Authors' Panel
Our authors will be assembled together at Freethought Day with their books ready to sign and sell, so bring some cash to buy their books!
Then at 10:40 AM, our authors' will take the stage for a lively Q&A session about topics fun and serious. What will you ask them?
Authors from all over are encouraged to join us at Freethought Day. If you're an author and want to join us, please let us know or register online for your table space.
Richard Carrier, Why I Am Not a Christian
Richard Carrier is a world-renowned author and speaker. As a
professional historian, published philosopher, and prominent defender of the American freethought movement, Dr. Carrier has appeared across the
country and on national television defending sound historical methods and the ethical worldview of secular naturalism. His books and articles have
also received international attention.
He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in ancient history, specializing in the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, particularly ancient philosophy, religion, and science, with emphasis on the origins of Christianity and the use and progress of science under the Roman empire. He is best known as the author of Sense and Goodness without God, Not the Impossible Faith, and Why I Am Not a Christian, and a major contributor to The Empty Tomb, The Christian Delusion, The End of Christianity, and Sources of the Jesus Tradition, as well as writer and editor-in-chief (now emeritus) for the Secular Web, and for his copious work in history and philosophy online and in print.
His latest book is Proving History: Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus. He is currently working on his next books, On the Historicity of Jesus Christ, The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire, and Science Education in the Early Roman Empire.
Mikey Weinstein, No Snowflake in an Avalanche
Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein the author of
With God on Our Side:
One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military and
No Snowflake in an Avalanche,
both of which he describe his fight against alleged coercive Christian
Fundamentalist practices by some members of the military.
He is also the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, (MRFF).
David Fitzgerald, Nailed: Ten Christian Myths that Show Jesus Never Existed at All
David Fitzgerald is a writer and public speaker who has
been called both "The Ferris Bueller of San Francisco" and "one of the busiest atheist activists in the Bay Area." He is the Action Coordinator for
San Francisco Atheists and serves on the board of the Center for Inquiry-San Francisco, and is Co-founder and Director of both the world's first
Atheist Film Festival and San Francisco's oldest annual Darwin Day celebration, "Evolutionpalooza!"
He is on the Speaker's Bureau of both the Secular Student Alliance and Center for Inquiry, and lectures around the country at universities and national secular events, including national conventions of American Atheists and the American Humanist Association, and is an audience favorite at Skepticon.
Besides all that, he is a historical researcher whose most recent book, NAILED: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed At All, critically examines the historical evidence of Christ. It was also voted one of the top 5 Atheist/Agnostic books of 2010 in About Atheism.com's Reader's Choice Awards. His next two books are The Complete Heretic's Guide to Western Religion: The Mormons and the follow-up to Nailed, entitled Jesus: Mything in Action.
AmyJo Mattheis, Religion Made me Fat
Through real life stories, AmyJo Mattheis narrates her upbringing in the church and how she became an ordained minister with questions. Questions
about God, fun, sex, money, flirting and more, all come up in a life well lived within the visions and expectations of the Christian church.
Religion Made Me Fat chronicles the evolution of Mattheis' understanding of the man Jesus and what his teachings mean to men and women, atheists and others who believe a different way. Through her experiences as a pastor's kid in California, working in West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, her time as an intern pastor in Jerusalem and an ordained minister in the United States, Mattheis challenges us to take seriously the role Christianity plays in our intimate and collective lives.
She currently teaches at the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, CA. Check out her book, "Religion Made Me Fat", on amyjomattheis.com, read her blog, and follow her on Twitter.
Cleo Kocol, The Good Foreigner
Cleo has been a card-carrying humanist since 1979. She's been a
member of the board of the American Humanist Association, chair of AHA Feminist Caucus, and received the Humanist Heroine Award in 1988.
She has taught creative writing, has three novels available on Amazon.com and Kindle, and has had short stories, articles and poetry published in various publications including the Sacramento News and Review. She is also the recipient of various writing awards including grand prize in the Artists Embassy International Poetry Contest in 2003.
She is a charter member and past director of Atheists and Other Freethinkers (AOF).
Her most recent article appears in the Sep/Oct 2012 issue of The Humanist magazine.
Brendan Powell Smith
Brendan Powell Smith is an atheist and renowned Bible
illustrator. He is the creator of The Brick Testament, where for the past ten years he has
been working to illustrate the entire Bible using only LEGO® bricks. His illustrations have been featured in publications across the globe including
Time, People, Rolling Stone, SPIN, and Entertainment Weekly, and on TV shows including CBS News Sunday Morning, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Smith’s approach to illustrating the Bible has won him fans all across the spectrum of belief from atheists and freethinkers to creationists and clergy. His presentation is notable not just for its artistry and meticulous attention to detail, but for its uniquely straightforward and frank approach to the Bible’s content, paying equal attention to the 90% of the Bible they don’t talk about in Church as the 10% they do.
Having illustrated over 4,500 scenes and several hundred Bible stories, Smith’s work is beautifully showcased in two new books, The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament, and the just-released The Brick Bible: The New Testament, featuring what is arguably the best and most thorough illustration of the book of Revelation man has ever known.
Andrea Griffith, 52 Answers to Superstition, Religion, and Ignorance
Already a best-selling author, her latest book, "52
Answers to Superstition, Religion, and Ignorance", has been a hit in the freethought movement.
Andrea spends her time writing, speaking, and taking care of her family. She is married and has three sons and one grandson. Check out her blog at blog.socialiqlady.com or visit her website at www.socialiqlady.com.
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