THE VISIONARIES

Meera Lester

"Sister to Saints"

www.meeralester.com

This soulful author and painter of Mary Magdalene and saints is herself, to those of us who have worked closely with her and love her, bordering on sainthood. Meera Lester has lived her gracious life in self-effacing hard-working service to others without complaint. Out of this dedication to serving others, Meera was the visionary behind the creation of a company ahead of its time, Writers Connection, that served and gave birth to many creations and to many writers.

We will memorialize and honor that significant part of her life, and I would like you to know about her new enterprise, Meera Lester Literary Services and that she has authored thirteen books now! Have fun perusing her varied and beautiful books on her website. First, however, I am eager for you to see a whole picture of this remarkable woman. People are amazed to learn the exotic globe-trotting dark-haired beauty, author of The Ethnic Markets and woman so in tune with multicultural influences, was born Betsy Lou in Missouri! In addition to her cosmopolitan assured self that communicates passionately with national and international movers and shakers, she retains a delightful girl-next-door quality so that you can easily picture her playing like a kid, happily covering her hands and toes in the dirt of her colorful garden that has been one of her salvations. Betsy Lou escaped from the farm at the age of 22, guided by a vision to travel across the world to learn and be a disciple of Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas in an ashram near Gujarat, India, where her teacher gave her the name "Meera," in honor of Mirabai, A Rajput poetess/saint. Meera, spiritual seeker, always in tune with that aspect of soul, developed herself into a powerhouse of a business woman, attracting and holding her own with San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York agents, publishers, producers, heads of movie studios, intellectual property attorneys, writers and editors. Always an advocate for writers, she became a fierce mother bear when it came to protecting her cubs. She has always been a role model for doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

I will never forget the first time she and I met. As a photographer, I had been doing a column called "Sell It With Pictures" for Jon Kennedy's newsletter out of Stanford. He said he had met this go-getting young couple, the Lesters, starting up a company for writers. Why didn't I talk to them? I was going through a divorce and needed a job. I didn't want just any job, but something soul-satisfying. I had never planned to be a writer, but at least that was in the arts. So I went to Steve Lester for an interview. Still shaking my head in amusement at this small, serious very earnest young whippersnapper sporting an Afro, I followed him into the other room of the office to meet his partner in business, his wife, the V.P. of the company. There she is, on her hands and knees with her sleeves rolled up, repairing the toilet! She smiled and said, "Somebody has to do it. Hi, I'm Meera." I liked her immediately. A servant leader. Shows by doing. And thank goodness, she looked older than he did, because I was older than both of them. This is a woman of action! I could follow that woman into battle anywhere. And I did.

She called me up and asked if I would be her photographer. She was doing an interview of Adam Osborne , founder and CEO of Osborne Computers for her feature story on her newsletter. He had already begun to hide his head from the press because his start-up company was about to go under. Fortunately, I didn't know that, who he was or how big he was, so, I, too, had no fear. We marched into his office (me with my antiquated 3200K flood lamps) and did the interview. I loved her Aries fire, her boldness, her audacity combined with sensitivity. New to her? No problem! She never perceives any obstacle as insurmountable. It's amazing! We heard him hiss to his secretary "Get those two women out of my office!" I guess we took too long. But we didn't care. We had a ball, she got a great story, I got great shots (which I probably could have sold to the tabloids had I been aware). (Meera only recently discovered that Osborne founded two businesses that failed and that his parents were followers of Ramana Maharshi and raised Adam in India. He died in obscurity in 2003 in Kodaikanal, India, at 64.)

After our initial triumph together, she asked if I wanted to work with them and it felt so right to say yes! She hired me and we became sisters in arms. I served the servant leaders for the life of the company, rising from a $6 an hour receptionist to their Executive Director. In the process I and thousands of other writers received the best education possible in writing, selling, publishing and marketing. Meera gathered around us the brightest and best stars in the industries of publishing and film so that we could not only learn but develop invaluable contacts. It seems I was guided to her, which catapulted my life into a whole new fabulous direction. So many of us out there owe so much to the Lesters and Writers Connection. It spawned more than writers. It created a lasting spirit of community, of family--one for all and all for one--a gift that continues long after the company officially closed its doors. A visionary company and a far-reaching legacy.

Now we get into the roll-up-your-sleeves part again. I'm sure Meera would approve of your seeing the "before" on the path to enlightenment and bliss, for you can't have one without the other. She has always been in service. She began this life of dedication as a young woman, in the cardiac intensive care unit as a respiratory therapist . As a wife, she must have been toiling sixty to eighty hours a week nonstop for twenty-one years as tireless helpmate to her late husband Steve with their two businesses: a tough San Francisco Chronicle distributorship, their bread and butter, and their innovative dream--that service business for writers in Silicon Valley. For the years of that productive company, Meera was the visionary behind the dream. She was the blossoming writer who gathered around her all the resources and experts she needed to learn the business of writing and selling, then generously shared those contacts and that invaluable information with all of us and writers at large. Steve was the computer whiz and organizational expert bar none and they both worked unbelievable hours to conceptualize and manage their membership of over 1500, their ambitious seminar program, their highly successful annual Selling to Hollywood Conference, their 16-page monthly newsletter, a bookstore, job shop and Writers Referral Network and publishing division which published her own first nonfiction book. Yet, when it came time to bask in glory at their conferences, she let her husband be the one primarily up front receiving the accolades. At the same time, she was mother to two children and grandmother to twins. When her husband of twenty years died from a heart attack in bed, it was Meera who resuscitated him! During the long years he waited for his heart transplant, had the surgery, suffered through rejection of his new heart and then died, it was Meera who took care of him and suffered along with him, once again foregoing her own needs during those long years to be in service to another.

When she was left alone, a widow, shouldering by herself incredible responsibilities, the workhorse still plowed on. But her soul urged her that it was time to nurture Meera. Her garden began to blossom and so did she. The workhorse evolved into Beauty. She took violin lessons. She began to paint and miraculously, gorgeous paintings flowed out of her, and so did her own writing, after years of helping others. Loving herself, she became love. After a few years of widowhood, Meera made a list of the qualities and points of interest that she hoped a potential mate might have--such as love of literature, music, art, and food; ability to speak another language; interest in various cultures of the world. She saw him as passionate, loving, considerate, romantic and nurturing. Within two years she met him. He was a Dominican-born architect working in the Miami area after several years of living in New York and New England. He speaks fluent Spanish, his first language, English, and some French. She has since spent many happy hours with him discussing Latin American fiction, French food, Caribbean politics, Spanish and South American wines, American interior design, and art of the world.

Meera is an amazing resource, so knowledgable about writing, the industry and marketing. She can help authors develop a plan for marketing publicity and promo as well as brainstorm book ideas (both fiction and nonfiction) as well as write nonfiction books for any editors who have ideas or would like her to develop proposals. She can also help authors write a book proposal for nonfiction books, or a synopsis for a novel. She can do book doctoring and even content or line editing, if needed. She's written thirteen books, including her most recent, The Everything Mary Magdalene Book(Adams Media, 2006). She has a fifth novel in progress. She has garnered interest from Bernardo Bertolucci (The Little Emporer and A Walk in the Clouds) for one of them as well as secured agency representation. I would say get her help while you still can!