Olga Bonfiglio began her freelance writing career with the
Kalamazoo Gazette in 2002 with articles on religion, social justice and urban revitalization. She also published articles in the
Christian Science Monitor,
America,
Z Magazine,
National Catholic Reporter,
Presbyterians Today,
Christian Camps & Conferences and
Planning.
She began researching
Heroes by attending the national peace march held on January 18, 2003, in Washington, D.C., and then by interviewing the Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents to War (KNOW) at their Sunday vigils and reporting on their various events. She surveyed the activists, monitored the reactions they aroused from street traffic during their public demonstrations and conducted interviews to understand why and how they sustained their beliefs. She also interviewed Bush supporters and devoted one chapter to them and their comments about the war.
The Sisters of St. Joseph first brought Olga to Kalamazoo in 1976 where as a nun for nine years she worked in public relations for Nazareth College and Borgess Medical Center and became involved as a professional and as a volunteer with numerous institutions, community boards and organizations in town. She received a W.K. Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship in 1984 and studied intercultural communication on four continents. The three-year fellowship subsequently led her to pursue a doctorate in international education at Michigan State University.
In the late 1990s her activist interests turned to the Kalamazoo community when she produced and hosted “Public Voice,” a community access television talk show that featured local and a few national personalities on subjects involving politics, urban redevelopment, economic development and social justice. In 1999-2000 she served as chair for the Kalamazoo County Democrats and ran for county treasurer.
As an academic, she has taught business communication at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and social studies education at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, five miles from her hometown of Melvindale in downriver Detroit. Dr. Bonfiglio is currently a professor and acting chairperson of the
Education Department at
Kalamazoo College. She is also a participant in the
Courage to Teach Program at the Fetzer Institute, and the
Great Lakes Peace Jam. She lives with her husband, Kurt Cobb, and Tucker the Cat, in one of downtown Kalamazoo’s historic neighborhoods.
Heroes of a Different Stripe is her first book.
Dr. Olga Bonfiglio
