Meet the Authors!

Barbara Hickey

Barbara Hickey is the founder of the Etiquette School of Atlanta (ESA) and author of The Top 40 Tips of Business Etiquette. Hickey has a Bachelor’s degree in political science and Master’s degree in public administration. While traveling extensively as an army wife, Hickey learned international etiquette and worked at NASA’s headquarters as a professional development expert. She has appeared as an etiquette expert on The Travel Channel and instructed comedians of The Blue Collar Comedy Show. Hickey hosts programs for children at ESA that include “Making a Good First Impression,” as well as dining tutorials and study skills. She lives in Atlanta with three of her four children.
In her charming children's book Ms. Sincerely Kind Goes Out and About: (Where Good Manners Matter) (published by Author House), the etiquette guru invites you to join Ms. Sincerely Kind and her dog, Manners in her daily outings and interactions with friends of all ages.

“Children need ‘boundaries’ and will feel more comfortable when they know that their behavior has to be the same in every situation,” writes Hickey. “This knowledge will enhance their self-respect and help them to bring about the kind of relationships that will lead to success at home, at school and out in the community.”

The book contains three stories, “Ms. Sincerely Kind Goes to the Mall,” “Ms. Sincerely Kind Goes to a Birthday Party” and “Ms. Sincerely Kind Goes Out to Dinner. Ms. Sincerely Kind Goes Out and About: (Where Good Manners Matter) teaches children manners while entertaining and engaging young readers.

Christopher Coleman

Christopher Coleman was pronounced dead at birth, but miraculously survived. Though he struggles with cerebral palsy, he knows his disability is a gift.
It was a breech birth with twins eight weeks premature — and the delivery was not going well. The doctor untangled the slippery umbilical cord wrapped around the baby boy’s neck. There were no vital signs. Placing the lifeless body on a steel table at the back of the delivery room, the doctor mentally noted the time: 8:21 p.m., Oct. 20, 1973. Christopher Coleman was pronounced dead at birth, and a nurse placed a sheet over his tiny body. As the doctors turned their attention to the second twin, a girl, they heard it — a cry from the back of the room. The first twin was struggling for air.
He was alive, but his prognosis was grim. Christopher had gone for at least 15 minutes without breathing and had undoubtedly suffered extensive brain damage. Doctors diagnosed him with cerebral palsy and concluded that he would never walk, talk, move or even think for himself.
At the age of five, Christopher enrolled in an elementary school with a special class for handicapped students 40 miles from home. Three afternoons a week, his mother also drove him to speech and physical therapy. But any hope he had evaporated when he entered a state-run school for the disabled at six years old. “I remember the blank walls,” he says. “I stared at them for hours while I sat strapped like a prisoner in my wheelchair. I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. No one talked to me. No one even wiped my nose or took me to the bathroom. I often sat in my soiled clothes for an entire day, embarrassed and frustrated.”
His mother never knew how badly he was treated at school. He couldn't communicate with her. Although he always felt his mother’s love, he defined himself by the way the world treated him. “I never felt I was worth much,” he says.
By this time, his twin sister was learning to read — and Christopher felt left out. At night, when his family was asleep, he crawled into the bathroom and studied the letters on the pages of his sister’s books. It wasn't until he was 14, however, that his mother discovered he could read. He revealed his ability to read by reading a weather bulletin off the TV during a bad storm. “My mom rushed over to me, crying and laughing at the same time,” he recalls.
He entered Nichols State University's pre-law program after graduating from high school. At the end of his sophomore year Christopher made the bold move to Marietta, Ga., to finish his education at Southern Polytechnic State University. It was at Southern Polytechnic that Jonathan Carter became his personal assistant. “Jonathan helped me confront my fear of who I was, disabilities and all,” he says.
Jonathan spoke to him kindly, never becoming frustrated or annoyed with his physical limitations. One day, when Christopher sneezed all over him uncontrollably, Jonathan just softly said, “It’s OK.” Those simple words echoed in his head. “It’s OK. It’s OK that I can’t move my body the way other people move. It’s OK that I can’t speak as clearly as other people. I'm OK just the way I am,” he thought.
Christopher no longer resents his wheelchair or his physical condition. He says, “It hasn't been easy living a life in a wheelchair, but it has been a life of freedom rather than confinement. I can truly say that I have joy in my heart.”

Connie Cox

Connie Cox moved to Marietta in 1950. Ms. Cox co-edited a book, Journal of Landlady, with Henry Higgins, has done research for the late Eugenia Price on her last novel, Beauty from Ashes, and worked along with husband Dan in the very beginning to found the Marietta Museum of History. She has also worked with others to preserve the history of Waterman Street School, Westside School and Marietta Middle School, and is on the archives committee at Marietta First United Methodist Church.
Her last project has taken 13 years. When George Henry Keeler died he left many documents, pictures and letters. The time period ranges from a King George III Land Grant to the year of Mr. Keeler’s death in 1995. Mr. Keeler lived in the beautiful Plantation on Kennesaw Avenue known as “Tranquilla”. Hundreds of letters from 1817-1990’s were given to her by the family with permission to print them in book form.
The book that resulted is named Providence. It is the life story of George Hull Camp, who came to Cobb County from Utica, NY with his bride in 1842 to work in the Roswell Manufacturing Company's Mill store in Roswell, Georgia. George won the hearts of the small village of Roswell (then a part of Cobb County) and wrote many of the letters from Barrington Hall where he boarded with Barrington King’s family. The family letters from the north were brought to Marietta by George Camp’s daughter Sallie.
The letters tell us about politics, parties, the marriage of Mittie Bulloch to Theodore Roosevelt, the practice of medicine, slavery, how the people of Cobb felt about the coming of the Civil War, etc.
The book ends with the death of Jane Atwood Camp at their home “Tranquilla.” Providence is over 700 pages and includes genealogy charts, over 1400 notes of research, over 100 pictures, many from daguerreotypes, and an index which includes many of the founders of Cobb County and prominent citizens of Marietta and the state of Georgia. The foreword is written by former Governor of Georgia Roy Barnes.

Damien Guarnieri

Damien A. Guarnieri is an industrial photographer at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Marietta, Georgia. A native of Warren, Ohio, Guarnieri, 36, earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at The Ohio State University in 1994. While attending OSU, he was bitten by the shutterbug when he worked on the university newspaper photography staff.

In the autumn of 1995, Guarnieri moved to Georgia where he enrolled in the Savannah College of Art and Design to focus on his photography education. While attending SCAD, Guarnieri had two photographs included in the show, “A Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.” This show documented the 1997 MLK parade in Savannah and was exhibited at galleries in various cities across the United States.

Guarnieri moved to Marietta to work for the Marietta Daily Journal. He was employed at the newspaper for 10 years, his last seven as Chief Photographer. the During Guarnieri’s time at the MDJ, he earned numerous awards for his photojournalism, including Photo-of-the-Year honors twice. His images have appeared in U.S. News and World Report, Dance Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, as well as other publications in the United States and Europe. One of his photos is on display in the First Amendment Gallery at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

In November 2007, Guarnieri and writer Joe Kirby collaborated on their first book entitled Marietta: Then and Now. Published by Arcadia Publishing, Guarnieri and Kirby’s book chronicles the growth and history of this prominent Atlanta suburb. In April 2008, Guarnieri had his first solo photography show at The Art Place Mountain View in east Cobb County, Georgia. His most recent show was at the Rome Area Council for the Arts gallery in Rome, Georgia. Guarnieri and Kirby will have a second book, Marietta Revisited, published in November 2009.

Darlene Walsh

Darlene Walsh moved to Roswell, Georgia, in 1974, and almost immediately was captivated by the town's unique history. Through her volunteer work with a local preservationist group, the Roswell Historical Society, she has helped to educate others about the history of Roswell by producing a variety of visual and interactive exhibits and a videotaped program that airs on RCTV. She edited several publications, including two editions of Roswell: A Pictorial History and Natalie Heath Merrill's Narrative History of Roswell, Georgia. Her latest book, which she co-edited with Connie Cox of Marietta, is Providence: Selected Correspondence of George Hull Camp, Son of the North, Citizen of the South. The 711-page collection of letters from the Camp, Atwood, King, and Dunwody families offers a personal, firsthand account of life in 19th-century Georgia. The correspondents write not only of daily life experiences of ordinary people, but also of major events that altered the course of history as Georgia and the nation moved from an antebellum society to the advent of the 20th century.
Darlene is co-founder of the Roswell Historical Society/City of Roswell Research Library and Archives, which she managed from 1993 to 1999, and continues to serve as a volunteer. She is a three-time recipient of the Society's Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Preservation, and was named Citizen of the Year in 1995 by the Historic Roswell Kiwanis. She has been approved for an award this year from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board in the category Local History Advocacy.
Darlene holds a BA in French and English from Lawrence University of Appleton, Wisconsin, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. She and her husband, Denny Walsh, have two children and three grandchildren.

Diane Belinfanti

Diane Belinfanti grew up in New York and holds a master's degree in Educational Curriculum and Instruction from Central Michigan University. She has been a classroom teacher for twenty-nine years. Diane has been writing stories and poems since childhood. She finds writing a wonderful outlet for her creative energy. To date, she has had her poems published in several anthologies.
Diane draws upon her experiences as a mother and educator for many of her story ideas. Her first book, A House for Miss Mouse, was published by Xlibris Company. With the completion of her second picture book, Counting on Friends, she launched her own publishing company, Storytime Kids.
Don't Drink from the Water Fountain, a collection of humorous poems for pre-teens and teenagers, is Diane's first venture as a writer into the world of middle school. Don’t Drink from the Water Fountain is scheduled for release to the public in mid-December. In producing her books, Diane works closely with each of her illustrators. The result is beautiful artwork that enhances each story and poem.
Diane is a member of the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and the International Reading Association. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Dave. Diane currently teaches language arts and reading at a local middle school.

George Weinstein

George Weinstein is a local author whose work has appeared in Atlanta-area newspapers, regional anthologies, and nationally in A Cup of Comfort for Writers and with the motivational adventure novel for kids, Jake and the Tiger Flight (jakeandthetigerflight.com). He served as president of The Atlanta Writers Club (atlantawritersclub.org) for two terms and now schedules speakers and events for the club as its VP and Program Chair. Born in Washington, DC, and raised in Maryland, he lives with his wife and two furry, four-legged muses in Roswell, Georgia.

Haywood Smith

Atlanta native Haywood Smith has returned to Georgia from Boston and now lives near her son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and two granddaughters.

Besides writing, she enjoys gardening and attending Blackshear Place Baptist Church in Oakwood, Georgia.

She is an active member of Georgia Romance Writers, and loves speaking (without a speaker's fee) for major women's charity fundraisers and large Red Hat Society gatherings.

Her six successful historical novels, set in England and Scotland, won critical acclaim and many devout fans. But after a difficult divorce, she switched to writing "Hell Hath No Fury" hardback books about women who help each other to get over it and get better when their lives fall apart.

The Red Hat Club was on the New York Times Bestseller List. The Red Hat Club Rides Again debuted at #26 on the New York Times Best Seller list. The paperback edition of Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch appeared on both the USA Today's list and the New York Times Extended Bestseller List.

Jackie Cooper

Jackie K Cooper was born in Clinton, South Carolina. He attended Erskine College where he received a BA in History/Social Studies. He also attended the University of South Carolina School of Law where he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD).Cooper provides entertainment reviews for his web site www.jackiekcooper.com as well as other web sites and newspapers. He is a frequent guest on a variety of radio shows and is a frequent after dinner speaker. He recently began providing commentaries for Georgia Public Radio.

Cooper recently taught a four hour course on “Writing Memoirs” at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta. He also taught a one hour version of this subject at the South Carolina Book Festival. He will also be teaching this course at various book stores and book events this fall.

Jackie K Cooper is the author of five books: JOURNEY OF A GENTLE SOUTHERN MAN, CHANCES AND CHOICES, HALFWAY HOME, THE BOOKBINDER and THE SUNRISE REMEMBERS. The latest was published in September 2008 by Mercer University Press. His next book, BACK TO THE GARDEN, will be published by Mercer University Press I 2011. All of his books are “memoirs” composed of short stories about growing up and living in the South.

Cooper and his wife Terry live in Perry, Georgia.

Joe Kirby

Joe Kirby has been Editorial Page Editor of the Marietta Daily Journal since 1992 and has won the prestigious Freedom of Information Award and Public Service Award from the Associated Press (Georgia) and the Georgia Press Association numerous times, as well as winning awards for Best Columnist, Best Editorial, Best Editorial Pages and Best Feature from those groups.

He is the Southeastern Region 2008 winner of the First Place “Green Eyeshade” Award for Editorial Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Kirby worked in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a city hall/general assignment reporter for the MDJ.

Prior to that, Kirby was a reporter/anchorman for radio stations in northeast Georgia.

He has a B.A. from James Madison University in History and Communication Arts.

Kirby is the author of “The Bell Bomber Plant” and co-author with Damien A. Guarnieri of “Then & Now: Marietta” and “Then & Now: Marietta Revisited.”

He serves on the boards of the Marietta Museum of History, the Cobb Library Foundation, the Kennesaw Mountain Historical Association, and the Marietta Kiwanis Club.

He and his wife and two children live in west Cobb.

Lauretta Hannon

Lauretta Hannon is the author of The Cracker Queen—A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life (Gotham Books, April 2009) and a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, where her stories reach 25.5 million listeners. Since 2000 she has also been known for her Georgia Public Radio stories, many of which celebrate strong, authentic Southern women (Cracker Queens). Her memoir became a Southern Indie Bestseller three weeks after its release.

The Cracker Queen has received praise from literary legends such as Lee Smith. “I raced through this book—horrified, laughing out loud, and weeping by turns,” says Smith. “I say, let’s throw out all the self-help and inspirational books in the country, and put up The Cracker Queen displays instead! Hannon really made me think…”

Lauretta is currently working on a darkly comic novel set in Middle Georgia. She also gives seminars for writers through her Down Home Writing School and performs a one-woman show based on The Cracker Queen. You can learn more about her at thecrackerqueen.com.

Naomi and Mark Shavin

Naomi Shavin is a senior at The Weber School in Sandy Springs. Her book, Naomi Wants to Know: Letters from a Little Girl to the Big Big World, was published when she was 7-years-old. At the time she was featured on ABC's "Good Morning America," "The Roseanne Barr Show," "Crook & Chase" and in countless newspapers and on radio. Naomi's early success sparked a lifelong interest in reading and writing. This past summer she attended a three-week creative writing program at Columbia University. Her current writing is her most important work to date: tackling her college application essays.

Mark Shavin, has been a journalist for 30 years, 21 of them at WAGA-TV (FOX 5 News). Mark worked as a producer at WAGA for six years and has served as an executive producer for 15 years. He was there for the historic switch from longtime CBS affiliate to FOX affiliate. Prior to WAGA, Mark worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, the Los Angeles Times, the Jacksonville (FL) Journal, United Press International, CNN Headline News and WXIA-TV. Mark helped his daughter find a publisher for her letters, but unlike Naomi, he is still waiting to be published. They get along anyway.

Patti Callahan Henry

Patti Callahan Henry is the National Best sellingauthor of six novels with Penguin/NAL : Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Between the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, and Driftwood Summer.

Patti is hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction. She has been short-listed for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and has been nominated for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Fiction Novel of the Year. She is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women's groups where she discusses the importance of storytelling and anything else they want to talk about.

Patti grew up as a Minister’s daughter, learning early how storytelling effects our lives. She grew up spending her summers on Cape Cod where she began her love affair with the beach, ocean, tides and nature of the coast. Moving south at the tender age of twelve, she found solace in books and stories. While attending Auburn University, she met a southern boy who later proposed on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, next to a historic lighthouse overlooking the Sound. After earning her Master’s degree in Child Health, Patti worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist until her first child was born.

Patti is a full time writer, wife and mother living with her husband and three children outside Atlanta on the Chattahoochee River where she is working on her next novel.

Russell S. Bonds

Russell S. Bond is the author of Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor is the dramatic true story of the Civil War raid that resulted in the first award of the nation's highest decoration for valor.

Based on eyewitness accounts, as well as correspondence, diaries, military records, newspaper reports, deposition testimony and other primary sources, Stealing the General is a blend of meticulous research and compelling narrative that is destined to become the definitive history of "the boldest adventure of the war."

Russell S. Bonds is an in-house lawyer at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta and a lifelong resident of north Georgia. He was born in Atlanta and grew up in Marietta, just a few blocks from the spot where James Andrews and his men first boarded the General on the morning of April 12, 1862.

Russ received a B.S. with honor from Georgia Tech and a law degree magna cum laude from the University of Georgia, where he was the Executive Articles Editor of the Georgia Law Review. He has published several articles and reviews on Civil War topics in national publications, including "Pawn Takes Bishop: The Death of Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk," Civil War Times (May 2006) and "Lieutenant Tecumseh: Sherman's First March Through Georgia, 1844," Civil War Times (2007). He lives in Marietta, Georgia with his wife and three daughters.

Steve Tiller

Steve Tiller grew up in Atlanta and graduated from the University of Georgia. He has three children Ben, Katie, and Rachel.

Around 2001 Steve was in a bookstore looking for children's books that could say something positive about life to his kids. He couldn't find one. They had lots of story books, most of them about rude children or dogs with gas, which, frankly for all the press, were not even very funny - and certainly had nothing positive to teach a child.

So Right Stuff Kids Children's Books was started from the simple question- “Got a children's book that builds you up?”

He writes engaging children's stories with electric illustrations and meaningful messages about some of the most important lessons in life such as faith, hope, friendship, joy, and courage. Some of his rhymes have been compared to Dr. Seuss and other story books are reminiscent of Shel Silverstein.

Steve has ten children's books and has collected a Benjamin Franklin Award, The Bill Fischer Award, and the Visionary Award, has been nominated for the Seuss Gisel Award twice, and was the Georgia Author of the Year for Children's Literature for 2005. He has had four other children's books that were finalists for that state award.

He sees multicultural America as having a responsibility to lead the world by example - working together to create a better life for all regardless of race, religion, gender or economics.

Tom Kohler

Tom Kohler, Coordinator and Executive Director, of the Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy is a native of Savannah. He attended the public schools in Chatham County and graduated in 1970 from Herschel V. Jenkins High School. After this, he attended Armstrong State College and the University of Georgia, where he received his degree in 1976.
Tom has been involved with people who have disabilities since he was 15 years old. His first involvement was through a volunteer experience at the Temple Youth Group at Mickve Israel Temple. Tom has been the Coordinator for the Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy for the past 31 years.
Mr. Kohler co- authored with Susan Earl the book Waddie Welcome & the Beloved Community, which was published in May 2005.

Our purpose is to tell a story. A story about a man named Waddie Welcome. There are five points to make up front. . . . . .This telling of Mr. Welcome's story began as Tom Kohler joined slides and written materials with a reflection written by Susan Earl to create a talk for people concerned about community building, and especially about community building as it is done by people associated with Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy, as Mr. Welcome was. Response to the talks led to this book. You will see Lester Johnson, a citizen advocate, in this story, but this story is bigger than that. It is the story of Mr. Welcome's eighty-seven years. This is the story of a remarkable man and the people who surrounded him to make their whole community stronger. It is a life lesson in community building from people who became masterful by doing it. It is a treasure story with amazing photos. "The beloved community is not a utopia, but a place where the barriers between people gradually come down and where the citizens make a constant effort to address even the most difficult problems of ordinary people. It is above all else an idealistic community." - Jim Lawson