Our Authors

Del Sroufe

Del Sroufe

Del Sroufe‘s passion for cooking began at eight years old and never faded. In 1989 he went to work for one of Columbus’ premier vegetarian restaurants, the King Avenue Coffeehouse, where he honed his craft as a baker and chef. Sroufe opened Del’s Bread, a vegan bakery, before beginning vegan meal delivery service in 2001, serving eclectic plant-based cuisine to Columbus residents. During this time, he developed what became a very popular cooking class series, sharing many of the delicious recipes he had created over the years.

In 2006, Sroufe joined Wellness Forum Foods as co-owner and chef, where he continued the tradition of delivering great tasting, plant-based meals to clients in Columbus as well as throughout the continental US. Sroufe also joined The Wellness Forum as a member where, after a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, he has lost over 200 pounds on a low fat, plant-based diet. He continues to teach cooking classes at local venues like Whole Foods, Community Recreation Centers, and The Wellness Forum. Sroufe is the author of The China Study: Quick & Easy Cookbook, The China Study Family Cookbook, Better Than Vegan, and Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, a vegan cookbook companion to the acclaimed documentary Forks Over Knives.

Claire St. Amant

Investigative journalist Claire St. Amant developed and produced crime stories for CBS News for nearly a decade. She is credited on over 20 episodes of 48 Hours, including murder-for-hire stings, cold case kidnappings, and an assassination attempt. In 2019, St. Amant began contributing to 60 Minutes with “The Ranger and the Serial Killer.” She built her unconventional career one story at a time, rising up through local media to national television and her own network podcast, Final Days on Earth with Claire St. Amant. A returned Peace Corps volunteer with eclectic tastes, she is always on the hunt for her next adventure.

Sally Stabb

Sally D. Stabb, Ph.D. is an associate professor of counseling psychology at Texas Woman’s University, where she trains therapists, teaches and does research with a focus on diversity, gender, emotion, sexuality and other fun stuff. She is a licensed psychologist. Outside of work, her passions include travel, world dance, music, food, scuba, reading and playing Scrabble. Sally lives with her sig-o of eight plus years, his kids and one insane Jack Russell terrier (is there any other kind?).

Robert Stack

Robert Stack has been a national leader in enhancing the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is a pioneer in promoting community-based housing and workforce training, advocating against outdated institutional practices. Starting as a young civil servant in 1980, Stack led efforts to close large institutions and transition individuals to community settings, long before the ADA and Olmstead decision formalized these changes. In 1989, he founded Community Options to provide dignified living and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, which now serves over 5,000 individuals across 12 states. As president and CEO, Stack has continuously advocated for disability rights on national and international stages, addressing issues such as the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on institutionalized individuals and engaging with key government bodies to drive reform. Recently, he was appointed trustee of the Pennsylvania Advocacy and Resources for Autism and Intellectual Disability.

Books by Robert Stack

Jason Stacy

Jason Stacy is a world-class High Performance Coach and international speaker who helps elite athletes, coaches, and high-stakes leaders integrate physical mastery, mental clarity, and emotional regulation to achieve and sustain success at the highest level. With over three decades of experience, he has coached Olympic, World, and National Champions in tennis, combat sports, professional dance, swimming, gymnastics, and more—including Aryna Sabalenka, World No. 1 and multiple Grand Slam Champion. Jason’s work has been featured in Netflix’s BreakpointESPNGood Morning America, and on stages around the globe.

Books by Jason Stacy

Ashley Stahl

Ashley Stahl is a counterterrorism professional turned highly sought-after career coach, Forbes blogger, and author on a mission to help job seekers step into a career that lights them up. As a creative writer, modern-day entrepreneur, and content creator, more than 516,000 job seekers have subscribed to Ashley’s free trainings, while her online courses have helped thousands of job seekers in 31 countries with unlocking their best career fit, landing job offers, and upgrading their confidence.

Books by Ashley Stahl

Keris Stainton

Keris Stainton is a freelance journalist who has written for publications as diverse as CosmoGIRL!, Mslexia, Scarlet, Practical Parenting and The Daily Express. She also co-edits women’s fiction reviews and news site Trashionista (www.trashionista.com). Thanks to confiscation of her precious “Gilmore Girls” DVDs, she has finally finished a novel and is hoping it will be published … one day. Keris lives in Lancashire, England, with her husband and 3-year-old son. You can almost always find her at www.keris-stainton.com. (If she’s not there, check the TV room or the kitchen.)

Jewel Staite

Jewel Staite has been in the film and television industry since the age of 5, when she began modeling for Sears in exchange for clothing. Aside from playing Kaywinnit Lee “Kaylee” Frye in “Firefly” and “Serenity,” Jewel’s recent roles have included Teddy Blue in “Cheaters” and guest parts on “Wonderfalls” and “Dead Like Me.”

Jeff Stanford

Jeff and Joan Stanford came west to Carmel California to find careers in education, agreeing to help manage a small inn while looking for work. Jobs were scarce, the United States was in recession, and they found themselves enjoying their guests and rehabilitating the property they managed. Looking to the future, they chose to continue inn-keeping, and by 1980 they were in Mendocino starting a family. Joan ran the front, while Jeff remodeled the inn and created their certified organic farm on the site of what had been known as the China Gardens during Mendocino’s logging era.

The Inn allowed both of them to return to their former interests. Passionate about early education, Joan trained as a Montessori teacher which led her to discover the power of art to transform human experience. She enrolled in psychology at Sonoma State University and received an MA, specializing in Art Therapy. Today she is a registered art therapist, collagist, and educator.

Jeff recognized that the “state of realization” that so many sought in the movement of the 1970s and 80s must come from a new relationship with life, beginning in the kitchen, where decisions affect the practitioner and the planet. He became vegetarian as a first step to honor all life, not only the lives of his family, friends, and pets. He and Joan sought to create an inn that sat softly upon the earth. They created one of the first “green” bed and breakfast inns without realizing they were doing so.

Understanding that their Inn was a destination, Jeff and Joan wanted to provide the highest quality food to their guests, which Jeff began cooking in the early 1990s. The restaurant followed their philosophy serving a whole food, plant based dishes designed to rival the cuisine found at the highest rated restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. They discovered that many cooks can create great food, and they created a co-creative kitchen where all are invited to comment and tweak dishes. The final arbiter is Jeff, but the process is dynamic and assures that each person in the kitchen can express their creativity.

Books by Jeff Stanford

Joan Stanford

Jeff and Joan Stanford came west to Carmel California to find careers in education, agreeing to help manage a small inn while looking for work. Jobs were scarce, the United States was in recession, and they found themselves enjoying their guests and rehabilitating the property they managed. Looking to the future, they chose to continue inn-keeping, and by 1980 they were in Mendocino starting a family. Joan ran the front, while Jeff remodeled the inn and created their certified organic farm on the site of what had been known as the China Gardens during Mendocino's logging era.

The Inn allowed both of them to return to their former interests. Passionate about early education, Joan trained as a Montessori teacher which led her to discover the power of art to transform human experience. She enrolled in psychology at Sonoma State University and received an MA, specializing in Art Therapy. Today she is a registered art therapist, collagist, and educator.

Jeff recognized that the "state of realization" that so many sought in the movement of the 1970s and 80s must come from a new relationship with life, beginning in the kitchen, where decisions affect the practitioner and the planet. He became vegetarian as a first step to honor all life, not only the lives of his family, friends, and pets. He and Joan sought to create an inn that sat softly upon the earth. They created one of the first “green” bed and breakfast inns without realizing they were doing so.

Understanding that their Inn was a destination, Jeff and Joan wanted to provide the highest quality food to their guests, which Jeff began cooking in the early 1990s. The restaurant followed their philosophy serving a whole food, plant based dishes designed to rival the cuisine found at the highest rated restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. They discovered that many cooks can create great food, and they created a co-creative kitchen where all are invited to comment and tweak dishes. The final arbiter is Jeff, but the process is dynamic and assures that each person in the kitchen can express their creativity.

Books by Joan Stanford