THUMBNAIL BIO: Mark Canter was raised in Kentucky hill country in a metropolis of 400 tobacco and hog farmers, where he belonged to the only Jewish family in the universe. In his dharma-bum youth, he hitchhiked and jumped trains across the Western States and Canada and went through jobs from pizza chef to surgical orderly, massage therapist to rock-show stagehand. After getting a journalism degree, he wrote for a few Florida newspapers before becoming senior editor of Men's Health magazine. His short stories have been published nationally and his debut novel, Ember From the Sun, was translated into nine foreign languages. Mark holds a master's degree in the Humanities ("With Highest Distinction") and taught World Religions for seven years at Florida State University, where he specialized in "subverting the dominant paradigm." LONGER, MORE LYRICAL STORY OF MY LIFE:Born in the summer of '52, in Owensboro, Kentucky. Raised with two older brothers and a sister in the tiny town of Maceo (pop. 400) in rolling farm country along the Ohio River. Then we moved to the hills and lakes of Yelvington (pop. 75). My father was an orthopedic surgeon who had graduated from a Jesuit college in Baltimore; my best friend's father was a hog farmer who had learned all he could stand by the eighth grade.I remember air thickened by the smell of horse manure flung from fertilizer wagons onto tobacco fields; sweet fumes of corn mash wafting from the giant Kentucky Bourbon whiskey distillery; fragrant tobacco leaves curing in tall barns, the tobacco dust so rich you could chew it; flood season and the stink of muddy river water mucking up each breath; hot summer days, when it's better to be outside than inside an outhouse.Fresh from the boondocks, we arrived in 1964 on the unspoiled east coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral, when palms and wind-twisted pines still lined the endless beaches. Became a cool surfer dude all through junior high and high school; read Burroughs, Heinlein, Asimov, Sturgeon and Clarke, and felt it through my soul and through my soles when Saturn V rockets blasted off the cape with their Gemini crews.Then skin cancer ate my step-father down to his bones and both my brothers got drafted. I went to live with my father (whom I hadn't seen for six years) in a Jewish suburb of Rochester, New York. It was the Summer of Love, but I could not have felt more landlocked or lonely. My senior year in high school--I'd never seen lox on a bagel, or a high school with a symphony orchestra; my classmates had never seen a green leaf of tobacco or a surfboard.Awarded New York Merit Scholarship. Became conscientious objector. Dean's list at Boston U. Dropped out to pursue dharma-bum adventures. Hitchhiked and jumped trains across the Western States and Canada. Went through jobs from dishwasher to surgical orderly. Lived in two yoga ashrams and taught hatha yoga and meditation. Drummed and sang in a rock/jazz group and in an Afro-Cuban drum and dance ensemble. Drove a bloodmobile on a loop throughout upstate New York. Earned an undergraduate degree in counseling and became a professional listener at a home for runaway girls in Charlottesville, Virginia and a residential high school for emotionally disturbed teenagers in Citra, Florida. Joined an urban commune in Haight-Ashbury. Became a counselor at a Quaker wilderness camp for boys in Vermont. Paid my way through the University of Florida School of Journalism by working as a stagehand for rock bands, theatrical shows and the circus. Became a licensed massage therapist and practiced and taught massage for two years. Gave pre-med a try.Then I became a feature writer at the Bradenton Herald: stripped with male strippers, dove with dolphins, jumped with skydivers, raced a stock car (blew the engine), and told the many-layered stories of the fishermen and gator-hunters and the granddaughters of slaves--the people of Manatee County, Florida.At last, I'd found myself. Writing made me happy.Married a nurse-midwife, Margaret, who grew up in Chile, Thailand and India. Got even happier. Fathered two sons--Orion and Blake--the orchards of my eye. Became senior editor at Men's Health magazine: wrote about prostates and baldness treatments, why men are fascinated by violence and how to drive a woman wild in bed. Cut back to contributing editor at Men's Health, while working on my first novel, Ember from the Sun. Sold it four weeks after typing the last word. It was published in 10 languages and became an audio book narrated by Irene Bedard, a Native American who provides the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney animation. Wrote a second novel, Down to Heaven, published in four languages, which became a bestseller in Holland.Back to college: Master's degree with "Highest Distinction" from Florida State University's Program in the Multicultural Humanities. I now teach "Intro to World Religions" as an adjunct instructor in the religion department at FSU.