Gerard F. Doherty is the author of They Were My Friends – Jack, Bob and Ted: My Life in and out of Politics. Gerard was born and still lives in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He was educated at Malden Catholic High School, Harvard University and Suffolk University Law School. He was a two-time State Representative and State Democratic Party Chairman. He was active in the campaigns of Jack, Bob and Ted Kennedy and became their friend, and was the only man to have a seat at the table with each of the Kennedy brothers when campaign strategies were being decided.

The highlights of his political life were managing the campaigns for Robert Kennedy in the Indiana Primary in 1968 where Robert Kennedy won in a big upset, and Ted Kennedy’s first campaign for the U.S. Senate. He was also involved in the presidential campaigns of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter. He built a successful law practice with a specialty in real estate development. His wife Marilyn died in 2016.

Mike Ryan was born in 1940 to an English mother and Irish father. His family situation was dire and got progressively worse for many years.

The author is known to many people in the business world in the U.S., Europe and Asia as a result of his high level, successful 20-year career at Digital Equipment Corporation and his 10 years as an independent international consultant. None of these people would be aware of his years of fighting to break through the ethnic and class barriers. Success through these struggles shaped him.

Mike’s story is very thought provoking, ranging from heart wrenching desperate situations, overcoming injustices, feeling success, major setbacks, recoveries and ultimately happiness. He achieved so much in his career as a husband, family man and member of society.

About his life, Mike says: “Whilst not unique, my life has been very unusual. I believe that there is much to be learned from my experiences and I wanted to share these lessons with other people who have a desire to overcome adversity and to succeed. Many people, when faced with what seem to be insurmountable odds, give up the fight. I know that everyone can prevail at some level if they hang tough and refuse to be written off.”

Linda Estes Strasburg is the author of From the Other Side of My Heart: A Collection of Poems and Writings. Linda began writing poetry to cope with a painful divorce and a difficult time in her life. At the age of 42, Linda, who had never been employed, began attending college full time – while caring for a sick daughter, a seven-year-old grandson and her dying mother. Linda wrote poetry whenever she could, finished college and became a teacher. One day, a close friend submitted one of Linda’s poems to a poetry contest – and the poem, Angel Unaware, won first place.

Linda says that prayer, faith and writing have kept her going through difficult and tragic times. Linda lives simply, happily and at peace in her adopted town of Sparta, Tennessee.

Tom MacGeorge is the author of 12th and Bruce. While serving in the FBI’s Boston office, Tom supervised the special operations group’s participation in the first-ever electronic interception of a La Cosa Nostra/Mafia induction ceremony, to include the oath of omertà, the code of silence. During this age-old ritual, individuals were inducted as “made” members of a large criminal enterprise. Tom also served as the Boston Division’s White Collar Crime Supervisor and Coordinator for the New England region. In these positions he testified in federal and state court criminal trials to include kidnap/murder, public corruption and bank fraud and embezzlement. In addition to his assignment in Boston, Tom served in the FBI’s Chicago and Tampa offices and later at the Fort Myers resident agency investigating drug violations and voter fraud.

Following his retirement from the FBI, Tom founded and served as president of a private investigation company. Born in New Jersey, Tom and his wife Pat reside in southwest Florida. At present, Tom is planning his next novel.

James Ring is the author of the novels Necessary Assets and 784 Broadway. Jim is a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent who investigated the American La Cosa Nostra and the Sicilian Mafia in New England. He received the Department of Justice’s highest award as the architect of the first and only electronic interception of the La Cosa Nostra/Mafia induction ceremony of new members, including the Omerta oath. Jim has testified in federal court as an expert witness on La Cosa Nostra and has served as a media commentator on organized crime. He participated in a series by National Public Radio analyzing the Department of Justice Informant Guidelines. Jim served on the Department of Defense advisory board mandated by Congress to review their civilian and military investigative capabilities. This review included the growing military preference of favoring electronic intelligence over human intelligence.

After retiring from the FBI, Jim founded a business information and investigative service within a prestigious Boston law firm, and now devotes his full time to writing. Jim resides in Boston and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, with his wife Merita A. Hopkins.

Edward Hoffer, who graduated from MIT with a degree in Economics, Politics and Science, is a 1969 Harvard Medical School graduate who worked in one of the first Health Maintenance Organizations in the east, the Harvard Community Health Plan, and served as the Director of Ambulatory Services at Memorial Hospital in Worcester, MA. From 1978 through 2017 he was in solo or small group practice of Cardiology and General Internal Medicine. Dr. Hoffer has held multiple administrative and leadership roles, including Medical Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, President of the Middlesex West Medical Society, Vice President of the Medical Staff at Framingham Union Hospital, Medical Director of Hospice at Home (Wayland, MA) and President of Framingham Cardiology Diagnostics. He has also held, through the present, a part-time position at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Laboratory of Computer Science, working in the broad field of medical informatics, which uses computer technology to improve medical care. He is Treasurer and a Board member of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) and is Associate Professor of Medicine, part-time, at Harvard. Dr. Hoffer’s career has spanned a time of enormous change in the science and practice of medicine. While the science has dramatically improved, the process of delivering that science to patients has not.