- To people have informed my work deeply through the years
- My own personal library
People
Haruyoshi Ito
In 1983, Ito introduced me to the world of Shintaido (translation: new body way) a contemporary interpretation of traditional Japanese martial arts. In the process, I became familiar with the concept of a “Kata” and made it a fundamental part of my approach to teaching massage. Ito has has been important link to the philosophical foundations of my Japanese massage work.
Irene Smith
A protege of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Irene has been one of my my deepest teachers of touch since 1988. Her specialty is touch for the seriously ill. She pioneered massage in hospitals an hospices for HIV/AIDS patients beginning in 1982 and influenced a generation of caregivers. She is still active and keeps up a wonderful website detailing her experiences and filled with resources.
John Kent
I met John through Shintaido in 1994 and he introduced me to the wonderful world of Voice Dialogue. John taught me this safe and sensible approach bringing subconscious personality parts into the light of consciousness.
When I turned 50, in 1998, one of the presents that I gave myself was permission to begin studying the work and wisdom of Ken Wilber, the foremost contemporary proponent of 
what is called “integral theory.” Although I have never met Ken in person, I have devoured 19 of his books and hundreds of hours of dialogues that he has had with famous psychologists, artists, performers, film makers, gurus, monks, politicians, ecologists, scientists, and, well you get the picture. He has evolved what I believe to be the most coherent “theory of everything” and provided the theoretical framework for thousands of people, including myself, to understand and implement personal and societal change.
Christopher Moyer
The latest addition to my pantheon of inspirations I met in 2012, but I have known and written about Chris Moyer since 2004. That was the year he had his first paper about massage published in a scientific journal. Because Chris wasn’t connected to the massage community and because he was a psychologist by training (as opposed to the physical sciences), his study was totally overlooked. So, I wrote an article about his groundbreaking meta-analysis of all previous scientific studies about massage and got him an invitation to the 2nd International Symposium on the Science Touch in Montreal. In 2012, Chris co-authored the very first textbook about Massage Therapy Research.