Ever since he used jokes and soothing logic to talk a bully out of pummeling him in 9th grade shop class, Mark Morelli has believed in the power of words. He studied mass communication and English literature and later became a reporter for a daily newspaper in Ohio as well as a contributor to national magazines.

Additionally, Mark has worked as a copywriter for advertising agencies and some of the world's largest publishing firms, including John Wiley & Sons and Bantam-Doubleday-Dell. Mark enjoyed writing internet quiz game content for riddler.com during the heyday of the web's early years in New York's Silicion "Alley."

What Mark learned on the front lines of professional writing he has shared with students in the nearly 50 writing courses he has taught in colleges across his home state of Ohio, where he resides with his wife Lisa and their two daughters.

Among his favorite poems is Langston Hughes' "To You" which includes these lines:

"To sit and dream, to sit and read,
To sit and learn about the world
Outside our world of here and now--
our problem world --"

"While it is very important to be focused on today, our todays are much better if we see them in the context of our yesterdays and in the full glow of our rising tomorrows," says Mark. "And that is what I hope to share in the perspectives I gain in writing. A deeper sense of what happens today, be they blessings or curses, so that life can be juicier, tastier, more joyful, more sorrowful, even. So that writing can magnify the experience for me and my readers, and create an invitation to be more fully alive."

Square fact: Enjoys album collection of sweet string orchestras that are, basically, muzak.

Cool fact: Was able to finish the words to hip hop song that his (shocked) community college students sang in class.

Read more from Mark by visiting PAH!, his personnal 'zine of humor and commentary. PAH! is located at www.markmorelli.net.