MARLEE HOSHO ROSS is an ordained Zen chaplain, and says she is now “doing the work that I’m meant to do.” A graduate of comparative religions and philosophy from University of Toronto’s Trinity College, Marlee says she has always been interested in the study of language and stories, and that interest led her to an earlier career as a Speech Language Pathologist in Vancouver schools.
“The thread of who we are runs through us; it’s already there and it shapes our character,” she says. “Now, I am a great lover of both language and silence.”
Marlee acknowledges it takes great courage to grow older and embrace age as an “enlarging,” not “diminishing” experience.
“It’s a time of great vitality,” she says, acknowledging the importance of managing and nurturing physical energy to open mental and emotional space to live alongside others and to serve the world with our gifts.
“It’s about love,” she concludes, “and trusting yourself to be who you really are.”
MAURO AZZANO noticed, when he returned my call, that the last four digits of my phone number spell my surname. “Images stick with you,” says the perceptive author of four Ian McBriar murder mystery novels. He “writes” scenes in his head as he runs to and from work as a network analyst in Richmond.
The first story came to him from a real-life event he witnessed when, as a late teen, he was delivering pizzas in Toronto. Forty years later, he finally had to tell it, and that’s when the first book emerged in print.
“Only you can stop you,” says Mauro, who still teaches college part-time and runs half-marathons regularly.
“If you’re breathing, you are capable of change.”
Mauro also happens to be the trickster “Father Christmas” responsible for decorating the Lions Gate Bridge lions from 1994-2011 in memory of a close friend. Of pursuing your dreams, he says, “Never give up!”
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