Bo Young | Dan Vera | Toby Johnson | Bob Barzan
Andrew Ramer | Eric Riley

Bo Young is Editor and Publisher of White Crane.

Bo is a writer, journalist, editor, poet, cook, publicist and development consultant. In addition to his contributions to White Crane Journal, his writings have appeared in Fine Cooking magazine, RFD, POZ Magazine, the Village Voice, Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, the Palm Springs Sun and the New York Times, as well as Prozak-worthy cranky letters to the editor in papers and magazines too numerous to mention here. He is the author of First Touch (White Crane Press, 1998).

In addition to being the former Poetry Editor and Associate Editor for White Crane Journal, Bo was Food Editor for RFD, where his column "Communions" appeared quarterly. A devoted epicure, he is a former caterer in Palm Springs and has cooked in two and three star restaurants in Los Angeles, New York City and East Hampton. He cooks for spiritual ceremonies and gatherings from Maine to Oregon.

Originally from Chicago, via San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Connecticut, Bo now lives in Brooklyn with his beloved partner, William Foote. He is writing a biography of Clyde Hall, a Native American medicine elder. He is 53, but he reads at a 60-year-old level and can still lift heavy things.

You can contact Bo Young at: bo@gaywisdom.org





Dan Vera is Managing Editor and
Creative Director of White Crane

Dan was born in South Texas and has lived in Colorado, Washington State and Chicago. His areas of academic study and degree are in history, anthropology, theology, and justice & peace studies. He is the academic product of Southwestern University and Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.

When Dan was in his early twenties Pablo Neruda whispered in his ear and his world went technicolor. Consequently he's had a hard time seeing in black and white ever since. A writer of poetry for over ten years, his poetry has been featured in Shaping Sanctuary: Proclaiming God's Grace in an Inclusive Church, DC Poets Against The War: An Anthology, Red Wheelbarrow, and Raddish and the chapbook, Crepusculario. His poetry has also been featured on Pacifica Radio's nationally broadcast Democracy Now program. He is a founding member of Brookland Area Writers & Artists and a member of the Triangle Artists Group and Poets Against the War.

Dan has worked in advocacy for working poor and homeless people in Denver, Colorado, and as field director and trainer for the LGBT-welcoming Reconciling Ministries Network in the United Methodist Church. In 2000 Dan authored the groundbreaking statement "United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church" which lead to the the first denominational people of color organization for LGBT inclusion, which he served as director.

He has served as poetry editor for RFD magazine. His interests include cooking, knitting, gardening and occasionally walking the dog. He lives in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC with his fere Peter Montgomery and their operatic dog Roofus.

The Tejano Cubano Radical Faerie poet has been a contributor to White Crane since 1998 and oversaw its redesign in the Summer of 2003.

You can contact Dan Vera at: dan@gaywisdom.org
For more information on Dan visit danvera.com





Toby Johnson is Contributing Editor
and former publisher of White Crane

Johnson is the author of eight books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of Joseph Campbell, his teacher and the "wise old man" of his personal journey, to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality.

Former Catholic monk turned comparative religion scholar, San Francisco hippie, gay psychotherapist, community organizer, writer, gay bookstore operator, B&B host, Johnson was one of the regular presenters at the Texas-based Shaman's Circles in the 1990s, and one of the organizers of this year's Gay Spirituality Summit.

Since 1984, he and Kip Dollar have been partners in life and in business and champions of long-term gay relationships. They were the first male couple registered as domestic partners in the state of Texas.

Toby Johnson is especially fascinated by the Buddhist myth of the androgynous Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, which can be understood to describe the central "Self" of the universe, residing in each and every sentient being, as a sweet, sensitive, attractive young gay man.

Toby Johnson's current book is provocatively titled Gay Perspective: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us About the Nature of God and the Universe.

His other titles include Charmed Lives; Two Spirits; Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness; Secret Matter, a soft sci-fi gay romance; Getting Life In Perspective, a gay love story with a twist of the Twilight Zone; Plague: A Novel about Healing and A Course in Miracles; and The Myth Of The Great Secret: An Appreciation of Joseph Campbell. There's info about ordering at tobyjohnson.com

You can contact Toby at: toby@gaywisdom.org
For more information on Toby visit tobyjohnson.com





Bob Barzan is founder and previous publisher
of White Crane Newsletter and is a regular contributor to White Crane

Robert Barzan, writer, publisher, activist, and founder of White Crane Press and White Crane Newsletter, was born in Ontario, Canada, and moved with his family to San Francisco in 1956.

His passion for social justice and interest in Catholic liberation theology inspired him to join the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1976. He completed a master degree in counseling psychology at Gonzaga University, and a second one in theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and was ordained a priest. Tension between Catholic teaching on homosexuality and his own sexuality and beliefs led him to leave the priesthood and Christianity in 1987.

In San Francisco, in 1989, he started White Crane Newsletter and continued as its publisher until late 1996. As part of his interest in gay men’s spirituality and in building authentic community among gay men he hosted numerous rituals, salons, support groups, and discussion groups at his San Francisco apartment. Between 1988 and 2000, hundreds of gay men participated in these events. Barzan inspired them to think about and share with each other what is most important in their lives. Many of them then wrote of their experiences for White Crane.

Barzan has written extensively in the area of spirituality, especially as it applies to everyday events like cooking, walking, gardening, sex, and work. His writings have appeared in numerous books, pamphlets, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Barzan is currently interested in post-theistic and non-theistic thought and spiritualities including Taoism and atheism.

Besides his work with White Crane Newsletter and numerous other projects, Barzan was a career counselor at San Francisco State University from 1991 through 2000. In 2000 he moved to Modesto, California, where he continues to run White Crane Press, a small press devoted to publishing practical works in spirituality and philosophy. In 2003 he founded the Modesto Art Museum, a museum without walls that encourages active participation in the arts. His current projects include the Modesto Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, the Joseph Cornell International Mail Art Exhibition, and the Stanislaus County Digital Photography Show.

Barzan lives in Modesto, but spends a great deal of time in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

 

Andrew Ramer writes the Praxis
column in each issue of White Crane

In his quarterly column Andrew explores
the movement and ritual behind the thoughts of each topic.

Andrew Ramer lives in San Francisco.

He is the author of the groundbreaking gay classic,
Two Flutes Playing (now available from White Crane Books)

 

Eric Riley writes the re:Sources
column in each issue of White Crane

Eric “Fritter” Riley lives in Washington, DC.

A professional librarian by trade and spirit,
he is a contributing editor to White Crane.
You can reach him at eric@gaywisdom.org