Michael Ventura knows how to lift people up and how to keep them up, into the wee hours. He is a writer and columnist, called 'a swaggering street thinker' by the New York Times Book Review. He was one of the co-founders of the LA Weekly and is presently writing columns for The Austin Chronicle and the LA Village View. Recent books include Letters at 3AM - Reports on Endarkenment, a collection of essays and The Zoo Where You're Fed to God, a novel.