KHAN, Sharif N. 1970-

PERSONAL: Born September 29, 1970, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; son of Nasim (a psychologist) and Shama (an entrepreneur; maiden name, Afroz) Khan. Ethnicity: "South Asian." Education: York University, B.A., 1993. Politics: "World Citizen." Hobbies and other interests: Reading, movies (drama, comedy, romance, action/adventure), arts, theater, dancing, painting, drawing, speaking and acting.

ADDRESSES: Home and offıce—Diamond Mind Enterprises, 35 Douville Ct., Toronto, Ontario M5A 4E7, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: BestSellers, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, general manager and bookseller, 1994-99; Quartet Service Corp., Toronto, account executive, 2000-01; NetRenovations.com, Toronto, sales executive, 2002—. HeroSoul.com, writer, speaker, lecturer, and coach, 2001—; also affiliated with Diamond Mind Enterprises (publisher). MetroActive Social Networking, volunteer, 2002—; Board of Trade Young Professionals, member, 2001—.

MEMBER: Booksellers Publishers Professional Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Leadership in Action Award, Board of Trade Young Professionals, 2001; Bickle Award, best impromptu speech, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Psychology of the Hero Soul, Diamond Mind Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: You're the One (working title), a novel of a man's descent into darkness and his return as one transformed and renewed, completion expected in 2006; continuing research on the development of human potential, and on great leaders and successful people, spirituality, and revolutionary psychology.

SIDELIGHTS: Sharif N. Khan told CA: "The book Psychology of the Hero Soul started off as a mini-research project to help me create a heroic protagonist in my work of fiction who would be unforgettable—a colossal figure that was as universal as the sun. I wanted to deliver to my audience a little moment of truth, through my fictional character, that would be memorable. But in my obsession to capture the truth, I could not stop, even though I would have been relieved to do so. I was possessed by a vision that would not leave me and haunted by a force I could not, for the life of me, control.

"There is a flashback scene in the second part of The Godfather in which Michael Corleone, who ironically ends up taking his father's place as the Don, looks back on his life: returning home fresh out of college, he tells his shocked family that he has enlisted in the army, not wanting any part of the Mafia underworld, only to become what was destined in his blood. In the same way, I looked back after having finished my book, wanting originally only to have written a couple days' worth of private notes, and ending up taking over a year to compile and synthesize years of research from several sources, and then to extract only the essence of what makes a hero and present it to a very public audience. Unlike the Don, however, I looked back with a sense of delight and pure joy at the work that had unfolded.

"My original motivation had been to create a hero who had the capacity to overcome limiting beliefs and undergo a powerful transforming and renewing experience. This is because I wanted to learn how to break free from my own bonds: the chains of racism and prejudice.

"The events of our childhood forcefully shape our lives whether we are conscious of it or not. The victimization of racism that I faced when I was young led me on a lifetime quest to understand how one overcomes adversity, how one maintains a positive concept of self, and how world leaders triumph over the bonds of ignorance to achieve liberation of mind.

"I combined this knowledge with my extensive studies of the inner makings of heroes around the world for the development of the main character in my story. By going deeper and deeper into my topic, it suddenly dawned on me that I was still trapped in my ego. Ego is about me! me! me! The soul is about 'we.' It wasn't about me. It was about the entire human race. Instead of selfishly hoarding knowledge, why not share it with the rest of the world? The knowledge that I acquired over the years helped me enormously in all areas of my life. Being my own worst critic, I believed that, if it helped me, sharing this knowledge would also help others. From then on, my work became a public endeavor. "The drama of life and human suffering and longing for meaning influences my work. I admire Hemingway, Tolstoy, Herman Hesse, Emerson, Thoreau, and E. L. Doctorow."