Marlee Matlin, deaf since she was eighteen months old, won the
Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in Children of a Lesser God. She was nominated for Emmy Awards for her performances in Seinfeld, Picket Fences, The
Practice, and Law & Order: SVU. Her film credits include
It's My Party and What the Bleep Do We Know!? She is the
author of Deaf Child Crossing. She has made numerous television appearances and currently appears on The L Word. Marlee Matlin lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four children. Visit her at www.marleeonline.com.

Doug Cooney is the author of the middle-grade novels The
Beloved Dearly and I Know Who Likes You. His musical
adaptation of George Saunders's The Very Persistent Gappers of
Frip recently premiered at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles,
produced by the Mark Taper Forum P.L.A.Y. Cooney also teaches songwriting
and collaboration for Voices Within, an educational outreach program of
the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He divides his time between Los Angeles
and South Florida. You can visit him at www.dougcooney.com.