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Prior Speakers - Fall 2007 & Spring 2008
Jan Yanehiro and Michaelene Cristini Risley
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
They were simply four women whom destiny threw together over a decade ago. Collectively, they experienced the extreme joys and deep sorrows that life offers up. Meeting monthly for over a decade, they shared their lives with one another and encouraged one another. Their kitchen table conversations were always therapeutic. The remarkable results are this collection of lessons and stories and wisdom, which can help turn any misfortunate event into a joy-filled opportunity.
Speaker Biographies
Jan Yanehiro
Jan Yanehiro has skydived with the Army’s Golden Knights and ventured
up a frozen waterfall…all in the name of getting a good story! Jan pioneered
the magazine format on television as co-host of Evening Magazine, a nightly
program in San Francisco from 1976-90. Currently, Jan is the host of Everyday
Angels on Comcast Cable TV and the Executive Producer of Pacific Fusion TV.
Her latest documentary, Resettlement to Redress, examines the resettlement
of Japanese Americans after WWII and the apology from the US government regarding
internment. Married and mother of six, Jan has won multiple awards and the
Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award. She holds seats on several boards including
the Kristi Yamaguchi Always Dream Foundation and The Bank of Marin.
Michealene Cristini Risley
Michealene Cristini Risley is an entrepreneur who has created some of the
largest deals in consumer products and entertainment industries. As an executive
with twenty-plus years experience, Ms. Cristini Risley launched the first-ever
branded maternity line in association with Adidas. As Vice President of Licensing
and Character Development for Sega of America, she championed the Sega Girls’ Task
Force. She has also produced, directed and funded a short film called Flashcards,
which won Best Cinematography at the California Independent Film Festival,
Best Short film at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival,
and the film screened at the Cannes Film Festival Shorts Du Jour program. The
film is currently being distributed by American Public Television on PBS stations.
Tim Flannery
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Tim Flannery is on a mission. He believes that human activity is drastically
altering the earth’s climate, and that before too long these changes
will have a devastating effect on life on this planet. He wants to mobilize
the social and political will to address this problem before it’s too
late.
That’s why Tim Flannery wrote The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth. In this important and provocative new book, which debuted on The New York Times best-seller list, Flannery tells the fascinating story of climate change over millions of years to help us understand the predicament we face. He has a game plan to halt—and ultimately reverse—this damaging trend.
Tim Flannery is director of the South Australian Museum, and chairman of the State Science Council and Sustainability Roundtable, as well as the National Geographic Society’s Australasian representative. He spent a year as professor of Australian studies at Harvard, where he taught in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. In 2005, he was honored as Australian Humanist of the Year and in 2007 he was honored as the prestigious Australian of the Year.
A regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and The Times Literary Supplement, Flannery also contributes to ABC Radio, NPR and the BBC. He has also written and hosted several Documentary Channel specials, including The Future, and Islands in the Sky.
Bio Courtesy of The Lavin Agency, Inc.Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Hosts of the Discovery Channel's popular "Myth-Busters" show, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are equally well known for their work in special effects for the entertainment industry.
Speaker Biographies
Adam Savage
Simply put, Adam Savage makes stuff. He’s constructed everything from
spaceships to Buddhas, from puppets to rifles, from sculptures to toys and
just about anything else imaginable.
Adam’s fascination with creating things started when he began building his own toys at age 5, and he hasn’t stopped since. He’s served as an animator, graphic designer, stage and interior designer, carpenter, welder and scenic painter, and he’s worked in everything from metal to glass, plastics to injection molding, and pneumatics to animatronics.
But for the past eight years, Adam has concentrated on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and 12 feature films, including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and the Matrix sequels. He’s also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies.
His skills don’t end there. Not only has he worked in the research and diagnostic division for several toy companies, but he’s also acted in several films and commercials — including a Charmin ad, in which he played Mr. Whipples’ stock boy.
And now, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, Adam also teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art.
And somehow, he also finds time to devote to his own art; his sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.V.
Jamie Hyneman
Hailing from Indiana farm country, Jamie Hyneman is a multifaceted man: wilderness
survival expert, boat captain, diver, linguist, animal wrangler, machinist
and chef, to name a few. His career has been equally diverse: Jamie earned
a degree in Russian languages and literature and ran a sailing/diving charter
business in the Caribbean for several years before he moved over to the visual-effects
industry.
Once he had joined that field and had worked for several production companies,
Jamie found his way to Colossal Pictures’ model shop, where he managed
the production of models and special effects for hundreds of commercials and
movies. Then, eight years ago, Jamie took over the shop and created M5 Industries,
Inc.
Today, the top U.S. production companies seek out M5 Industries when unusual
or problematic props need to be fabricated, especially if they involve animatronics
or robotics. Jamie has worked on the Matrix sequels for Eon Productions, as
well as Star Wars: Episodes I and II for Industrial Light and Magic, among
others.
Jamie has also worked on commercials for major automobile manufacturers, soft-drink
companies (including 7-UP) and athletic shoe companies (including Nike). And
in the midst of all this activity, Jamie has diversified his company into toy
prototyping as well.
The holder of several patents and the winner of numerous industry awards Jamie is also a long-standing Screen Actors Guild member.
Bios Courtesy of Wolfman Productions, Inc.
Poetry and Prose
Yusef Komunyakaa
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Speaker Biography
Yusef Komunyakaa, born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, is the author of twelve books of poetry, among them Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems, which won the Pulitzer Prize. The New York Times calls his writing “fiercely autobiographical” poetry, with much of it based on his childhood in
the rural South and his experience as a young
adult in Vietnam.
His Thieves of Paradise and Talking Dirty to the Gods were finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and other honors include a Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the William Faulkner Prize from the Université de Rennes, the Hanes Poetry Prize and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is Professor and Distinguished Senior Poet at New York University and served as a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets from 1999 to 2005. His most recent book is Gilgamesh, a verse play (concept and dramaturgy by Chad Gracia), published by Wesleyan University Press in November 2006.
Bio courtesy of American Entertainment International, Inc.