Eckhart Tolle was born in Germany, where he spent the first thirteen years of his life. After graduating from the University of London, he was a research scholar and supervisor at Cambridge University. When he was twenty-nine, a profound spiritual transformation virtually dissolved his old identity and radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating, and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Eckhart is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition. In his teaching, he conveys a simple yet profound message with the timeless and uncomplicated clarity of the ancient spiritual masters: there is a way out of suffering and into peace. Eckhart is currently traveling extensively, taking his teachings and his presence throughout the world. He has lived in Vancouver, Canada, since 1996. Robert S. Friedman and Frank DeMarco founded Hampton Roads Publishing Company in 1989, and the company`s book publishing program focused on cutting-edge books with a self-help or non-traditional spiritual orientation, publishing over 800 books in eighteen years. Among early bestsellers were books by author Mary Summer Rain. Later successes included the trilogy of Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch, all of which became New York Times bestselling books. He also acquired bestselling books such as Lynn Grabhorn`s Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting, which has sold over 600,000 copies; Barbel Mohr’s The Cosmic Ordering Service series; Richard Bach’s Messiah’s Handbook and Hypnotizing Maria; George Beahm’s Muggles and Magic; and many others. He is the co-author, with Eckhart Tolle, of a children’s book entitled Milton’s Secret: An Adventure of Discovery Through Then, When, and the Power of Now. Recently retired from Hampton Roads, he is co-producing a documentary with Neale Donald Walsch entitled iGOD, and now lives near Charlottesville, Virginia.