About the Author

 The Book | About the Author

Diane Pendola, author of The Lioness Tale, is also the creator of the Lioness Tale Prison Project. Her involvement with the incarcerated goes back to 1986 when she completed her Masters degree in theology. Since that time she has been active in county jails and prisons, practicing deep listening and contemplative presence among the imprisoned. Her master’s thesis, “From Brokenness to Reconciliation: A Feminist Liberation Response to Women in Jail and Prison,” was deeply influenced by feminist and liberation theologies, with their emphasis on giving voice to the voiceless and bringing the disenfranchised in from the margins to the very center of authentic life.

Her book, The Lioness Tale, is an allegorical telling of the heart-breaking stories of imprisoned women and a vehicle for giving them voice. She has successfully piloted the Lioness Tale Prison Project at the Central California Women’s Facility, one of the largest women’s prisons in the world, with the intention of growing it both nationally and internationally. 

Diane brings a range of experience to this work. She is an expert in the field of the Enneagram with years of expertise working with incarcerated women. She is a practitioner of Gestalt Awareness Practice and a long time student of Christine Stewart Price, a master teacher and primary innovator of this form of awareness practice and compassionate presence. She also had the great good fortune of being the student of the pre-eminent inter-cultural philosopher, Raimon Panikkar. Through Panikkar, she became grounded in a deep respect for dialogue as an open and engaged listening to the perceived “other” as a path to genuine growth and spiritual maturity. 

Diane is the Director and Co-founder of Skyline Harvest, a non-profit Center in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills.

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