nominated series Last Comic Standing. On Netflix, his second stand-up special, Thoughts and Prayers, premiered in October 2015. In addition, Jeselnik starred in the first season of the NFL Media podcast The Rosenthal &amp; Jeselnik Vanity Project (or RJVP) along with a best friend, Gregg Rosenthal. The second season debuted in 2018 on the Comedy Central Podcast Network under the slightly different name of The Jeselnik &amp; Rosenthal Vanity Project (or JRVP).
Jeselnik's Comedy Central Presents stand-up special premiered in 2009. He was named one of Comedy Central's breakout comedians of the year alongside Nick Kroll, Aziz Ansari, Whitney Cummings, Donald Glover, Matt Braunger, T. J. Miller, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jon Lajoie. In 2009, Jeselnik was hired as a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
His dream job, predating stand-up or his first comedy class, was to sit around a table and "throw out jokes with people you respected." However, Jeselnik's pitches would be continually shot down after getting the job as they were too dark. For example, he routinely fought for a single joke regarding obesity each day for a month. Although Fallon liked the mark, he felt uncomfortable performing it as it likely jeopardized his likability with the obese.
During this period, he was a regular at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, New York City. Jeselnik would work hard each day for the show and then proceed to Comedy Cellar, have a "big stiff drink," and do his act, feeling "miserable." Finally, in March 2010, he approached the show's producers and told them he wanted to leave. "We understand—you want to go by Anthony Jeselnik," they said.
He recorded his debut album, Shakespeare, and in 2010 began writing for the Comedy Central Roasts. Jeselnik, who refers to roasts as "the Super Bowl of comedy," loved roasts during college and always tried to write for them. While Jeselnik was writing for the David Hasselhoff roast, Comedy Central executives took an interest in him and offered him an opportunity to perform on the next roast. Knowing that this would be his "big moment," Jeselnik refers to the Roast of Donald Trump as "one of my favorite moments of my life […] because no one knew who I was, and it just really caught everybody by surprise. And the next day, my life was completely different."
While Jeselnik had previously been headlining clubs, the audience often was unfamiliar with his brand of comedy; after the Trump roast, the crowds got more extensive, and Jeselnik felt more comfortable. Immediately following his performance, the network offered Jeselnik a "three-point deal" in which one receives an hour special, three Comedy Central roasts, and a development deal. Jeselnik performed at two more roasts, the Comedy Central Roasts of Charlie Sheen in 2011 and Roseanne Barr in 2012. In addition, Jeselnik appeared at the Power of Comedy event in November 2012.

Anthony

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Greg Dean emphasizes the importance of understanding the structure of comedy. He believes that comedy is not just about being funny, but about understanding the mechanics behind it. He encourages readers to explore the structure of a joke and the role of surprise in creating laughter.

Understanding the Comedy Structure

In 'Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy', Dean stresses the importance of originality in comedy. He suggests that copying others won't get you far. Instead, he encourages readers to dig deep into their own experiences and perspectives to create unique comedic content.

The Importance of Originality

Greg Dean highlights the role of practice in mastering stand-up comedy. He suggests that like any other skill, comedy requires consistent practice. He encourages readers to take a look at their routines, refine them, and practice them until they feel natural.

The Role of Practice

Stage fright is a common issue for many comedians, and Dean doesn't shy away from this topic. He provides practical tips on how to deal with stage fright, encouraging readers to see it as a natural part of the process and not something to be feared.

Dealing with Stage Fright

In the book, he emphasizes the power of persistence in the world of stand-up comedy. Success may not come overnight, but with persistence and dedication, you can make your mark. He encourages readers to keep going, even when things get tough, and to always keep exploring and refining their comedic voice.

The Power of Persistence

Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy

Greg Dean has been teaching and writing about the fundamentals of joke writing and performing stand-up comedy for forty plus year. When he began, Dean quickly realized there were no documented fundamentals for teaching stand-up comedy. So, for the past four decades he’s made it his life’s mission to identify, name, and teach the basic techniques used by all great joke writers and comedians.
These fundamental are published in his book Step By Step to Stand-Up Comedy - Revised Edition. These same joke writing and performing techniques are available as a series of exercises in his Step By Step to Stand-Up Comedy - Workbook Series.

Greg Dean

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Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy

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Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy

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