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.