CURMUDGEONLY YOURS -- Richard Bonte

John is an award-winning screenwriter, producer and director who was recognized by ManaSota Films as "Person of the Year" in 2016. As the primary creative force behind "The Neighborhood" film series, John wrote and directed over a dozen comedic short films interconnected by a variety of distinct characters and locations. The series was screened in total at the 2017 Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival as well as broadcast on the Tampa Bay Arts and Entertainment channel (TBAE.) In 2018, John wrote and directed the short films SLEEP OF THE ABYSS and SLEEPLICKER and produced SHARED LIST. John is also a writer/director/producer for the audio series "Domain of Terror" which adapts classic horror comics from the 1950s into audio theater for podcast listening.

Thomas Pépin Lehalleur is a French national who has lived all his life in France. After passing his baccalaureate, he became a tennis instructor and First Aid specialist. Today, he is a first-class blogger and writer with definite ideas on French politics and economics. He will be talking to us today about The Republic of France Today, Part 1.

Sekou Coker Bangoura is a professional tennis coach at the USPTA pro 1 level.

He is also the Chairman of UTGA. He used to work at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy before it became IMG Academy and has worked and trained international tennis stars like Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova, to name only a few.

He has been the President and Owner of Sekou Bangoura International Tennis Academy, Inc. from 1992 to the present.

Mark Mathes helps writers become authors. He helps publishers find audiences that make money. He has spent his previous life editing and publishing at New York Times Co., Tribune in Chicago, Pelican Publishing in New Orleans and has his own publishing company in Tampa Bay. Self-serving bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmathes/. He will do a free edit and evaluation of your 1-2 chapters: [email protected].

The quintessential American-born American. Born in Ohio, lived in Buffalo, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, South Carolina, New York City and finally, Florida.

Navy pilot (now retired Navy Captain) to banking consultant and watercolor painter, with 45 years as a banking executive in between.

Traveled through most of Europe, the Caribbean and a bit of Asia. Loves Italy the most.

A devoted father and grandfather, Richard is writing books, working with consulting clients, painting, biking, kayaking and running on the beach in Florida and the Hamptons. Also, complaining about all the things (Clutter!) that are keeping him from doing what he loves!

Aurelio Gianoglio was born in Nuoro, Sardinia in 1960, and is the second in a family composed of three sisters and one other brother. He completed his elementary and secondary studies in Nuoro, and a few years later attended the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Cagliari in southern Sardinia. He worked for about 15 years in the financial sector and subsequently went into catering and became a Chef, working several years in London and Paris. He is the father of a 30-year-old son Stefano who works in the UK for a company in the computer industry. In 2013, Aurelio moved to Nairobi, Kenya to accommodate his fiancée who works in the telecommunications sector. In 2016, they moved to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean for a period of three years. And in February 2019, Aurelio and his companion Mireille transferred to San Francisco where she is the CEO of Orange Telecommunications in Silicon Valley. For someone who has lived all over the world, Aurelio is a person who has a lot to say.

Born into a Moroccan Jewish family, Jacob Ouanounou was very early immersed in Jewish, biblical and Talmudic thinking, and was a student of the ENIO private high school in Paris under the direction of the famous philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. A ‘serial’ entrepreneur, Jacob Ouanounou is an associate professor of mathematics and engineering who graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique (the MIT of France), where he became passionately immersed in Quantum Physics, Artificial Intelligence and telecommunications.

Jeffrey Apple moved to Florida in 2013 in order to change climates as well as careers after more than

a decade in Belgium and in Luxembourg where he earned his MBA, started several companies in IT,

consulting, and even retail, and founded his family. This father of two manages multi-family

communities in the St Pete area and has recently launched a new adventure called Lakewood Ranch

FC, a non-profit youth educational soccer club whose objective is to connect children from various

social, cultural and economic backgrounds using elite soccer training as the vehicle for education.

Carmen Galizia runs an insurance agency in Cagliari, Sardinia with her husband, Gigi Gianoglio. Mother of Alessia and Alberto, Carmen loves her work, which she finds very exciting; it is here that she can meet new people and set important goals. Her favorite pastime? Traveling the world together with her family and friends as well as watching different TV series. She loves to dress in the latest fashions and be comfortable.

Nicolas Tapon is a French tennis trainer and coach. He has been a highly-ranked team player in the French third and fourth divisions with the Franconville and Enghien clubs, the Athletic Director at second-division USV in the Yvelines Department in France, and a tennis pro at the highly touted Racing Club de France in Paris as well as a top pro in Nantes, France. In the last few years, he has been a personal trainer and Physical Education specialist. He has trained at the former Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy which we now call IMG here in Bradenton, Florida and has a bachelor’s level Physical Education degree from the Université of Bourgogne in France. He has also been a piano player in a rock band for five years