Gidion’s Knot Post-Show Discussion | February 23rd 

Dr. Christina M. de Guia, MD is Board Certified in both Child/Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry. She grew up in Sarasota County and attended Cardinal Mooney High School. At Hamilton College she majored in Science and Studio Arts, graduating with honors.  Two years later, taking a short detour from her original medicine track, she received a Grand Diploma in Pastry Arts at the French Culinary Institute in NYC. She returned back to Sarasota, worked at the Summerhouse Restaurant on Siesta Key, then at Mote Marine Laboratories while applying to medical schools.

Dr. de Guia graduated from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, then completed four years of General Psychiatry Residency at the University of Virginia.  After two more years of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training, at the NYPH Columbia-Cornell program, she was ready to officially start her career.  She ventured to Maui, Hawaii as a hospital staff psychiatrist, and then her desire to be closer to family brought her back to the “mainland” where she worked for two years doing inpatient and outpatient psychiatry at a community based hospital in Daytona Beach, FL. Dr. de Guia is happy to have the opportunity now to return to the Sarasota area.  In addition to running her own private practice, she is currently on staff at Sarasota Memorial hospital and helps train medical students as an FSU Clinical Professor.

Michael J. Shelton (Executive Director of Embracing Our Differences) is a founding member of Embracing Our Differences and has served as its first and only Executive Director since 2005. He oversees the creation and implementation of all programming and fiscal planning which has grown to one which impacts over 200,000 adults and children annually. He has served as Managing Director of the Sarasota Ballet, Co-Executive Director of the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and is a founding member of the Perlman Music Program/Suncoast, Inc. Michael is the co-author of the City of Sarasota Human Rights Ordinance and was instrumental in the creation of its Human Relations Board. Michael is a retired attorney who has served as chair of the City of Sarasota Planning Board and currently serves as chair of the Sarasota County Board of Zoning Appeals.

Bernadette Bennett (Education Coordinator of Embracing Our Differences) is a member of the Curriculum and Instruction Department of Sarasota County Schools, FL. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction as well as a doctorate in curriculum in instruction with an emphasis on disciplinary literacy and staff development.   She has taught social studies at the middle grades and then elevated her craft by becoming the District Social Studies Specialist.   As the social studies specialist, Bernadette’s major responsibilities include coordinating K-12 social studies curriculum initiatives, identifying staff development needs and fulfilling them, supporting staff and schools as they implement standards based instruction with a focus on individualized instruction, and developing curriculum resources for all grade levels. She also serves as the Education Coordinator for Embracing Our Differences educational initiatives serving as liaison between EOD and the Sarasota County School Board bridging educational and community partnerships. Bernadette has an established track record creating partnerships with educational facilities, both non-profit and community agencies.

brownsville song (b-side for tray) Panel  | Unnecessary Losses : The Status of Our Young African American Men and Boys  | March 6 

Moderator: Chief Judge Charles E. Williams (Committee Chairmen: Forums Co-Leader) graduated from Howard University and the University Of Florida College Of Law. After a career in the State Attorney and Public Defender’s Offices he went into local private law practice, and he was later appointed to be a Circuit Court Judge. He has served on numerous committees and boards, but he is most proud of his partnerships with the Palmetto Youth Center, and the Booker High School Law Academy, Florida Studio Theatre, and the Sarasota County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee. He is the recipient of the Sarasota County Branch NAACP’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, the Sarasota County Bar Association’s 2014 C. I. McKaig Award, and the Sarasota Film Festivals’ 2015 Poitier Family Award. In February 2015 Judge Williams was elected by his fellow judges to serve as Chief Judge for the 12th Judicial Circuit commencing July 1st, 2015.

Dr. Eddy Regnier, M.S.W., Ph.D. (State Council on Black Men and Boys) was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and is a naturalized United States Citizen. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, MA in Clinical Psychology, and MSW in Social Work from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. He received his Baccalaureate in Psychology from University of Massachusetts. Dr. Regnier is the Founder and President of Assessment & Psychotherapy Services, Inc. His areas of expertise include psychological assessment, diagnosis of psychopathology, psychodynamic and behavioral-oriented psychotherapies, and multicultural issues in counseling.  He is also an accomplished Forensic Psychologist Specializing in defense strategies. Dr. Regnier was an Associate Professor for Argosy University/Sarasota.

Trevor D. Harvey (President of the Sarasota County Branch of the NAACP) attended Sarasota County Public Schools and graduated from Sarasota High School in 1986. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and Administration from Eckerd College. He holds several certifications in worker’s compensation claim law from the American Educational Institute, and is a 2008 graduate of the Gulf Coast Leadership Institute through the Fanning Institute; University of Georgia, sponsored by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. Trevor currently serves as the President of the Sarasota County Branch of the NAACP and was appointed the area Director of the Florida State conference of the NAACP in 2007. He does all this
while maintaining a career and is currently employed with State College of Florida as a Student Development Adviser.

 

Alice M. Gatling (Actress, brownsville song (b-side for tray) (Lena) credits include: Alley Theatre: Doubt, To Kill A Mockingbird, Our Lady of 121st St., The Exonerated, The Crucible; Arden Theatre: Under the Skin, Much Ado About Nothing; Interact Theatre: Gidion’s Knot (Barrymore Best Actress); Florida Studio Theatre: Ruined, Black Pearl Sings!; People’s Light and Theatre Co: As You Like It, A Flea in Her Ear, The Icarus Box; Stages Repertory Theatre: Nickel and Dimed, Black Pearl Sings!; Main Street Theatre: Caroline or Change, Intimate Apparel, Woof!; The Ensemble Theatre: No Child… (Giorgee Award Best Actress), The Piano Lesson (Giorgee Award Best Actress) Fences, Flyin’ West; Judith Shakespeare Co: Julius Caesar; Turnip Theatre Co: Lives of the Great Waitresses (OOBR Award Winner); Everyman Theater: Under the Skin.

Wesley T. Jones (Actor, brownsville song (b-side for tray) (Tray) is a New York based actor hailing from Detroit, MI. He is an Alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University’s class of 2016; at which he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting. This is Wesley’s first production with Florida Studio Theatre and he is filled with nothing but gratitude to be working with the company, and to be telling this story with his fellow cast mates.

Grounded Post-Show Discussion | PTSD in the Military | March 30 

 

Liz Moneymaker (Retired US Army Officer and Elder Law Attorney) is an attorney and retired US Army officer.  While serving in the U.S. Army, she was awarded a Bronze Star for her service as a JAG officer deployed for Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom.

Liz has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer in 2014-2017, and has been awarded the prestigious AV Preeminent™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Her civilian practice focuses on Elder Law, including probate and guardianship litigation, Medicaid/Asset Protection Planning, Veterans Pension planning, and clients with special needs.

 

Debra K. Carter, Ph.D. (Clinical and Forensic Psychologist at Carter Psychology Center) is a clinical and forensic psychologist, owns and operates Carter Psychology Center, a comprehensive mental health practice serving patients and the greater Manatee-Sarasota community since 1987.   She is a Supreme Court Certified Mediator and the Co-Founder and Clinical Director of NCPC which offers services to the Mental Health and Legal Communities in North America, Europe and Asia.  Dr. Carter is a leading researcher on the efficacy of alternative dispute resolution interventions and the author of several books, book chapters, and journal articles.   She has received numerous awards for her work in the area of conflict resolution.

Older Than Dirt Panel #1| Everything You Wanted to Know About Death But Were Afraid to Ask| April 10

Moderator: Jason Cannon (Associate Artist) is an Associate Artist at FST, where his responsibilities include directing, acting, New Play Development, supervising the Acting Apprentice Program, and Adult Education. Most recently he directed Gidion’s Knot, Stalking the Bogeyman, Deck the Halls, Million Dollar Quartet, The Velveteen Rabbit, Last Rights, Relativity, My Name is Asher Lev, and Butler, and his performance as Ever Montgomery in Dancing Lessons garnered him “Best Actor of 2015” awards from both Sarasota Magazine and the Herald-Tribune. He holds an MFA in Directing, an MA in Drama, and a BA in Theatre and English. Proud member SDC, AEA, SAG-AFRA. jasoncannon.biz

Babette Bach (Elder Law Attorney) is a Florida Board Certified Elder Law attorney and the founder of BACH & JACOBS, P.A. Ms. Bach is nationally certified as an Elder Law Expert by the National Elder Law Foundation. Her practice specializes in the legal needs of the mature or disabled client, including Medicaid and VA planning, Probate, Trust Administration, Estate Planning, Disability Planning, Special Needs Trusts and Guardianships. Ms. Bach has been recognized by the members of the Florida Bar and featured in Florida Trend magazine as a Florida Legal Elite honoree. Ms. Bach continues to actively lecture and publish in her field.

Dr. Kathy Black (Professor at USF Sarasota-Manatee) is a Professor of Aging Studies and Social Work at the University of South Florida, Sarasota – Manatee. Dr. Black obtained her Ph.D. from the State University of New York, Albany and a Master’s Degree in Social Work and Gerontology from the University of Southern California and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Black is a Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar, a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America, and The Patterson Foundation Initiative Consultant for Age-Friendly Sarasota. Dr. Black has nearly 40 years of experience in the field of aging including work as gerontological researcher, educator, geriatric case manager, medical social worker, and geriatric nurse throughout the continuum of care. Dr. Black has conducted over 100 presentations at local, state, national, and international venues and has authored over 50 publications.

Dr. Richard Deibert (Associate Medical Director, Tidewell Hospice) is inspired by the mystery of human suffering and has combined medicine and ministry. Having studied at Davidson College, University of Florida College of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and Columbia Theological Seminary, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. With his wife Elizabeth (also a Presbyterian minister), he has served churches in Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida. They dared to haul four young children to England for a Ph.D. in New Testament at the University of Cambridge on the Apostle Paul’s theology of death. Formerly a chaplain for Tidewell Hospice, he now serves as an Associate Medical Director.

Dr. Steve Mamus, MD (Founder, Cancer Center of Sarasota) is a nationally-renowned medical oncologist with more than two decades of expertise in the treatment of cancer and blood related disorders. In 2006 Dr. Mamus founded the Cancer Center of Sarasota in order to bring personal, patient-centered care blended with university-based medical expertise to cancer patients in the Sarasota area. He was instrumental in the development of MD Anderson Cancer Center-Orlando where he was chief of medical oncology and treated patients acutely affected by cancer for more than 10 years.

Barbara Smith (Reporter – Sarasota Herald-Tribune) writes about aging for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.  A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has mostly worked as an editor. At age 55, she decided to challenge herself and return to reporting. Her 2014 series on elder guardianship won national, state and regional awards, and she received a 2016 international award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her story on the graying of AIDS. In 2015 she earned a master’s degree in American Studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She has been a Sarasota resident since 1991.

Gary Wiegand (Owner of Bayshore Funeral and Direct Mortuary Service) has provided peace of mind and comfort to grieving families in Sarasota and Manatee Counties for over four decades. Gary is a lifelong Sarasota resident.  He earned his mortuary science degree at Miami Dade College.  In 1976 he and his brothers founded Wiegand Brothers Funeral Home, then went on to purchase and operate Bayshore Funeral and Direct Mortuary service in Bradenton. Gary is active in both the Covenant Life Presbyterian and the Bayside Community Church in Sarasota. He is very active in foreign missions, serving in many different countries. 

The Exonerated Panel|Speaking Engagement with Dale Recinella, Author of Now I Walk on Death Row | April 27

 

Dale S. Recinella is the author of Now I Walk on Death Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer Stumbles into the Arms of a Loving God (Chosen Books: April 2011) and The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty (Northeastern University Press: 2004), “Ending the Death Penalty: What One Catholic Supreme Court Justice Could Do,” America, April 28, 2008, and “Why American Catholics Must Say ‘No’ to the Death Penalty,” America, November 1, 2004, has served for 20 years as a spiritual counselor and Catholic lay chaplain in Florida’s prisons. On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida, in 1998 he began ministering cell-to-cell to the approximately 400 men on Florida’s death row and the approximately 2,000 men in Florida’s long-term solitary confinement. He and his wife, Dr. Susan Recinella, minister as a team during executions: he serving as spiritual advisor to the condemned and his wife serving as a lay minister to the condemned’ s family and loved ones. They also minister to the families and loved ones of murder victims.

Mr. Recinella, who received a Master’s in Theological Studies (M.T.S.) summa cum laude from Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology (2009) and law degree magna cum laude from Notre Dame University Law School (1976), is a licensed Florida lawyer and has taught international law/business ethics in Europe at St. John’s University at the Vatican (Oratorio) and at Temple University in Rome. His column about respect life, the death penalty and prison ministry has appeared regularly for eleven years in The Florida Catholic, and he received a Year 2000 Press Award from the Catholic Press Association. In 1997 he was named a University of Notre Dame Exemplar for modeling faith and citizenship in action, and received the Year 2001 Humanitarian Award from the Franciscan Alumni Association. He appears frequently on worldwide Vatican Radio and extensively addresses audiences nationally and in Europe.

Older Than Dirt Panel #2| Intimacy Has No Age Limit| May 1

 

Jerold M. Stone LCSW-LMFT (Psychologist and Board Certified Diplomate)  has over thirty-five years of experience in treating difficult couples and challenging family cases. He completed his initial graduate school training at the renowned Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed advanced structured sex therapy training at the Masters and Johnson Institute in St. Louis. Jerry’s training is extensive, including taking a post-graduate medical school rotation in psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. He is Board Certified in Clinical Social Work. In addition to treatment, he conducts custody evaluations, parenting coordination, divorce mediation, expert testimony, and infertility evaluation/consultation in conjunction with OB/GYN specialists. He also has a specialization in Forensic Clinical Social Work and is a member of the American Association of Reproductive Medicine.

Dr. Nancy K Schlossberg taught at Howard University, Wayne State University, and 26 years at the University of Maryland, College Park where she was a tenured full professor. She was the first woman executive on the American Council on Education, where she started the Office of Women in Higher Education. She has been honored by the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association and received the 2016 Teachers College, Columbia University Distinguished Alumni Award. Her ten books focus on mid-life, aging, transitions and coping. She and her book, Retire Smart, Retire Happy, were the focus of a 90-minute PBS special, “Retire Smart, Retire Happy.” Her new book, Too Young to be Old, focuses on the transitions we make as we age. Dr. Schlossberg has delivered more than 100 keynote addresses. She has been quoted in Time Magazine, the cover story in USA Today, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Sarasota Herald Tribune, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens, U.S. News and World, and Consumer Reports.

Willa Bernhard Ph.D. is a psychologist and psychotherapist with a specialty in sex therapy. She was and still is a member of the Human Sexuality Program at Presbyterian- New York Hospital Dept. of Psychiatry at Cornell Medical School. She has supervised trainees in that program and taught courses on sexual dysfunction to medical students at Cornell Medical School. Since moving to Sarasota she has completed a study of adult development in women between the ages of 60 and 96, published articles with information from the study and published posts on the website “wowOwow”, (Women on the Web), a website founded by Joni Evans, Leslie Stahl, Candice Bergan and Liz Smith.