Mark Canter

Mark Canter (born August 11, 1952) is an American journalist and author.

Born to Nathan Canter Fernandez, a physician, and Bettev (Miller) Fernandez, he was raised in the only Jewish family in a farming community in Kentucky hill country. He traveled around the Western States and Canada and worked a diverse range of jobs, including surgical orderly, rock-show stagehand, and licensed physical therapist.

Canter received a degree in journalism from the University of Florida[1] and worked for several South Florida newspapers before becoming a feature writer and, eventually, senior editor of Men's Health magazine. His articles have also appeared in The Miami Sun, St. Petersburg Times, The Baltimore Sun, San Francisco Chronicle, and Yoga Journal, among other periodicals.[2]

His first novel, Ember from the Sun (1996), is the story of Ember, a Neanderthal girl born in the 20th century after a Neanderthal fetus is discovered in frozen condition and implanted into a surrogate mother. It was translated into nine languages.

Canter founded Blue Heron Zen Center in Tallahassee, Florida, and Cloud Forest Zen Center in Monteverde, Costa Rica.[3] In 2013 he published a collection of spiritual essays titled Awakening to the Obvious.