Writer Stephen Levine was born July 17, 1937, in Albany, New York, the child of chemist father Clarence and mother Ruth Levine. In the mid-to-late 1950s Levine attended the University of Miami; shortly thereafter he published his first work, A Resonance of Hope (1959). He then entered the field of journalism, returning to New York City to do editorial work for the Frederick Fell Publishing Company and later contributing to the Rikers Island (N.Y) Review. In 1965, Levine founded the San Francisco Oracle and continued his career in publishing. Stephen Levine has a variety of interests, including poetry reading and wildlife protection. His writing career also focuses on psychology and… spirituality. He spent time helping the sick and dying, using meditation as a method of treatment; a program he shared with psychologist Richard Alpert and psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Levines's wish to help the suffering is perhaps most apparent in his 1990 book, Healers on Healing. Levine and his wife Ondrea created their book, Embracing the Beloved: Relationships as a Path of Awakening in 1994 in an attempt to help the ailing by employing poetry and meditation within families. This work was a culmination of 17 years of work with the dying. Beginning New Year's Eve, 1994, Stephen and Ondrea Levine decided to pretend that each new year was their last. It was their hope that this would help them understand and cherish the beauty of life. Levine's new book, Becoming Kuan Yin: The Evolution of Compassion, was published by Red Wheel Wieser Books in September 2013.