Bentz, Valerie

Growing up in a German-American family during World War II gave Valerie Bentz a love-hate relationship with her heritage. She loved Germany's music and philosophy, but despised its connection with Nazism. She made it her life mission to work for peace and justice and the fight for women's rights.

Bentz, professor of human and organization development at Fielding Graduate University, has written numerous articles about philosophers George Herbert Mead, Martin Heidegger, Alfred Schutz, and Helmut Wagner; all of whom she cleverly fictionalizes in her novel, "Flesh and Mind: The Time Travels of...