A former actor, print journalist, and radio broadcaster, Anne LeClaire is a memoirist and the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of eight novels published in twenty-four countries. She leads popular seminars and workshops exploring silence, creativity and deep listening, including, most recently, at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA, Emerson Hospital, Concord, MA, The Chicago Botanic Gardens, Chicago, IL, The Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL, St Marks Cathedral, Seattle WA, and for the Ashland Institute in Portland, OR. Anne has also been a featured speaker at the Lincoln Center in New York City. In 1992, Anne began a formal practice of silence, meaning that for the past eighteen years she has not spoken on the first and third Mondays of every month. Our of this practice came her memoir, Listening Below the Noise: The Transformative Power of Silence (HarperCollins, 2009) which was named one of the 50 best spiritual books of that year. She leads silent retreats on Cape Cod.