Bruning, Nancy 1948-

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BRUNING, Nancy 1948-

(Nancy Pauline Bruning)

PERSONAL: Born November 7, 1948, in New York, NY; daughter of Nicholas Cornelius and Anne Marie (Liebenberg) Bruning; married Michael Ross (a writer and musician), December 12, 1981. Education: Pratt Institute, B.A., 1969.

ADDRESSES: Home—980 Bush, Apt. 503, San Francisco, CA 94109. Agent—Susan Ann Protter, 110 W. 40th St., New York, NY 10018.

CAREER: McCall's Needlework and Crafts, New York, NY, writer and crafts designer, 1971–73; Tree Communications, Inc., New York, NY, editor and project director, 1974–77; freelance writer, 1977–; Krames Communications, Inc., San Francisco, CA, conceptual editor/writer, 1986–89.

MEMBER: Authors Guild, Authors League of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area was named Best Educational Effort for 1996 by the California chapter of the American Planning Association, and received the Environmental Achievement Award from the Renew America Program.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Robert Levine) The Cold Weather Catalog: Learning to Love Winter, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1977.

(Editor) Sylvia Rosenthal, Cosmetic Surgery: A Consumer's Guide, Lippincott (Philadelphia, PA), 1977.

(Contributor) Maggie Oster, editor, The Green Pages, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1977.

Lady's Luck Companion (on gambling), Harper (New York, NY), 1979.

The Beach Book, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1981.

(With Shari Lieberman) The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book, Avery (Garden City, NY), 1990, 3rd edition, 2003.

(With Jane Katz) Swimming for Total Fitness: A Progressive Aerobic Program, Dolphin Books (Garden City, NY), 1981, revised edition, 1993.

What You Can Do about Bladder Control, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

A Consumer Guide to Contact Lenses, Dial (New York, NY), 1982.

Coping with Chemotherapy, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1985, 3rd revised edition, Avery/Putnam-Penguin (New York, NY), 2002.

What You Can Do about Chronic Hair Loss, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Elliott Seligman) Consultation with Your Psychotherapist, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1986.

(With Shari Lieberman) Design Your Own Vitamin and Mineral Program: Introducing the Revolutionary ODA Factor, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1987, revised edition, Avery Publishing (Garden City, NY), 1990.

Cities against Nature, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1991.

Breast Implants: Everything You Need to Know, Hunter House (Claremont, CA), 1992, 3rd revised edition, 2002.

(Editor) East Quilts West, Quilt Digest Press (San Francisco, CA), 1992.

(Editor) Jinny Beyer's Color Confidence for Quilters, Quilt Digest Press (San Francisco, CA), 1992.

The Natural Health Guide to Antioxidants: Using Vitamins and Other Supplements to Fight Disease, Boost Immunity, and Maintain Optimal Health, Bantam (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Corey Weinstein) Healing Homeopathic Remedies, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area, Urban Ecology, 1996.

(With Helen Thomas) Ayurveda: The A-Z Guide to Healing Techniques from Ancient India, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Paula Maas and Susan E. Brown) The MEND Clinic Guide to Natural Medicine for Menopause and Beyond, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

Natural Medicine for Colds and Flu, foreword by Timothy Kuss, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Paul Frankel) Methylation Miracle, preface by Craig Cooney, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Helen Thomas) Effortless Beauty: Ten Steps to Inner and Outer Radiance the Ayurvedic Way, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Steven J. Bock and Kenneth Bock) Natural Relief for Your Child's Asthma: A Guide to Controlling Symptoms and Reducing Your Child's Dependence on Drugs, HarperPerennial (New York, NY), 1999.

Rhythms and Cycles: Sacred Patterns in Everyday Life, Crossroad (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Elisa Lottor) Female and Forgetful: A Six-Step Program to Help Restore Your Memory and Sharpen Your Mind, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Shari Lieberman) Dare to Lose: Four Simple Steps to Achieve a Better Body, Avery (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to Family Creative Workshop. Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including Travel and Leisure, McCall's, Social Issues and Health Review, Buzzworm, Longevity, Garbage, and Natural Health.

SIDELIGHTS: Nancy Bruning has written numerous books about health and wellness. In her works, she attempts to make technical information accessible to the average health consumer. A particular interest of hers is something she calls "integrative medicine," which takes in the viewpoint that medical treatment need not be rigidly classified as either "conventional" or "alternative." Cancer, for example, can be treated with radiation, herbal supplements, and mind-body techniques all at once, with whatever combination provides the greatest relief to the patient. "Integrative medicine also recognizes and promotes importance of wellness and illness prevention in the first place," noted Bruning on her Web site. Her titles include down-to-earth topics such as Coping with Chemotherapy, What You Can Do about Chronic Hair Loss, What You Can Do about Bladder Control, and Breast Implants: Everything You Need to Know. As a survivor of breast cancer and its treatment, Bruning brings her own experience to some of these medical issues. Reviewing Coping with Chemotherapy in Whole Earth Review, Nancy A. Pietrafesa praised the book as "a staunch resource for someone considering or undergoing chemotherapy. It is a personable and exhaustive compendium that will enable the reader to assess therapeutic alternatives and understand related physical and emotional effects." Pietrafesa noted that while some of the technical information was out-of-date, "the book shines with advice on how to get through this experience with dignity and self-respect." In addition to writing about health and medicine specifically, Bruning has approached the larger idea of wellness through spirituality and social planning, in books such as Urban Design and Rhythms and Cycles. The latter was described by June Sawyers in Booklist as a "short, well-written examination of the significance of rituals in the major religions," which provides "a spiritual tour of the human condition."

Bruning once told CA: "I write and edit illustrated books and booklets as an extension of my degree in visual communication. No matter what the subject matter, one of my goals is to combine word and pictures in order to communicate most effectively. I always try to inform entertainingly and entertain informatively. The age of video-computer communications will no doubt change the face of publishing. I find this exciting, not frightening. Besides, nothing can ever take the place of curling up under a shady tree with a good book that has real pages to turn."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1992, Karen Graves, review of Breast Implants: Everything You Need to Know, p. 224, June Sawyers, review of Rhythms and Cycles: Sacred Patterns in Everyday Life, p. 280.

Library Journal, March 15, 1981, Janice Dunham, review of Swimming for Total Fitness: A Progressive Aerobic Program, p. 676; April 15, 1985, Deborah A. Thompson, review of Coping with Chemotherapy, p. 79; September 15, 1992, Susan B. Hagloch, review of Breast Implants, p. 84; April 1, 1993, Sandra Math, review of Swimming for Total Fitness, revised edition, p. 108.

Natural Health, April, 2002, Karen English, review of Female and Forgetful: A Six-Step Program to Help Restore Your Memory and Sharpen Your Mind, p. 88, Francesca Forrest, review of Dare to Lose: Four Simple Steps to Achieve a Better Body, p. 89.

Publishers Weekly, January 23, 1981, Sally A. Lodge, review of Swimming for Total Fitness, p. 122; June 29, 1981, review of The Beach Book, p. 8; January 23, 1987, Penny Kaganoff, review of Design Your Own Vitamin and Mineral Program: Introducing the Revolutionary ODA Factor, p. 59; December 24, 2001, Dare to Lose: Four Simple Steps to Achieve a Better Body, p. 60.

Whole Earth Review, summer, 1991, Nancy A. Pietrafesa, review of Coping with Chemotherapy, p. 128.