2004 North American Conference

His first book, THE NEEDS OF THE DYING: a guide for bringing hope, comfort and love to life's final chapter, is often the number one best-selling hospice book in the USA and received praise from Mother Teresa a few months before her death.  It is published by Harper Collins Publishing and has been translated and published in over 11 countries worldwide.

David has helped thousands of men, women and children face life and death with peace, dignity and courage. His experiences have taken him from the Auschwitz concentration camp to Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying Destitute in Calcutta. His services have been used by Elizabeth Taylor, Jamie Lee Curtis and Marianne Williamson when their loved ones faced life challenging illnesses.  He also worked with Anthony Perkins, Michael Landon and industrialist Armand Hammer when they faced their own deaths.  He is no stranger to disaster and trauma. He has often worked with the loss and grief of mass casualties, volunteering his services as a member of the Red Cross's Aviation Disaster team (the Aspen plane crash) and as a Special Reserve Police Officer for the Los Angeles Police Department's trauma team.  He works with the next of kin as well as survivors (e.g.the Singapore Airlines crash). In addition to his expertise in grief and loss, the Red Cross and the Los Angeles Police Department have trained him for the most critical, tragic and horrific situations possible, which of course included 9/11, and Ground Zero.

David takes his experiences and turns them into inspiring and motivational lectures for audiences around the world. He also teaches therapists, doctors and nurses on grief and loss and leads a support group for people with cancer. David is a certified trainer through the American Medical Association/EPEC program (EPEC- Education for Professionals on End of life Care). In his daily work he is Director of Palliative Care for Citrus Valley Health Partners, which has three hospitals and home hospice as well as a freestanding in-patient hospice unit in the Los Angeles area with over 900 physicians and 2,000 nurses.

His work has been discussed in the "Los Angeles Times", the "New York Times", "Business Week" and "Life Magazine", and has been featured on CNN-Cross Fire, NBC, MSNBC, PBS, "Entertainment Tonight" and "Sally Jessy Raphael." He recently wrote articles on end of life care for the Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle. For more information and resources, please visit

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In Spring 1995, Diane Willis traveled through a black tunnel, saw a white light and her life was changed forever.  Since then, she has been guided "from one amazing experience to another", as she set about accomplishing the mission she was given: to help others lose their fear of death.  In May, 1998, Diane was guided to start the Chicago chapter of IANDS.  She also spends time working in hospice, consulting with people who have death-related issues, and teaching flute.  Being a Gemini, she has to have two paths going and after a trip to Egypt (on three days notice) in 1995, she was led to start improvising music, a skill she did not have before she went to the other side.  She has performed on her Native American flutes with some of the world's greatest spiritual teachers, including Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson, Caroline Myss, Ron Roth, Sonia Choquette, Paul Winter and others.  She facilitates the Chicago Native Flutes Circle, a monthly meeting which explores many aspects of the Native American flute and flute-playing.  Her first CD, Improvisations From the Other Side: Healing Music for Meditation and Relaxation, was released in August 2003.  She is currently on IANDS' board of directors.

John Fish has always been passionate about making music with other musicians and singers.  Highlights of his career include being Music Director of the University Theater Summer Repertory at the University of Illinois and accompanying Tony-nominated actor, John Herrera.  John and Diane first collaborated when their mutual friend, Ginnie Hartzer, invited them to play for her son's wedding in September, 2000.  Discovering a shared interest in improvisation, the two got together one evening in a studio and, with no preparation or plan, simply started playing.  Diane and John were amazed by how this music evolved and they knew that there was a greater guidance at work here.  Timing was obviously important because although they had the music ready, the energy surrounding the CD didn't intensify until Summer of 2003, when everything suddenly fell into place to create this offering.

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Steve Fanning received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in History from Texas Tech University and his Ph.D. in History from the University of Minnesota.  He was Assistant Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, from 1996-1999 and a member of the Department of History there since 1980.  Before that he was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the University of Minnesota.  Besides the book previously mentioned, he also wrote A Bishop and His World Before the Gregorian Reform: Hubert of Angers, 1006-1047.  He has published many articles in magazines, journals and encyclopedias and has received many grants and awards for his work.

Robert Magrisso is a physician, artist, and writer.  Besides maintaining a busy private practice, he is Associate Medical Director at the Palliative Care Center of North Shore, Instructor at Northwestern University Medical School, and Senior Attending Physician for Evanston Northwestern Healthcare.  He is an Advisory Member of Chicago-IANDS' Board of Directors.  As an artist, Robert participated in a recent show "Inner Spaces" at the ARC Gallery in Chicago (Oct. 2002).  As a writer, he has authored various articles, published in Seeds of Unfolding-Spiritual Ideas for Daily Living (a quarterly journal of the Cafh Foundation), and "Three Lessons" in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  He has presented on the topic of his NDE at Medical Grand Rounds at Evanston and Cook County hospitals and at a Chicago-IANDS meeting.  He has also spoken on the topic "Life-threatening Illness and Spiritual Unfolding" at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, and (with Amy Peterman, Ph.D.) at the national meeting of the American Association of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine (2001).

Robert Moretti received his Postdoctoral Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G.  Jung Institute (Chicago) in 1997.  His other degrees include a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University (Chicago, 1982); an M.A. from the University of Chicago (1976); and a B.S in Psychology from Loyola.  He has been in private practice of clinical and health-related psychology since 1995, and is on the staff of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  Dr. Moretti has been Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences since 1991 at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.  He is also on the faculty at the Jung Institute of Chicago (1993-present), and has had academic responsibilities at the Dental School of Northwestern University, Loyola University of Chicago, DeLourdes College, St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital School of Nursing, and North Central College in Naperville, IL.

Kimberly Clark Sharp received her Master of Social Work from the University of Washington in 1976, pioneered the field of Critical Care Social Work, and founded the Department of Social Work at the world's first bone marrow transplant center.  She was Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington for over twenty years, and was named one of the forty most influential people under the age of 40 in the Pacific Northwest in 1987.  In 1995, she authored After the Light and has published articles in many journals, textbooks and magazines.  She frequently speaks at conferences worldwide, and is often called upon as a consultant to the news and entertainment industry as a spokesperson for the near-death experience.  Kimberly considers her greatest accomplishments that of being a cancer survivor and a happy wife and mother.

Ms. Krohner received her Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University in 1970.  She is an art teacher and an artist, author of Rag Doll: A Journey of Healing and Integration, and a regular speaker in psychology classes at Western Michigan University, University of Colorado, Schoolcraft Community College, and Northwestern Michigan College.  She was a speaker at the 1999 and 2003 IANDS conferences.  She is married and has two adult children.

Paul Bernstein has worked as a free-lance and technical writer for over 20 years.  His clients have included Compaq Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems and other high-tech companies, as well as The Boston Globe, Progressive Magazine, Christianity & Crisis, In These Times, Working Papers for a New Society, and the Czech weekly Respekt.  Volunteer journalism which he created for National Public Radio was granted an award by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Dr. Bernstein also has taught and conducted social science research at the University of California, Boston College, and the Center for Psychology and Social Change (in Cambridge, Massachusetts).  From 1999 to 2002 he served on IANDS' Board of Directors and, since 2001, he has been the Editor of IANDS' newsletter, Vital Signs.

Ken Prather is a hospice and near-death counselor in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He facilitates the Ft. Wayne Friends-of-IANDS group, and is founder of the outreach program, Reaching for Joy.  Ken has had two near-death experiences: one when he was 9 years old, and another when he was 49 years old.  The second NDE involved 32 days on life-support, followed by three months in a hospital and three years in a long-term physical rehabilitation center.  He also had total organ failure and a broken back.  Ken has had many miracles in his life, including an amazing healing which allowed him to walk again, after many months in a wheelchair.  He has had many articles written about his experiences and now, at age 54, is writing a book about them called My Journey Back.  Ken also writes poetry and inspirational stories.

Rev. Ed Townley is senior minister at Unity in Chicago, one of the liveliest and fastest-growing New Thought spiritual centers in the world.  He studied at the Unity School of Religious Studies and was ordained in 1991, after earlier careers as actor, director and playwright in New York City, Chicago and elsewhere.  In September, 1975, while working in New York, he had an intense near-death experience due to a drug overdose.  Ed's personal story is featured in Studs Terkel's latest best-selling book, Will the Circle Be Unbroken? In addition to his ministry, Ed is a featured speaker in churches and other venues throughout the United States, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Association for Global New Thought.  He is the author of Meditations on the Mount, a practical guide to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

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Dr. Fenwick holds several positions: Consultant Neuropsychiatrist Emeritus to the Epilepsy Unit at London's Maudsley Hospital (which he directed for twenty years); Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry (London); Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford; and Honorary Consultant Clinical Neurophysiologist at Broadmoor Hospital.  He is past Chairman of the UK's Scientific and Medical Network, and is Chairman of the Research Committee at the Foundation for Integrated Medicine.  He has had a long standing interest in brain function, the relationship of the mind to the brain, and the problem of consciousness.  He has an extensive research record, and has published over two hundred papers in medical and scientific journals.

Linda Morris received her Bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1976; a MS from Loyola University in 1981; and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998.  Dr. Morris has been an instructor, guest lecturer, and assistant professor at several colleges and universities in the Chicago area.  Currently, she is an advanced practice nurse in respiratory care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and a faculty member of the Northwestern University School of Medicine.  She also owns a consulting firm, specializing in continuing education programs for nurses and other health professionals, has published extensively in the field of critical care, and is a nationally known speaker in her field.

Perspectives on Creativity: A Dialogue between Near-Death Experiencers and Visionaries

Lena Karunamaya

Lena Karunamaya is a clairvoyant counselor, a near-death experiencer, a business consultant, and an entrepreneur of thirteen years experience.  She is the CEO of Visions Of Purpose, a counseling practice specializing in assisting visionaries, entrepreneurs, businesses, writers, artists and designers of technology.  Lena has presented lectures at regional, national, and international conferences, and her work has appeared on television and regional news programs.

Neal Grossman received his Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University in 1971.  His recent book, Healing the Mind: The Philosophy of Spinoza Adapted for a New Age, presents 17th-century Dutch philosopher Spinoza's elegant system of spiritual psychotherapy in terms which are accessible to a lay reader.  Prof. Grossman has written many articles, including a guest editorial, "Who's Afraid of Life After Death?" in the Fall 2002 issue of the Journal of Near-Death Studies.  He is a member of the Chicago-IANDS Board of Directors.

A licensed interior designer in eleven states, Betty DeGarmo-Avery also has an active business as a Feng Shui teacher and consultant.  She studied Feng Shui at South East University in China and is a Reiki Master.  Betty has worked with people on three continents administering healing arts before and after surgery, in intensive care and emergency rooms, as well as in parks and places in between.  Betty presently is working on her certification in Tama-Do (the study of healing with sound, color and movement) and is writing a book about her NDE.  Betty and her husband Derek founded The Avery Institute for the Advancement of Integrative Medicine in Loves Park, Illinois, after Derek was miraculously cured of advanced multiple myeloma (a blood cancer).  The Avery Institute is dedicated to raising the level of awareness of complementary and alternative medicine for the body, mind and spirit.

Ms. Booth has been a psychic medium for 15 years, mentored by Brian Hurst (the medium who mentored James Van Praagh).  She has authored a book, Brother John, My Guardian Angel, about her experiences growing up as a psychic child with a severely handicapped brother, who was her teacher and best friend-and who still guides her today from the other side.  Cheryl likes to raise awareness that children and adults with severe physical and mental handicaps are often "earth angels" sent here to teach us patience and unconditional love.  Cheryl had an NDE while in college at Central Missouri State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education in voice.  She has taught music and theatre, and has performed in musical theater and as a band singer for a number of years.  Over the past several years, Cheryl has taught many workshops on metaphysical topics and is often invited to lecture at various organizations, including the Chicago-IANDS chapter.

The gift of medical intuition came to Caroline Sutherland quite suddenly in 1985, when she was a physician's assistant and diagnostician in Environmental Medicine.  She had been trained in the use of very specific allergy-testing equipment, and after using it for about a year she began to hear a distinct voice guiding her to areas of her patients' bodies and telling her to test substances which were not ordered on the test forms.

That same year she had an "angelic encounter", which led her to start her worldwide children's ministry through the use of "Angels for Kids"-angel dolls and visualization audiotapes to comfort children.

Caroline's intuitive gift was enhanced by her NDE in 1995, brought on by a serious automobile accident.  By now she has worked with over 70,000 people, in both clinical settings and private consultations.  Because of her background in Environmental Medicine, she sees the body from that perspective and can immediately read all of the foods that a person is allergic or sensitive to, see the main systems which are "down," the state of the gastro-intestinal tract, the immune system, hormone imbalances, and weight problems.  She sees the underlying causes of illnesses, when they may have begun, and what precipitated them.

Caroline does not need even to be in the physical presence of the person she is examining.  All she needs to know is their name and a little about them, hear their voice or see a photo.  The minute she connects with the person seeking her help, she receives a flood of data.  The information is very specific, but the imbalances are only part of the picture.  She can also see the "correction"-what is needed to bring their body back into balance in terms of diet, supplements, botanicals, homeopathy and associated modalities.  Often, she can hold a bottle of vitamins or another substance that a person is taking and know whether it is beneficial or not.  Among other perceptions, she has a sense of timing (how long it will take the person to rebalance), whether or not the individual will be compliant, and whether or not they are likely to recover.  She is the author of The Body "Knows".

In his presentation, Dr. Botkin will describe the sequence of events that led to his discovery.  He will also discuss the striking similarities between induced ADCs, spontaneous ADCs, and near-death experiences (NDEs).  Although in nearly all cases his patients are convinced of the spiritual authenticity of their experience, Dr. Botkin will emphasize the consistent observation that these experiences heal grief and traumatic loss to a degree that has not heretofore been considered possible.  Beyond the therapeutic value of these experiences, however, he will also make the case that given the control that we now have over the production of the experience, we can now, and for the first time, study ADCs, and logically NDEs as well, in controlled scientific settings.

Dr. Botkin received his Doctor of Psychology degree from Baylor University in 1983.  He then joined the psychology staff at the North Chicago Veterans Administration Medical Center, where he specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.  He has published on many topics, including brain functioning, PTSD, EMDR, and induced after-death communication (IADC).  In 1995, he developed the Intensive Trauma Program at North Chicago Medical Center, and served as its Program Coordinator until his retirement in 2003.  Currently Dr. Botkin directs the Center for Grief and Traumatic Loss in Libertyville, Illinois.  During the last year he has been interviewed on a number of radio talk shows and has presented his findings to a variety of audiences, including Chicago-IANDS.

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As a teenager, a series of untimely deaths caused "Brian" (as he was then known) to drop out of college, travel the world, and assume his middle name, Jason.  Only later did he learn that "Jason" means "healer."  While in medical training at the University of Washington, he crossed paths (though he didn't recognize it at the time) with Kimberly Clark-Sharp of IANDS.  It required 20 more years of medical practice, psychiatric training, life experiences, and encounters with death before Dr. MacLurg became convinced that a Spiritual Realm really exists and purposefully interacts with us on both sides of the veil called death.  Ironically, he first read about IANDS while working in New Zealand.  While there, the indigenous Maori people inspired Dr. MacLurg to change his approach to patients and to integrate Spirituality with his modern, science-based psychiatric practice.

Asia teaches workshops in animal communication, and has been featured on television, in magazines, and in Dr. Julie Kaufmans's book, Crossing the Rubicon.  She has appeared as a keynote speaker at the Midwest Horse Fair (Madison, Wisconsin), the Wellness Conference, Chicago-IANDS, and many other venues.  She earned a degree in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.  She also has worked as a midwife's assistant, cranial-sacral therapist, and healer.

P.M.H. Atwater has been an active researcher in the field of near-death studies since her own three near-death experiences occurred in 1977.  She uses police investigative techniques as her protocol for data collection.  She has published her findings in six books and has lectured extensively.  She created a unique audiotape entitled "As You Die" for persons nearing the end of life.  Dr. Atwater has been a regular contributor to Vital Signs, a Board Member of IANDS, and a frequent speaker at IANDS conferences.  Her memorable enthusiasm for the subject results in a "one of a kind" presentation style.

Richard Sandore is a Western-trained physician who practiced obstetrics and gynecology for nine years.  During that time he began working with native healers in South America.  Their encompassing worldview and concepts of healing changed his life.  Dr. Sandore is now a recognized expert in the field of complementary healing, with a healing practice north of Chicago.  He lectures, teaches, and leads groups to work with spiritual healers in South America, and has been the featured speaker at numerous conferences, including the Whole Life Expo and the National Wellness Conference.  He also is a regular speaker at midwestern colleges, including Illinois Wesleyan University, and is the author of Living the Steps to Vibrancy and numerous other works.  Currently Dr Sandore spends the majority of his time working with spiritual seekers who desire intensive, in-depth training.  He also is in the process of writing his fourth novel.