 Ricky Weisbroth, who sometimes thinks of herself as The Bear That Wasn’t, is a recluse who periodically emerges from her den to engage with a restive world. She has hitchhiked across the United States and Canada at least five times and has, as well, raised a thumb in the Netherlands, Nepal, Mexico and Peru. At the age of 42 she straddled a two-wheeler for the first time in about twenty years and co-authored Bicycling Mexico (Hunter Publishing).
Ricky is a founding member of Project Artaud, one of the country’s oldest and largest artist-owned live/work organizations, and has served on its Board of Directors and as Treasurer. A self-trained artist, her most visible undertaking to date is a 65-ft. long mural on the corner of Alabama and 17th Streets in San Francisco. But Ricky started out in publishing and to some aspect of publishing has always returned. As a receptionist and secretary at Harcourt, Brace & World, at the age of 19 she won the dubious distinction award for being personally fired by then-president William Jovanovich. Since then she has earned her loaves of bread, mostly, as a freelance book editor. She has held national office as Trustee in the National Writers Union and as Treasurer in its Local 12. Ricky divides her personal time between artwork and writing. Professionally, she does developmental and copy editing in addition to critiquing manuscripts and coaching writers. She has participated as a freelance editor at the S.F. Writers Conference for seven years. |
![LilyMac-3454_pp[1] copy](https://wnba-sfchapter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/LilyMac-3454_pp1-copy-240x240.jpg)
A Canadian by birth, a high school dropout, and a mother at 17, in her early years, Lily Iona MacKenzie supported herself as a stock girl in the Hudson’s Bay Company, as a long distance operator for the former Alberta Government Telephones, and as a secretary (Bechtel Corp sponsored her into the States). She also was a cocktail waitress at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, briefly broke into the male-dominated world of the docks as a longshoreman (she was the first woman to work on the SF docks and almost got her legs broken), founded and managed a homeless shelter in Marin County, and eventually earned two Master’s degrees (one in Creative writing and one in the Humanities).
Humaira Ghilzai is a writer, blogger and social activist dedicated to bringing people together across cultures through stories of her homeland, Afghanistan. Born and raised in Kabul, Humaira and her family fled Afghanistan and became one of many nameless refugees escaping the Russian invasion. It’s these stories and personal experiences that have inspired her novel UNRAVELING VEIL. Humaira lectures about Afghanistan, its people and gender equality issues. Humaira’s cultural advocacy ranges from Cultural Consulting with theater and film productions to her Afghan culture and food blog, Afghan Culture Unveiled. Humaira has travelled to six continents and 37 countries. She has hiked to Everest Base Camp, around Annapurna, up Mount Kenya, and in the Swiss Alps. In her free time, she cooks,walks her dog Cleo, practices chi-gong and mindfulness meditation. Humaira lives in San 
Virginia A. Simpson, Ph.D., FT, holds a Fellowship in Thanatology from the Association of Death Education & Counseling (ADEC). She brings more than a quarter of a century of experience and expertise to her work helping people cope with the loss of a loved one. In 1995, Dr. Simpson founded The Mourning Star Center for grieving children and their families and is the Executive Counseling Director for hundreds of funeral homes. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, is an experienced public speaker, and has been honored for her work by the cities of Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and Rancho Mirage. Her first book, The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life will be published in Spring 2016.
