Lydia Aleshin
Originally from Long Island, Lydia
is a self-taught mixed media artist,
Lydia, Oh, Lydia! ( Art), who
exhibits and teaches mostly locally
in juried shows and shoppes in NY,
MD, WV, & VA, including the
Mazza Gallerie in DC, and has
been published in Doll World
Magazine and Wee Folk of Cloth.
She is founder of R.A.D.A. (
Russian & American Dollmakers
Assoc., & friends, Inc.). She has
taught art & Russian classes in NY,
MD, and WV. She presently
resides in MD with 2 of her 3
children, and 3 cats.
John Amos
John Amos is an expert in the use
of satellite images and other
remote sensing data to
understand and communicate
local, regional and global
environmental issues. Educated as
a geologist at Cornell University
(BS) and the University of
Wyoming (MS), he spent 10 years
applying image processing, image
analysis, and digital mapping
techniques to conduct
environmental, exploration and
resource assessment studies for
the energy and mining industries
and government entities.
In 2001 he founded SkyTruth, a
non-profit 501(c)(3) organization
dedicated to strengthening
environmental conservation by
illuminating environmental
problems and issues through the
use of satellite images, aerial
photographs, and other kinds of
remote sensing and digital
mapping. As President, he directs
day-to-day operations, builds
partnerships, and develops and
manages projects and programs.
SkyTruth’s work during the BP /
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico revealed that the
spill was far bigger than
government and industry officials
were claiming and generated
international media attention.
John and his wife Amy, a writer
and environmental policy expert,
live in Shepherdstown, West
Virginia.
Mike Austin
Mike Austin was raised in Yakima,
Washington where honey bees are
an essential part of the apple
industry and has taken up
beekeeping as a hobby. He has a
small related business selling his
honey (Duchess Apiary) and is an
active member of the Eastern
Panhandle Beekeepers Association
(EPBA). Upon retirement from
the Navy in 1985, Mike joined the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and served several
tours at the U.S. Mission to NATO
as the U.S. Representative to the
Civil Emergency Planning
Committee. When not overseas
he was FEMAs Planning Officer
handling disaster preparedness
and response working the Federal
Departments and Agencies that
get involved when a Presidential
Disaster is declared. Upon
returning to the states in 2003 he
was made the Senior Advisor for
International Affairs.
Mike travelled widely in Eastern
Europe and Central Asia working
with the NATO Partner nations.
When visiting his counterparts
helping them assess their
resources and vulnerabilities, he
frequently encountered differing
farming methods, particularly
beekeeping. In each country it
reflected their local culture and
traditions.
Shortly after retirement in 2004,
he took a beekeeping course
sponsored by the Hagerstown
Valley Beekeepers Association in
conjunction with the Eastern
Panhandle organization and
ordered two packages of bees
from a supplier in North Carolina.
He now manages 30 – 40 colonies
that are kept at various locations
in the county. His primary focus is
on the production of honey and
mentoring several families in their
beekeeping efforts.
Madelyn Blair, Ph.D.
Madelyn Blair is a speaker, author,
and senior consultant to
management. She is founder and
president of Pelerei, Inc. Her
specialty is organizational learning
and the approaches that support
it. She has particular experience
in knowledge management from
strategic planning to unlocking
personal resilience for navigating
complex challenges.
Dr. Blair is on the faculty of
Columbia University. She is a Taos
Institute Associate and charter
member of the Associates Council
to the Board. She is on the Board
of American Friends of Chartres.
Dr. Blair received her doctorate in
organizational psychology from
the University of Tilburg, The
Netherlands, and holds an MBA
from The Wharton School.
She is the author of Riding the
Current and Essays in Two Voices.
She is a contributing author of
Lessons from the Field, Wake Me
Up When the Data Is Over, Making
it Real: Sustaining Knowledge
Management, and Smarter
Innovation.
Gary Cohen
Steve French
Steve French is a former history
teacher. He is the author of
Imboden’s Brigade in the
Gettysburg Campaign, winner of
the 2008 Bachelder-Coddington
Literary Award, the 2009
Gettysburg Round Table Book
Award, and the Jefferson Davis
Historical Gold Medal. His most
recent book is Rebel Chronicles:
Raiders, Scouts and Train Robbers
of the Upper-Potomac. The author
of over eighty historical articles,
his stories have appeared in the
Washington Times, Gettysburg
Magazine, North & South
Magazine, and Crossfire: The
Magazine of the American Civil
War Round Table (UK).
Joel Garner
Joel Garner was Chief of Law
Enforcement Statistics for the
Bureau of Justice Statistics until
his retirement. Prior to this
position, he was the Director of
Research at Joint Centers for
Justice Studies, Inc. and taught in
the School of Criminal Justice at
Rutgers University. He served for
over a year as the director of
research studies at the U.S.
Sentencing Commission and
sixteen years in various positions
at the National Institute of Justice.
Joel has his doctorate degree in
political science from George
Washington University and his
bachelor’s degree in political
science from Valparaiso
University. He has authored
several journal articles,
publications, and reports, and was
editor of journal articles for the
Criminal Justice Review and
Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency. He has also been a
publication reviewer for several
journals and research proposals.
He has collaborated with various
government agencies and police
departments around the country.
Pat Hancock
Master Pat Hancock is a disciple of
the Tien Shan Pai system. He is the
head Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Hsing I
instructor at Body Balance and
enjoys teaching all students from
beginners to the most advanced.
He began his studies in 1973
under 64th generation
Grandmaster Huang-Chien Liang.
With Shi Ye Huang’s blessing he
built his own school in 1987 after
taking bronze medal at the World
Kung Fu Championship in Taiwan.
In 1996 he earned an international
gold medal in Hsing I Chuan.
Body Balance was featured on CBS
Capital Edition, Washingtonian
Magazine and Tai Chi Magazine.
Pat served as consultant to the
National Institute of Health and as
stress management instructor for
Maryland public schools. His
services are recommended by
area physicians, psychologists and
chiropractors.
Richard Horowicz
A graduate of Georgetown
University and Johns Hopkins
University, Rick Horowicz taught in
high school and adult settings for
the last fifty years. He has taken
regular and advanced training on
how to teach the Holocaust from
Facing History and Ourselves in
Brookline, MA and has given
numerous teacher workshops,
lectures, and presentations
devoted to the Holocaust in the
past 40 years in addition to
teaching it annually.
Reba (Becki) Jones, Ph.D.
Dr. Becki Jones has her Doctor of
Musical Arts in Music Education
from Shenandoah University
Conservatory and Bachelor of
Music Education from West
Virginia University. She has her
Orff Teacher Certification in Levels
I,II and III. She retired from Fairfax
County Public Schools in 2012
where she taught general music in
K-6th grade. She previously taught
private piano lessons and was the
church organist and choir director
for Asbury United Methodist
Church. Jones has received
numerous awards and grants
during her teaching career and has
published several articles and
reviewed books and music
software for Music Educators
Journal. Becki was the recipient of
the Optimist Award for
Outstanding Music Educator at
Herndon Elementary School.
Charles Lickson, Ph.D.
Dr. Charles P. Lickson is a lecturer
at Shenandoah University’s Center
for Lifelong Learning and former
Adjunct Associate Professor of
Political Science and Public
Administration at Shenandoah
University, where he taught
courses on the American
Presidency. He has also taught
courses on Constitutional Law and
Public Administration ethics.
Lickson served for many years on
the Adjunct Faculty at the U.S.
Office of Personnel Management
Staff Training Center in
Shepherdstown. He is the author
of seven books including Ethics for
Public Employees, Negotiation
Basics, and Ironing it Out: Seven
Simple Steps to Resolving Conflict.
Dana Mitchell
Dana Mitchell moved to
Shepherdstown from the D.C. area
a decade ago. She brought with
her a comprehensive love of
history, a flair for theatrics, and
even a personal nugget from her
own journey.
“I always say I was born into it—
having nearly been born in the
elevator of the U.S. Capitol
building,” she admits. “My mother
worked at the Capitol and I grew
up there, seeing history all around
me all the time. I just loved it, and
I love theatrics and sharing
information with people.”
Mitchell grew up in D.C. and
always wanted to be a guide of
some sort—often taking to giving
tours of the city to visiting family
and friends—though she never
fully pursued a desire to be a tour
guide. She does a great deal of
research on all of the things she
talks about, to confirm the
backstories. Mitchell started the
Shepherdstown Mysteries Walk
tour in August of 2014.
Franklin Moore
A career member of the Senior
Executive Service, Franklin C.
Moore is the Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the U.S. Agency
for International Development’s
Bureau for Africa, which provided
$6.4 billion in assistance to 49
African countries in 2011. Mr.
Moore also served in this position
from January 2008 to July 2010.
Prior to this appointment, Mr.
Moore served in Rome as USAID’s
Senior Development Counselor
and Senior Advisor to the U.S.
Ambassador to Rome-based UN
organizations from July 2010 to
December 2012. Mr. Moore was
Director of the Office of
Environment and Science Policy
within the Agency's Bureau for
Economic Growth, Agriculture and
Trade in 2002-08, and he served as
the Acting Deputy Assistant
Administrator and Director for the
Agency's Global Center for the
Environment.
Prior to joining USAID in 1998, Mr.
Moore held positions in the areas
of agriculture, environment and
national resource management
with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, with Africare
resident in Zimbabwe; with Peace
Corps and as a Lecturer at Virginia
State (College) University and the
University of Science and
Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.
Sylvia Shurbutt, Ph.D.
Sara Smith
Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt came to
Shepherd in 1987, having taught
previously at Georgia Southern
University, after receiving her
Ph.D. at the University of Georgia
in 1982. Dr. Shurbutt’s primary
teaching and scholarly interests
are English pedagogy, 19thcentury British literature,
linguistics, and Women’s and
Appalachian studies, with her
publications and research projects
focusing on the work of such
writers as Christina Rossetti, Jane
Austen, Zelda Fitzgerald, Henry
Louis Gates, Jr., Robert Morgan,
and Denise Giardina. Dr. Shurbutt
is particularly interested in
rediscovering those women
writers lost from the traditional
canon and has devoted her energy
to seeing them in print once again,
as is the case with her research
of Victorian poet and novelist
Caroline Sheridan Norton. Dr.
Shurbutt enjoys music, flowers,
and visiting her daughter who lives
in New Zealand; she is an avid
biker and hiker, and she enjoys
traveling, in particular guiding
student travel study tours at
Shepherd University.
A resident of Shepherdstown, Sara
Smith is a Professor Emerita of
English from Montgomery College,
MD. She was also the Assistant
Chief Executive Officer for
Academic and Student Affairs at
Montgomery College. She taught
courses such as Expository
Writing, World Literature,
Women’s Literature and Honors
Seminars. Sara holds a BA in
English from Millsaps College,
Jackson, MS and a MA in English
from University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville. She also completed
Post Graduate studies and taught
part-time at University of
Arkansas, University of Illinois, and
University of North Carolina.
J. Edward Slonaker
A Certified Financial Planner and
Wealth Advisor, Ed Slonaker is the
CEO/ Managing Partner of Morgan
Financial Group, LLC and has been
in the financial services business
for over 25 years. He is a
registered representative of
Founders Financial Securities, LLC
and Life Underwriter Training
Council Fellow. Ed serves on the
advisory boards of Founders
Financial Inc., Eastern West
Virginia Community Foundation
and the United Way of the Eastern
Panhandle.
Ray Smock
Ray Smock has been director since
2002, when the Byrd Center was
dedicated. He is the former
Historian of the U. S. House of
Representatives (1983-95). He is a
graduate of Roosevelt University
in Chicago and holds the Ph.D. in
history from the University of
Maryland at College Park. He was
co-editor of the 14-volume
documentary series The Booker T.
Washington Papers. His is author
of a biography: Booker T.
Washington: Black Leadership in
the Age of Jim Crow (2009). His
latest book, co-edited with Roger
Bruns and David Hostetter, is
Congress Investigates: A Critical
History with Documents (2011), a
two-volume compilation of
scholarly articles and government
documents covering the history of
Congressional investigations from
1792 to 2006.
In his capacity as House Historian
he was a key planner of the
national commemorations of the
bicentennial of the U. S.
Constitution and the bicentennial
of Congress. His office was
responsible for numerous
publications on the history of
Congress, including the standard
reference The Biographical
Directory of the United States
Congress, 1774-1989. Other
publications of the Office of the
Historian were Blacks in Congress,
1877-1989; Women in Congress,
1917-1990; A Guide to Research
Collections of Former Members of
the United States House of
Representatives, 1789-1987; and
The Origins of the U. S. House of
Representatives: A Documentary
Record.
Bruce Stanley
Raised in Breeden, WV, Pittsburgh
attorney Bruce Stanley will speak
about his courtroom battles with
then-coal giant Massey Energy and
its CEO, Don Blankenship, which
were detailed in the book by New
York Times best-selling author
Laurence Leamer, "The Price of
Justice: A True Story of Greed and
Corruption". A former journalist,
Stanley was a partner with Reed
Smith, a firm with offices in
Pittsburgh and around the world
before leaving last year and
forming his own firm.
Jim Surkamp
Jim Surkamp is an award-winning
"lay support" person, former
Bereavement Care Coordinator of
the Hospice of the Panhandle
(1985-1990) in Martinsburg, WV,
and founder and coordinator of
the non-profit Grief Support
Network, Inc. (1990-present)
serving the bereaved in a threestate area.
A former investigative reporter at
The Rockland Journal-News, his
writings on grief care have
appeared in "Healing Ministry
Journal." His hour-long acclaimed
portrait of a Vietnam veteran
suffering from post-traumatic
stress disorder has been broadcast
nationally by Public Radio
International several times.
Fred Turco
Fred served for almost 40 years as
an officer in the CIA. He spent 18
years abroad as a field case officer
during which he was in charge of
two major overseas offices - first
Deputy Chief of the CIA's Counter
Terrorist Center and it's second
Chief. Following his overseas post,
Fred ran three separate offices at
CIA Headquarters, two of which he
established. He is the recipient of
numerous awards, including the
Directors Award, the Distinguished
Intelligence Award, the
Distinguished Career Intelligence
Award, the Distinguished Officer in
the Senior Intelligence Service
Award, two Donovan Awards, and
letters of commendation from the
FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Marines,
U.S. Military's Special Forces and
several other U.S.G. organizations.
Arthur Wineburg
Arthur Wineburg taught college
courses in economics and
undertook system analyses for the
Defense Department until he
began the practice of law, which
he did for more than 35 years. Art
lectured before professional
organizations in the U.S., Europe,
and Asia and served as an adjunct
professor of law. He retired as a
partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss,
Hauer & Feld in 2009 so he could
live in Shepherdstown and pursue
whatever caught his fancy.
Jerry Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Jerry received his Bachelor of
Music from Bowling Green State
University, Master of Music from
Ithaca College and Ph.D. in Music
Education and Performance from
West Virginia University. He was
involved with music education and
performance in public schools in
Ohio and Maryland plus teaching
at Ithaca College, West Virginia
University, and Shepherd
University for over forty years.
Jerry was the founding conductor
and music director of the
Millbrook Orchestra for 11 years.
He has composed and arranged
music for various musical
ensembles, been a guest
conductor, and music adjudicator
in the tri-state area. While he is
retired, Jerry is currently doing
music consulting work and writing
a book on his experiences in the
field of music.
Carolyn Zwior