Mark Mathew Braunstein Explained

Mark Mathew Braunstein
Birth Date:August 6, 1951
Birth Place:New York City
Occupation:Writer

Mark Mathew Braunstein (born August 6, 1951)[1] is an American writer, nature photographer, art librarian, and advocate of medical marijuana legalization. His writing focuses on the topics of vegetarianism/veganism, wildlife conservation, animal rights, sprouting, and raw food. Braunstein has written six books, including his sixth, Mindful Marijuana Smoking: Health Tips for Cannabis Smokers, and his first, Radical Vegetarianism: A Dialectic of Diet and Ethic, and many magazine articles.

Life

Braunstein was born in New York City. His parents were Benjamin and Clare Braunstein. Benjamin Braunstein (died 2005) was a book critic and a literature and journalism teacher at Bayside High School, Queens, New York City.[2] Clare Braunstein (January 20, 1926 - April 5, 2011) was a homemaker and an editor of the Hadassah newsletter, and of its cookbook entitled One People, One Heart: Culinary Classics. Mark Braunstein has a brother, Jack A. Braunstein of Gibson, Pennsylvania.[2]

In 1969, Mark Braunstein graduated from Farmingdale High School (Farmingdale, New York)[3] In 1974 he received his B.A.[1] degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton. In 1978 he received a Master of Science degree at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn.

From 1978 to 1980, Braunstein was Editor at Rosenthal Arts Slides, Chicago. From 1980 to 1983 he was Assistant editor at Art Index in New York City. From 1983 to 1987 he was Head of slides and photographs at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Since 1987, he has been an art curator and art librarian at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut.

Braunstein has been a vegetarian since 1966 and a vegan since 1970.[4]

In 1981, Braunstein published his book, Radical Vegetarianism: A Dialectic of Diet and Ethic.

An "About the Author" blurb in 1990 said this:

Mark M. Braunstein is the author of Radical Vegetarianism: A Dialectic of Diet & Ethic. In addition to editing reference books on art history, he writes about animal rights and wildlife for journals such as Animals' Agenda, Between the Species, Vegetarian Times, Backpacker and East West. He lives in a wildlife refuge in Quaker Hill, CT, where his favourite hobby is sabotaging hunting. He served as the guest editor for this issue of the Trumpeter.[5]

On August 6, 1990 (his 39th birthday), Braunstein became a paraplegic due to a spinal cord injury from a diving accident. Since then, he smokes marijuana to control the pain and spasms in his feet[6] and has been an advocate of medical marijuana legalization. He testified before committees of the Connecticut legislature seven times over 14 years, urging passage of bills to legalize medical marijuana.[7]

Braunstein, after discovering that some prostitutes were meeting with clients on his private road, began documenting their lives.[8] From his photographs of them and their life stories collected over a ten-year period, he created a literary and photography project entitled "Good Girls on Bad Drugs",[9] which explores the lives of streetwalkers in the New London, Connecticut, area.[10] In October 2017, Braunstein published a book entitled Good Girls on Bad Drugs: Addiction Nonfiction of the Unhappy Hookers.

His sixth and most recent book, Mindful Marijuana Smoking: Health Tips for Cannabis Smokers, was published in 2022.

Braunstein is single and lives in Quaker Hill, Connecticut.

Books

Articles

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Peacock, Scot . Contemporary Authors . 2002 . . 110 . 9780787646141 . BRAUNSTEIN, Mark M(athew) 1951- PERSONAL: Born August 6, 1951, in New York, NY; son of Benjamin L. (a teacher) and Clare Braunstein. Ethnicity: 'Eurocentric.' Education: State University of New York at Binghamton, B.A., 1974; Pratt Institute, M.S., 1978; also attended Carnegie-Mellon University. Politics: "Indifferent." Religion: "Judeo-Buddhist." Avocational interests: Painting, photography, calligraphy, studying religion and philosophy..
  2. News: Clare Braunstein . obituary . . 2011-04-07 . 2016-04-28 . She served for many years as an award-winning editor of the Hadassah newsletter, and of its cookbook titled One People, One Heart: Culinary Classics..
  3. Web site: Farmingdale High School: Class of 1969 . Old Friends . 2016-04-28.
  4. Web site: Braunstein . Mark Mathew . Biography . Microgreen Garden . 2016-04-28 . Mark Mathew Braunstein has been a vegetarian since 1966, a vegan since 1970, and a high raw vegan since 1977..
  5. Braunstein . Mark Mathew . The Beast in the Belly: How Human Food Choices Affect Wild Animals . . 1990 . 7 . 4 . 0832-6193 . 2016-04-28.
  6. News: Stowe . Stacey . Marijuana Law in Connecticut Gains Ground . 2007-06-11 . . 2016-04-28 . Mr. Braunstein, 55, walks with the aid of crutches and leg braces. He smokes marijuana every three days or so to control the pain and spasms in his feet that would otherwise immobilize him..
  7. Web site: Braunstein . Mark Mathew . Medical marijuana testimony in support of Connecticut's S.B. 1015 in 2011 . . 2013-05-11 . 2016-04-28 .
  8. News: Smith . Greg . Heather Brown's crimes often fueled by crack habit . 2009-09-29 . . 2016-04-28 . Braunstein, an art librarian at Connecticut College, began documenting the lives of prostitutes after he discovered some of them were meeting with johns on his private road..
  9. Web site: Braunstein . Mark Mathew . Good Girls on Bad Drugs . 2009 . Social Documentary Network . Portraits of crack- and heroin-addicted prostitutes . 2016-04-28 . Once you hear their tragic life stories, you can no longer regard them as criminals or monsters or demons..
  10. News: Lang . Joel . The Phi Beta Kappa Prostitute . 2000-03-12 . . 2016-04-28 . If Braunstein had ulterior motives in pursuing streetwalkers for their stories, they weren't overtly sexual. Braunstein is frank about having lost sexual function and believes that is one reason streetwalkers are willing to talk to him. 'I use my paraplegia as my sword and shield,' Braunstein said. 'My sword is my crutches; my shield is my wheelchair.'.

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