New Boston Books' Authors
Kimberly Bla
ker,
editor and
coauthor of The Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right
in America
lives in Michigan. She is a syndicated writer and columnist, social
advocate, and staunch supporter of the separation of church and state. Her
column The Wall™, on
church and state, and other issues from a liberal perspective, has appeared in
numerous news publications. Her commentaries have also appeared in the Detroit Free Press,
Detroit News, San Francisco Examiner, and Los Angeles Daily
Journal. She is also a syndicated writer of parenting and women's interest
articles, which have appeared in more than 120 regional
magazines. In addition, Kimberly has been published several times in the national Complete
Woman Magazine, Playgirl, The Humanist, Toward Freedom, and Liberty
Magazine. Excerpts of her work are also published by Bowdoin College,
Maine, for use in a Women's Studies course and CNED, France. The
Fundamentals of Extremism is based on her
award-winning research paper, "Christian Fundamentalism: A Growing Danger."
Contributors
The following individuals made chapter contributions to
The Fundamentals of Extremism:
Edward M. Buckner,
Ph. D. of Amherst, New York, is Executive Director of the
Council for Secular
Humanism and editor of the Secular Humanist Bulletin. He received his Ph. D. in
Educational Leadership in 1983 from Georgia State University and is former
Director of planning, research, and development for Atlanta Technical Institute.
Professional honors include election as Senator for Urban Studies Department in
1985 with the Georgia State University Senate. He formerly served as Vice
President of Communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and
State, Georgia Chapter, and as chair of the 7th U.S. Congressional District
Democratic Party. He is co-editor of Quotations that Support the Separation of
State and Church.
Edwin Frederick Kagin,
J.D., of Union Kentucky, is an attorney and the son of a Presbyteri
an minister.
He received his degree from the School of Law of the University of Louisville
in 1971. He is an Eagle Scout, former college English Instructor, and a U.S. Air Force veteran. He was editor of the AAMD and NIMH project that created the
Adaptive Behavior Scale, used for assessing mental retardation and is a founding
board member of Recover Resources Center, an alternative to Alcoholics
Anonymous. He is the originator and Director of Camp Quest, the first
residential summer camp in the U.S. for children of atheists and other
freethinkers. He is a speaker, debater, and outspoken critic of violations of
church and state.
Bobbie Kirkhart, of Los Angeles, California, is an independent
study teacher of 38 subjects in
the adult division of the Los Angeles Unified
School District. She earned her BA in journalism from University of Oklahoma in
1965, and has taken advanced studies. Her first national article appeared in
Christianity Today, while teaching Sunday school during her academic career.
Following graduation she spent five years as a social worker in South Central
Los Angeles working with abused children, ultimately leading to an alteration in
her beliefs. She is co-president of Atheists United, the largest democratic
atheist organization in the nation and of Atheist Alliance International. She
has been published in Secular Nation, and has made several radio and
television appearances including To The Point, syndicated on National
Public Radio.
Herb Silverman,
Ph. D. of Charleston, South Carolina, is
Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, which he
joined in 1976, and is a Nati
onal Board Member of the American Humanist
Association. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Syracuse University in
1968. He is the author of over 100 research articles and recipient of the
Outstanding Research Award at the College of Charleston, where he also served as
head of the Faculty Senate. He attained the office of notary public in 1997 when
the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the state law that
prohibited nonbelievers from holding public office. For his successful
constitutional challenge, he was recognized by the Wall Street Journal and
placed in their winners’ column.
John M. Suarez, M.D., of Newbury Park, California, is formerly
Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles
and is on the Board of Trustees for Americans United for Separation of Church
and State. He received his M.D. from Columbia University School of Medicine in
1960 and his M.S. from UCLA in 1964. During his career, he specialized in legal
psychiatry. He has had forty-one articles published in professional journals,
including the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Bull. American Academy
of Psychiatry and The Law. He also serves as Chairman of the Committee on
Education for Americans United and Vice Chairman of Development at the Center
for Inquiry West. He has been a long time social activist.