Breath of Life Series

Ron DelBene and I met in the late sixties while working at a publishing house in Minneapolis where he was the national consultant in religion and I was an editor. Our families were young then, so we had common interests both on and off the job, but we did not begin our writing collaboration until years later. By then a bond of friendship was formed even though both of us had made career changes. I left publishing, but stayed in Minnesota where Mary and I pursued careers as professional writers. Ron and his family moved to Florida where he developed a ministry in spiritual direction and was ordained. In 1980 Ron was teaching a form of prayer that was new to me and so intriguing that I encouraged him to write a book about it. He agreed on the condition that I work with him, and so began a collaboration that has continued. Ron’s first book, The Breath of Life: A Simple Way · to Pray, was originally published in 1981. Some ten years later, it needed updating along with the two books that promptly followed publication of his first one: Hunger of the Heart and Alone with God. We invited Mary to join us in revising these three editions that now compose the Breath of Life Series.