Michael Shapiro is the author of The Creative Spark, A collection of interviews with 32 of the most creative people of our time. Among them: Smokey Robinson, Lucinda Williams, Francis Ford Coppola, Melissa Etheridge and Jake Shimabukuro. His earlier book is A Sense of Place, conversations with the world’s leading travel writers. He writes for magazines such as National Geographic Traveler and major metro newspapers including the Washington Post. His photography has appeared in Islands magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. He also serves as a whitewater rafting guide, taking special needs people on river trips.