James Ragan is a Fulbright Professor whose books include In the Talking Hours, Womb-Weary, The Hunger Wall, Lusions and The World Shouldering I, and the Co-editor of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Collected Poems, 1952-1990. His play productions include "Saints" and "Commedia" with Raymond Burr. He was involved in the Academy Award nominee, "Number One," and worked as a screenwriter on "Last Story of the Century" starring Olympia Dukakis. He is the director of the Graduate Professional Writing Program at the University at Southern California. James Ragan is the recipient of numerous poetry honors, including two Fulbright professorships, the Emerson Poetry Prize, two Pushcart Prize nominations, and the Poetry Society of American Gertrude Claytor Award. He has also been a finalist for the Walt Whitman Center Book Award and the PEN Center West Poetry Prize.

In the spring of 1970 under the auspices of the then United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, Sri Chinmoy began leading twice weekly Peace Meditations at the United Nations for delegates and staff. Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations, as this meditation group is now called, also sponsors an ongoing series of programmes, lectures, and concerts to promote world peace. These are often in cooperation with UN Member States as well as with organizations supporting the ideals and goals of the United Nations.In over 1,350 books of poetry, prose, essays, stories and plays, Sri Chinmoy conveys the richness and diversity of the human quest for peace and self-understanding. His works - which include nearly 85,000 poems and aphorisms - have been translated into twenty-five languages, and have been published by Simon & Schuster, Harper & Row, Hazeldon, Health Communications and others. As an inspirational man of letters, Sri Chinmoy has offered more than 200 lectures at universities worldwide, including invited lectures at Harvard, Yale and Cambridge. In addition, several universities and literary organizations have invited Sri Chinmoy to offer lectures and receive an award in recognition of his lifetime contributions to world peace. This includes 'The World Peace Literature Award", presented at The University of Washington in 1995 and the UNSRC Society of Writer's Award of Excellence in 1993. A prolific composer, Sri Chinmoy has given more than 600 free Peace Concerts around the globe, drawing on a repertoire of over 15, 000 devotional songs, which he performs on diverse instruments from around the world. Among the concerts are Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, The Royal Albert Hall in London, Budekon Hall in Tokyo, and The United Nations General Assembly. In December 1991, Sri Chinmoy, the artist, expanded on his already vast outpouring of works, called "Jharna-Kala" or Fountain Art" in Bengali, by beginning his "Dream-Freedom-Peace-Birds" series. These birds, representing the universal symbol of peace and freedom, now number nearly 12 million. A selection of 70,000 birds, both drawings and paintings were shown in July 2000 at a Millennium Exhibit at United Nations Headquarters. Other exhibits include: UNESCO Headquarters, Paris; National Gallery, Ottawa; US Senate, Washington, DC; City Hall, Durban, South Africa and currently at JFK International Arrivals Building, New York.