In 1965, when he was 17, Perry Brass hitchhiked from Savannah to San Francisco where he spent a year living on the street, sleeping between parked cars or in SRO hotels, doing any job he could, and loving the freedom of it.

After Perry moved to New York, Perry joined New York’s groundbreaking Gay Liberation Front in 1969 and the staff of Come Out!, the first Gay Liberation newspaper. His poetry was published in many “gay firsts,” including The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse, the first mainstream collection of queer poetry. He has since published 23 books, most recently “My Life without Money and other poems.”

In 1972, Perry and two friends started the Gay Men’s Health Project Clinic, the first clinic for gay men on the East Coast, still active as New York’s Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. The Gay Men’s Health Project Clinic, organized and run by the men who used it rather than by doctors, became the model for many grass-roots health organizations in the gay community.

Michael Feeley had a successful career as an actor and model, performing and touring with stars such as Howard Keel, John Raitt, and Tovah Feldshuh. His theatre life was followed by a whole other 20-year-act as a professional recruiter in New York City.

These days, Michael divides his time between a home in the center of France and another one on Saba, a small Caribbean island where he owns a real estate sales and management firm, Saba Island Properties. In his capacity as a life coach, Michael worked with celebrated entrepreneur and author Seth Godin. Michael now supports other accomplished humans who are ready for a career or life change. His compelling and very aptly titled book, "The Next Act," is just out.

www.michaelfeeleylifecoach.com

The Reverend Dr. Russell L. Meyer, Pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville/Florida, graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1981 and was ordained in 1984. Russell has served congregations in Florida, South Carolina, Maryland and New York. He received a Doctorate of Ministry in 2013 from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC, with a Certificate in Christian-Muslim Relations from the Washington Theological Consortium.

Russell is a social justice pastor. He serves as Executive Director for the Florida Council of Churches. He is also the current president of the European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice and chairs the Local and Regional Ecumenism Committee of the National Council of Churches.