Don Morreale Curriculum Vitae

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• Master of Arts in Liberal Studies/Creative Writing, University of Denver University College, August, 2010.

• Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Religions, University of Denver, June, 1972.

• Courses in short story writing at Colorado College, Community College of Denver, Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop, and in seminars conducted by Natalie Goldberg, and Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

• Courses in travel writing from Prof. Andrew Rooney at Regis University, and travel journalism from Ron Stern at Colorado Free University.

• High School Diploma. Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School, Kingston, Pennsylvania, 1965

• Teaching Certificate, Meditation and Stress Reduction, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Marin County, California, 2008.

University Professor:  Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China. Teaches speech writing and public speaking techniques to Chinese undergraduates. Students learn the basics of informative, demonstrative, impromptu, and persuasive speeches, and gain experience in “thinking on their feet” during post presentation Q&A sessions. (Ongoing since 2012)

Kathmandu University, Kathmandu, Nepal.  Writer in Residence.  Led students in writing about their experience of the 2015 Earthquake. Essays were included in an independently published book entitled We Will Rebuild, thus giving students real world experience in writing and publishing. (September, 2015)

Destination and Special Topics Lecturer: Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. In addition to seminars on Meditation and Stress Reduction, I have taught courses in Creative Writing and given destination talks. (Ongoing since 2003)

Santa Cruz International School, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Taught English grammar and remedial writing. (Summer, 1983)

English Language Institute, Tehran, Iran. Taught English conversational skills to Iranian businessmen. (Winter, 1976)

Freelance Writer: From 2009 thru 2014 wrote some 200 articles on Colorado people for the online news source Examiner.com (no longer online), and for the Denver Post YourHub supplement. Have also written magazine articles for Great Expeditions, Tricycle, Shambhala Sun, Enquiring Mind, Lion's Roar and Omni Magazines.  Currently writing a series of profiles of little-known Colorado historical figures for the Denver Post YourHub.  Read them at dpo.st/2YVHPCW

Author:Buddhist America; Centers, Retreats, Practices (John Muir Publications, 1988), The Complete Guide to Buddhist America (Shambhala, 1998), Cowboys, Yogis, and One-Legged Ski Bums; The Extraordinary Lives of Ordinary Coloradans (Xlibris, 2014), We Will Rebuild: Survivors' Tales of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake (GDR Publications, 2016),  Locker Room Banter; 365 Jokes for the Gym, (Pickle Ball Press, 2017)

Essayist: "Pipi la Pushe," (in Let Them Eat Crepes, by M. Doffing and S. Koefod, Lulu Publications, 2010),  "China My Heart"(in Azuria Australian Literary Quarterly, February 2013),  "Bookends" (in The Miraculous 16th Karmapa, by Norma Levine (Shang Shung Publications, 2013).

Contributing Editor:Knee Deep in Grace, by Amy Schmidt (Present Perfect Books, 2002), Hangzhou Safari World, by Prof. Jimmy Pan (an English language textbook for Chinese middle-school students), Aftershocks; Survivor's Tales of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake (Coyoski Press, 2016)

Ghost Writer:No Blood for Oil, by Dan Winters. A Shot at Redemption, by Bill Mahoney

Senior Teacher: Denver Insight Meditation Community.

Producer/News Caster: Public Radio KUVO, Denver. Produced a series of 40 on-air programs entitled “Colorado Poetry Rodeo.” DJ and an on-air news announcer during morning drive time (1986-1989).

Spoken Word Performance Artist: Read personal essays to live audiences at Stories-Stories, a local forum for creative writers at the Mercury Café, Denver, Colorado (ongoing).

Real Estate Investor: Owned and managed over 50 rental units from 1975 thru 2013.

Christ’s Body Ministries: Friday Homeless Pancake Breakfast (ongoing)

Englewood Federal Correctional Institution: taught meditation and stress reduction to prison inmates from 1990 – 1999

Brookdale Senior Living: taught meditation and stress reduction to senior citizens (2012), Also teach meditation classes at area churches on an ongoing basis.

Educated in US State Department schools in Germany, Taiwan and Japan.

Worked in Greece, Iran, China, Bolivia, Nepal.

Traveled in Afghanistan, Alaska, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Australia, Azores, Bali, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Pines, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Portuguese Macao, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Western Samoa, Yugoslavia

Writing, meditation, and travel are my life's three great passions. I started keeping a journal when I was 17 and have done so ever since. The journal writing led to a career in creative writing and freelance journalism and, in a roundabout way, to a lifelong interest in meditation. Actually, I see them as two sides of the same coin. Both lead to self-understanding and, at the best of times, a kind of transcendence where self is forgotten.

Travel has been in my blood from the beginning. For me, the most meaningful travel experiences come from working and living on the local economy. In India I worked with craftsmen to learn book binding, paper making, and sandal weaving. In Greece I cooked on a charter yacht. In Iran I taught conversational English, in Bolivia remedial English, in China public speaking, and in Nepal creative writing. Travel, I find, is very much like meditation and creative writing: even when it’s bad it’s good, and I never fail to learn from the experience.