Contributors

Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde (husband and wife) are laboratory directors at the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) in Phoenix, Arizona, where they study various aspects of visual, sensory and cognitive neuroscience. They have collaborated with Teller (of Penn & Teller) in their academic work, and their research has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, New Scientist and Wired magazine.

Richard J. DeMartino, the co-author along with Erich Fromm and D.T. Suzuki of the little 1960's classic, Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis, died January 6 2013 in New York. DeMartino retired from the Department of Religion at Temple University as a senior associate professor in 1986 after teaching there for some 20 years.
Born in Harlem, New York on August 28, 1922, DeMartino graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in social science at the City College of New York. He was recruited as a Phi Beta Kappa member into the U.S. Navy Language School and he served active duty at the Joint Intelligence Center in Pearl Harbor and as naval language officer with the U.S. force occupying Japan in 1945-1946. After his discharge, he served in Tokyo as historical consultant to the defense panel of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
During this period, he met D.T. Suzuki and began studying Zen Buddhism in Kita-Kamakura with him. DeMartino's studies continued during Suzuki's early years in the United States through the 1950s at the University of Hawaii, Claremont Graduate School, Harvard Divinity School and Columbia University as Suzuki's assistant.
DeMartino also studied with Zen thinker Shin'ichi Hisamatsu and translated many of Hisamatsu's writings into English. He participated in, and served as interpreter for, extended exchanges between Paul Tillich and Hisamatsu, which he edited for publication in the Eastern Buddhist as 'Conversations between Dr. Paul Tillich and Dr. Shin'ichi Hisamatsu.'
DeMartino's own treatments of the human situation and Zen Buddhism in his Ph.D. dissertation and several articles serve as a unique conceptual introduction to Zen Buddhism, on which he focused his academic career.
He is survived by his centenarian aunt who lives across the street, his extended family of cousins, his former students and his wife.

Deirdre Mask graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude, and attended the University of Oxford before returning to Harvard for law school, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She completed a master's in writing at the National University of Ireland. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Guardian. Originally from North Carolina, she has taught at Harvard and the London School of Economics. She lives with her husband and daughters in London.

John Masters was a British novelist and regular officer of the Indian Army. He wrote several novels set in India, the most famous of which, Bhowani Junction, was turned into a successful film starring Ava Gardner. He died in 1983.

Robert Matthews is a Visiting Professor at Aston University, specialising in the mathematics of chance and uncertainty. His research on issues ranging from the prediction of coincidences to methods for turning evidence into insight has been published in many leading journals, including Nature and The Lancet. He is also an award-winning science writer, Science Consultant to BBC Focus and a former specialist correspondent with The Times and Sunday Telegraph. www.robertmatthews.org

Emmérick-Adrien Maury was a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine in Paris. As a resident physician at the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London, he devoted himself to homeopathy and acupuncture. He died in 1990.

Susan Maushart was born and lives in New York. She holds a PhD in Communication Arts and Science from New York University. Her books include The Mask of Motherhood, Wifework: What Marriage Really Means for Women, and What Women Want Next all published internationally and to widespread acclaim.

Rollo May was an innovative American psychologist and psychotherapist, best known for his work in the field of existential therapy. He taught at Harvard, Princeton and Yale, and was Regents' Professor at the University of California. He authored many influential books and articles, including the bestsellers Love and Will and The Meaning of Anxiety. He died in 1994.

Paris Marx is a journalist who publishes in Wired, Time, and MIT Technology Review, among other publications. His award winning Tech Won't Save Us podcast has 25,000 listeners per episode, while his Disconnect newsletter has a reach of over 10,000 people who get his updates right in their inbox. Beyond that, he has over 50,000 followers on Twitter/X, and tens of thousands more on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and all the rest.

Frederic Manning was born in Sydney, Australia in 1882. He moved to England in 1903 where he pursued a literary career, reviewing and writing poetry. He enlisted in 1915 in the Shropshire Light Infantry and went to France in 1916 as 'Private 19022.' The Shropshires saw heavy fighting on the Somme and Manning's four months there provided the background to Her Privates We. He died in 1935.

Paul Marshall is chairman of Marshall Wace and of the management committee of CentreForum.

Bob Marshall-Andrews joined the Labour Party in 1971. He entered Parliament as the member for Medway in 1997 and quickly gained a reputation on the libertarian left by repeated rebellions against the government especially on legal issues. He is a frequent panellist on the satirical news quiz Have I Got News For You and a regular contributor to the national press. He is a barrister, was appointed QC in 1987 and has prosecuted and defended most forms of serious crime.

Jeffrey Marsh (they/them) is an American, non-binary writer, LGBT activist and social influencer with more than a quarter billion views across social media. Known for their inspirational messages of compassion and inclusivity, Jeffrey is a precepted facilitator in the Soto Zen tradition of Buddhism, as well as a host, actor, singer, songwriter, dancer and comedian.