About the Authors

Duane Kuss

Duane Kuss (1954) is the son of an auto mechanic and a bookkeeper housewife. Born and raised in a blue collar suburb of Northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota, he did everything from pumping gas, hauling sheetrock, and playing weekends in a rock band, to afford his way through college. Early in life he decided to become a twentieth century renaissance man, "A man for all seasons." Described as having lived 16 tons of life, he has experienced sixteen different professions over the past five decades. Throughout his career, he has been a visionary change-maker, entrepreneur and a master storyteller. Kuss, most recently, teamed up with co-author Don Calhoun to write a book series titled "Dance with the Elephant". This personal discovery trilogy includes: Life's Quantum Equation, Life's Cosmic Equation and Life's Revelation Equation.

 

 

 

Don Calhoun

Don Calhoun (1959) has thirty years of firsthand, real-world experience with understanding the highs, lows, triumphs, and tragedies of life. As a memorial counselor, he has dealt with the emotional anxiety and trauma people experience after the loss of a loved one. He is president of Murphy Granite Carving, Inc., which produces cemetery memorials throughout the upper Midwest of the United States. Calhoun's unique work in the memorial industry, combined with his personal life experience of growing up with a legally blind mother who battled brain cancer until her death, has made him a professional life-storyteller. Most recently, he has teamed up with co-author Duane Kuss, to write a book series titled "Dance with the Elephant". This personal discovery trilogy includes: Life's Quantum Equation, Life's Cosmic Equation and Life's Revelation Equation.

"I help people understand that they control the steering wheel of their life even when everyone else is trying to drive the car."
-Donald Calhoun

 

 

How Don and Duane Met - Circle Of Trust

(L-R) Duane Kuss, Amy Leither, Jerry Sparby, Don Calhoun

Don and Duane met in 2006 as fellow members of a local civic and commerce group.  Don became a client of Duane's and through that relationship we became good friends. 

It was in 2008 that Don got wind of a new support group concept called Circle Of Trust or COT.  Don and Duane organized their own COT group made up of a retired elementary school principal, a young mother of four kids, and themselves.  Don, Duane, and the other two COT members meet monthly to talk about their personal dreams, challenges, accomplishments, and struggles. 

It was during these monthly COT meetings that the topic of writing a book surfaced over and over again with Don.  He thought his endless stories based on his work with people who were grieving from the loss of a loved one, would provide a good framework for writing a book.  Don creates wonderful warm connections with his clients where in a matter of 10-15 minutes, they are spilling their guts and sharing their life stories with him.  Don is in the business of selling monuments and grave stones. 

Duane is a technology, internet guru.  Duane's niche has always been on the bleeding edge and providing his knowledge to his clients primarily through video and online marketing solutions.  It was during one of Duane's online research moments that he ran across an innovative approach to writing a book that could be done in as little as 30 days.

At a COT meeting during the fall of 2011, Duane approached Don with the idea that they put this book writing concept to the test.  The two agreed to meet every Thursday morning starting at 5 AM and if after four weeks, they weren't happy with their progress, they'd stop meeting.  Well the magic started happening the second time they met and you are now about to experience the fruit of their efforts.

Their book is not written as a scholarly or academic reference, however, there are numerous examples of supporting documentation throughout.  If the two authors did have roles in the book, we'd describe Don as the practitioner and Duane as the literary and concept researcher.