About US

ON THE ISSUES MAGAZINE ONLINE is a successor to the print publication, On The Issues Magazine, a progressive, feminist quarterly print publication from 1983 to 1999, both published by Choices Women’s Medical Center, Merle Hoffman, President and CEO, located in Long Island City, New York. For inquiries about On The Issues Magazine, contact managingeditor@ontheissuesmagazine.com

Merle Hoffman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, is a writer, activist and health care provider. She is the Founder, President and CEO of CHOICES Women’s Medical Center, one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive women's medical facilities. Established in 1971 with a vision of patient empowerment through knowledge and education -- “Patient Power" -- Choices serves more than 50,000 patients a year. She also established Choices Mental Health Center which specialized in the treatment of rape incest and domestic violence. In an historic joint venture with the Yelstin Government she worked on developing the first feminist outpatient medical center in Russia as well as organizing Russian Feminists to deliver an open letter to Boris Yeltsin on the state of women's health care. As an activist and organizer, Hoffman was co-founder of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), founder of the New York Pro-Choice Coalition, and organized the first pro-choice civil disobedience action at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.She is a frequent media guest and speaker, including at the 1995 International Women’s Conference in Beijing. She co-produced the documentary film, “Abortion: A Different Light,” and produced and hosted a thirty minute cable TV show entitled "MH: On The Issues." In 2002, she was appointed to the National Advisory Board of American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Hoffman has been honored for her work by the Department of Corrections of New York City, National Organization for Women (NOW), Women's Health Care Services, Ecovisions, Community Action Network, the National Victim's Center, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Veteran Feminists of America, former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, and others. Hoffman writes frequently on topics related to women, politics and medical care, including for the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Journal of American Women's Associations, in addition to her groundbreaking interviews and editorials in On The Issues Magazine.
To contact: merle@ontheissuesmagazine.com

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Cindy Cooper, Managing Editor, is an award-winning playwright, journalist and author. She writes frequently about women, justice and reproductive rights. Her articles have appeared in The Nation, Feminist Studies, In These Times, FAIR Extra!, Poz, Canadian Woman Studies, Women’s eNews, the National Law Journal, Ms. and elsewhere. Cooper’s plays have been produced off-Broadway and at dozens of theaters throughout the nation. A former practicing lawyer, she is the author of six books, most recently co-authoring with Elizabeth Holtzman, The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens (The Nation Books).
To contact: managingeditor@ontheissuesmagazine.com

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Clare Coss, Poetry Editor, is a writer, psychotherapist and activist has served as the Poetry Editor of AFFILIA, a feminist journal of women and social work. Her plays include: Emmett, Down in My Heart; Love and Defiance: Ten Scenes from the Twentieth Century; The Star Strangled Banner. She co-authored the feminist trilogy The Daughters Cycle: Daughters, Sister/Sister, Electra Speaks. Coss presents dramatic readings of her two one-characters plays: Lillian Wald: At Home on Henry Street (New Federal Theatre production in Theatre on Film and Video Collection, NYPL Lincoln Center) and Dangerous Territory, about Mary White Ovington, a white co-founder of the NAACP. She edited The Arc of Love, an Anthology of Lesbian Love Poems (Scribner), a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her Lillian Wald: Progressive Activist (Feminist Press) features a biographical essay, the Wald play, and a selection of Wald's speeches and correspondence. She is a member of PEN, Dramatists Guild, The League of Professional Theatre Women.
To contact: poetryeditor@ontheissuesmagazine.com

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Mary Lou Greenberg, Associate Editor, has been an activist since the early days of the 1960s women’s liberation movement and has defended abortion clinics across the country from anti-women fanatics. She was awarded the Susan B. Anthony Award for Grassroots Activism by NYC National Organization for Women. She has written for a number of publications, including the print edition of On The Issues Magazine where she reported from the front lines of attacks on abortion providers and served as managing editor for the print edition.
To contact: marylou@ontheissuesmagazine.com

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Mark D. Phillips, Technology and Creative Design Director, worked for over twenty years as a photojournalist, including for three newspapers and two major news services. In 1989, he won First Place awards for his Sports photography in the Pictures of the Year competition and First Place from the Baseball Hall of Fame while working for Agence France-Presse. In 1994, he and five photographers formed a company to combine traditional media and new technology. Later that year, he experimented with photo transmission while in South Africa covering Nelson Mandela’s election as the first black president. In 2001, as a witness to the World Trade Center attacks, he captured on camera an eerie image that came to be known as “Satan in the Smoke” and received enormous worldwide attention across the Internet. A Brooklyn resident, Phillips also operates SouthBrooklyn.net.
To contact: mark@ontheissuesmagazine.com

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Linda Stein, Art Editor, is a sculptor, public artist, lecturer and activist, living and working in Manhattan and East Hampton. Her series, Knights of Protection, has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout this country and abroad. Her next Manhattan exhibition will be at the Flomenhaft Gallery in Fall 2008. In Spring 2009, Stein will be the keynote speaker at the 120th Anniversary Gala for the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) at the National Arts Club in Manhattan. This will be in conjunction with her solo exhibition at the NAWA gallery on Fifth Avenue. Stein’s work can be viewed on www.LindaStein.com and her most recent catalog obtained through www.amazon.com
To contact: LindaStein@ontheissuesmagazine.com