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Okay, so the truth is, I wrote all this stuff myself. But I use third person (she) instead of first person (I) so all those media people that constantly hound me can just cut and paste my info when they need it. 

M. LaVora Perry is the co-author of Teen Sisters’ Health—A Body, Mind, & Spirit Wellness Guide for Girls of Color (2008). Perry's co-author, Linda Bradley, MD, is an internationally respected expert in the field of women's health (obstetrics and gynecology) who has contributed to numerous professional journals and has served as a medical consultant for O, Essence, Cosmopolitan and several other popular and professional publications.

Perry's novel for young people, Taneesha Never Disparaging (September, 2008), will be the first juvenile novel published by Wisdom Publications, a leading global publisher of commercial and scholarly Buddhist titles including those by the Dali Lama. Taneesha Never Disparaging is a humorous, urban tale of a feisty African-American Buddhist fifth grader facing her inner weaknesses and challenges at home, school, and on the street. Perry is currently completing a novel about the 14 year-old bullying girl from that book, titled Hidden Jewel.

Perry's words have been driven, flown, and sailed around the world in brightly colored envelopes because in 1995 she became the first African American to join American Greetings' (AG) card writing staff. At AG, the world's 2nd largest multinational social expression corporation, she earned Creative Excellence Awards in 1999 and 2000 in the categories of juvenile and conventional writing and concept innovation.

Perry has appeared as a guest author on National Public Radio’s Tavis Smiley Show. She is the Executive Editor for UPRISCorp—a company that designs one-of-a-kind online health communities to close the health disparities gap that has people of color in the United States lagging behind the majority population when it comes to maintaining good health. UPRISCorp websites include MonitorMyDiabetes.com and AMECHealth.org which serves the 6,000,000 members of the AME Church. Perry has also edited print calendars with tips for healthy living, and has contributed writing to Illuminations—Expressions of the Personal Spiritual Experience (Celestial Arts; 2006); the Plain Dealer newspaper (Cleveland, Ohio); Catalyst--Ohio, an independent urban school newsmagazine; Living Buddhism magazine; and Gumbo for the Soul—The Recipe for Literacy in the African-American Community (2007) among other publications. 

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In 2004, Perry founded Forest Hill Publishing, LLC (FHP). FHP titles include Perry's children's books, her guide, Successful Self Publishing (2005), LeBron James—King of the Court (2005), a young adult biography by New York author and journalist Beverly Robinson, and the Lebron James--King of the Court, Companion Study Guide by Chicken Soup series author Nancy Gilliam.

Perry publishes FortuneChildBooks.com, a Buddhist website with articles and information written by her and others. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Perry fell in love with writing in the 4th grade thanks to Mrs. T.--a teacher who was mean to her but who nonetheless provided Perry and her classmates with many opportunities for creative expression. Perry attended Cleveland Public Schools through 9th grade and Hathaway Brown School for girls from 10th through 12th grades. 

Perry is a former actor who has performed on stage and in film in New York City and Europe. She attended Ithaca College (Theatre) and the City College of New York (Education) before graduating with honors from Cleveland State University in 1995 (BS in Education).

Perry enjoys nature walks and bike rides, skating (ice and roller), reading books, watching movies, and talking about both things, dancing, and learning and growing with her husband and three children. If she's ever stranded on an island with only one kind of food to eat, she hopes it's watermelon. She lives with her family in Northern Ohio where watermelon's only really good during the summer. To her, the upside is that there are no poisonous snakes within 50 miles of her home--at least none that she knows of. She can be reached at mlavoraperry<AT>malavoraperry.com. (Please replace <AT> with @ to send email).

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My photo on this page was taken by Thomas D. Polk. The legs on my website logo are from a painting I created a few years back--"Ten Thousand Years." The painting was inspired by a dream I had when I was 14. -LaVora

M. LaVora Perry's