Meet the Speakers & Guests: Bios

The Power of Recovery Walk & Fair 2007 is pleased to include the following speakers and guests. Each brings his or her own unique perspective to celebrating the power of recovery and living a full life after treatment.

Lori Anderson, Hazelden Springbrook
Speaking on "Unmasking the Stigma of Addiction"

Lori Anderson is a grateful alcoholic with eight years sobriety. She is an outspoken advocate for recovery with a passion for reaching out to the newcomer. Lori's work toward unmasking the stigma of addiction includes a television news segment and her story in Portland Monthly Magazine.

Recovery from addiction deserves to be celebrated just as much as recovery from any other disease, says Lori. Because of the stigma attached to it, people often feel a need to keep that they are in recovery quiet. We don't hear the success stories, but there are multitudes of them. People do recover, and they are out there everywhere living healthy, happy, productive lives. Those still suffering do not hear that there is a solution to their dilemma, and because the failures are publicized and sensationalized, and the recovery stories are ignored, the stigma stays alive and well. 

Lori works as a technician in MORE, a Continuing Care Program at Hazelden Springbrook in Newberg, Oregon, and is also studying to be a psychologist. She currently serves as chairperson of the Hazelden Springbrook Alumni Chapter.
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Wendy Blackburn, author
Signing copies of her novel, Beachglass

Wendy Blackburn is an author and chemical dependency counselor. In her first novel, Beachglass (St. Martin's Press, May 2006), Wendy offers a look into the struggles, the rewards, the joy and the pain of living life without chemicals. The story opens with the narrator, Delia, a young mother living in Seattle, receiving a phone call from Timothy, her gay long-time best friend. Timothy, a fellow addict whom she met in rehab in their native Los Angeles, is in the final stages of AIDS. Based on a promise made years before, Delia must leave her young daughter and loving husband to fly to her best friend’s side to care for him during his final days. While feeling her way through the care-giving and sadness that accompanies Timothy’s final days, Delia relives and recounts a decade of rich history, replete with relationship foibles, laughter, loyalty, and more coming–of–age experiences than most people go through in a lifetime.

Wendy is currently an inpatient counselor at ResidenceXII, a women's-only chemical dependency treatment center in Kirkland, WA.
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Diane Conway, Author, Speaker, Entertainer and Creative Coach
Speaking about her work and signing copies of her books

In some mysterious and profound ways, asking and answering the question "What would you do if you had no fear?" produces a divine flash that sets in motion assistance from out of the blue. Diane first began asking this question to participants in her workshops and retreats. Many found themselves naming their dreams and desires for the first time and the results stunned them. Some people quit soul-numbing jobs, others took trips they d dreamed of for years and even a fireman called Diane with the jubilant news that he was taking flying-trapeze lessons.

Diane wrote her first book because she too had been crippled by fears and doubts all her life. Interviewing people and hearing their stories profoundly changed her and their experiences have spurred her on to write her second book What Would You Do For Love If You Had No Fear? Diane is much in demand as a humorous and inspirational speaker and has been featured in print and on TV with celebrities like Joan Rivers. The San Francisco Chronicle describes Diane as, "Funny, positive, upbeat." She currently resides in California.
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Grant Goodeve, Host of "Northwest Backroads"
Grand Marshall of the Walk

Grant Goodeve is currently the host of the Seattle-based outdoor/travel show "Northwest Backroads" entering its 9th season and the NextGen Home Experience on the nationally syndicated program "Your House and Home". Cable viewers also know him as one of the hosts of "If Walls Could Talk" on Home and Garden Television. As an actor, Grant has numerous television, film, and stage credits in a 30 year career but is probably best known for his starring role as David Bradford in the popular series "Eight Is Enough" as well as the role of Rick Pedersen in "Northern Exposure".

Grant continues to add to his resume of voice-over credits which include television and radio commercials, documentaries, and video games. Grant is also an accomplished musician and songwriter who has traveled and performed extensively throughout the United States. Grant and his family love the Northwest and have called Seattle home since 1989.
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Steve O'Neil, Director of WASBIRT
Speaking on "The Power of Advoacy"

Stephen H. O'Neil, MA, is the Director of the Washington State Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment Project (WASBIRT)

WASBIRT is a program in large hospital emergency departments across the state designed to provide brief interventions, brief therapy, and in some cases, chemical dependency treatment to emergency department patients who screen positive for substance use disorders. It was implemented by The Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA) of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to:
- Maximize the number of emergency department patients with substance abuse problems who can be identified through screening.
- Deliver brief interventions, and, brief outpatient therapy counseling at certified treatment organizations.
- Increase referrals of chemically dependent people from the generalist medical setting to specialist treatment agencies.
- Reduce subsequent emergency department use rates, medical costs, criminal behavior, disability, and death for patients with alcohol and drug problems of all severity levels.
- Examine the degree to which substance abuse services can be expanded to include early intervention and improve the links between the medical and chemical dependency treatment communities.

Steve holds a Masters Degree in Psychology from Seattle University and has worked in the field of addiction counseling and administration for over 22 years.
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Chef Liz Scott, The Sober Kitchen
Speaking on her work and signing copies of her books

Liz Scott is a professional chef and caterer, in recovery from alcohol dependence, who has used her experience and expertise to specialize in the positive effects of good food on the recovery from disease, including alcohol and drug dependence.

Her first book, The Sober Kitchen, has received numerous accolades including the National Health Information Award for Patient Education Information and the Independent Publisher Book Award in Health, Medicine, and Nutrition. She was presented with the Research Society on Alcoholism 2004 annual Journalism Award for her outstanding work and in 2005 was honored by the Johnson Institute in Washington, D.C. as one of eight American pioneers and innovators in the field of addiction recovery.

Liz is a coveted speaker and advocate for the sober community who has brought the issue of addiction, treatment, and the reality of recovery to the public at large in a candid and compelling fashion. With Sober Celebrations she has expanded her audience to include all those who may wish to cook and entertain alcohol-free for whatever reason and by doing so has shown that good taste and good cheer are not alcohol dependent for anyone.

Liz Scott is a graduate of New York University, Villa Schifanoia in Florence, Italy, and the French Culinary Institute in NYC. She resides in New Jersey.
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Neil Scott, Recovery Coast to Coast Radio

Neil Scott is the host of RECOVERY - Coast to Coast, a ‘live’ nightly two hour talk-radio program dealing exclusively with addiction and recovery. It is the only national radio talk show that is on-the-air 5 nights a week, 2 hours a night, dealing exclusively with addiction, with a focus on recovery. It airs live Monday through Friday evenings from 10PM-Mid (PST). It is carried locally on 1590 KLFE-(K-Life) and streamed nationally on the internet. The program debuted on October 10, 2005 and Neil’s guests have included authors, treatment professionals, recovering celebrities and everyday recovering people, telling what it was like, what happened and what it’s like now sharing experience, strength and hope. He receives calls and emails from listeners across the country with a variety of questions for guests and himself about addiction, recovery and treatment.

Neil is a 30 year radio veteran who also covers the Seattle sports teams for ESPN Radio, the Fox Radio Network and ABC Radio Sports. He is a fill-in update anchor on SportsRadio 950 KJR in Seattle. In addition to his broadcasting career, Mr. Scott has also worked professionally for many years in the addictions field. His interest is both professional and personal. Both of his parents died from alcoholism, and he has dedicated his life to helping others get well by carrying the message of hope and the promise of recovery to those whose lives have been touched by addiction, one night at a time, always reminding his listeners that the bright side of addiction is recovery.
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