Rings of Kindness is a compilation of 85 true stories of kindness received, written by 80 plus authors, 20 of whom reside in the Los Angeles area. The book was created and edited by Matthew J. Goldberg, an inspirational humorist from the Philadelphia area, and designed to spread optimism, love and kindness via our stories of kindness. The contributing writers comprise a wide variety of backgrounds and range from high school students to senior citizens, and geographically from Nova Scotia, Canada to Queensland, Australia.  All have stories that are highly relatable.

The contributors reading from their work this evening are Cathy Dreyfuss, Boliang (Michael) Wang, Lauri Fraser, and Harri James.

Participant Bios 

Cathy Dreyfuss was born in New York, raised in Los Angeles, and has lived on Venice Beach for the last 45 years. She started out as a pianist, cartoonist and hippie traveler, then became an attorney and social justice activist, dabbling in singing, guitar playing and zydeco dancing in her spare time.  She represented indigent defendants and immigrants in criminal courts from 1984 to 2022, when she decided to leave lawyering for a more creative life. She has been writing personal stories for several years and is currently working on a memoir about her travels in the 1970’s.

Boliang (Michael) Wang is an award-winning student filmmaker and a published author. After acquiring his B.A. in screenwriting, Michael has worked on productions produced by major Hollywood production companies such as Fox Sony, and Paramount. Michael, an international student, is currently pursuing his Master’s in Film & TV Production at Loyola Marymount University.

Lauri Fraser is an American voice actress who has spent more than 20 years lending her talents to animation projects spanning film, TV series, commercials and video games.  Lauri’s vocal variations can be heard as: Marie Antoinette (“Peabody and Sherman); Mrs. Olson (“Olaf’s Frozen Adventure,”); both Rocky and Natasha (“The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle’); and “Rocky J. Squirrel” (Geico Insurance).  When not in a recording booth, Lauri can be found performing stories at venues in and around Hollywood. She produced her own acclaimed live storytelling series and podcast, “I Love A Good Story,” for eleven years.  But she’s most proud of her performance as herself on the mega-hit ABC television series “Shark Tank.”  Lauri and her sister pitched their father’s invention, Hugo’s Amazing Tape–and got a deal!

Harri James is a filmmaker, storyteller, and 2e education advocate.  She recently had a story published in the anthology, “Rings of Kindness.”  Combining filmmaking with her passion for gifted and twice exceptional (2e) education, she directed her first documentary, “O’Kelley Legends:  2e Behind the Scenes.”  When she’s not writing, Harri speaks at educational conferences and college campuses on parent advocacy.