I've been writing non-fiction books for 35 years. My first book, Under the Influence (co-authored by James Milam, Ph.D.) was published in 1981 and my latest book, "Experiencing Spirituality" coauthored by Ernie Kurtz (my coauthor on "The Spirituality of Imperfection") will be published in May 2014 by Tarcher/Penguin. My books have been published in sixteen foreign languages and have sold over 1.5 million copies.In 1998 I began volunteering at the Juvenile Justice Center in Walla Walla, leading educational groups and working individually with adolescents in trouble with alcohol and other drugs and their family members. From October 2001 to October 2003, I wrote a bi-monthly newspaper column for the Walla Walla Union Bulletin titled "Straight Talk About Drugs;" in October 2012 I started up this column once again. In 2003, working with a group of committed parents, I started a parent support group at the Juvenile Justice Center in Walla Walla, which continues to this day. I am also deeply involved in community efforts to develop and expand community-based recovery support services for youth and families. Our grassroots, nonprofit organization, Trilogy Recovery Community, is part of the national recovery movement spearheaded by Faces and Voices of Recovery in Washington, D.C. I recently retired as Executive Director of Trilogy and now have the privilege of working there part-time as the Family Support Coordinator.I grew up in New Jersey and graduated from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York with a degree in psychology in 1971. I have lived and worked in Boston, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, San Francisco, Seattle, and Ohio. In 1984, I moved to Walla Walla, Washington with my husband, Patrick Spencer, a professor of geology at Whitman College. We have three children -- Robyn, 31, works as a speech pathologist in Bend, Oregon; Alison, 29, a special education teacher in the Seattle School District; and Benjamin, 27, a Whitman College graduate, Teach for America Corps member (2010-2012), and academic director at Muir Wood Adolescent Treatment Center in Petaluma, CA.My extended family -- brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins, and on it goes -- is a great source of joy. I love roses and having my hands in the dirt; golf (I get worse every year, a lesson in humility for sure); walks; yoga; and photography. Someday I hope to devote more time to taking portraits of children and families.