Staff
A Message from Armin Lear
Our Amazing Team
Armin Lear
Meet Our Team
Staff
Maryann Karinch
Publisher
Maryann began her career in book publishing in 1994 as an author and has 37 commercially published works to her credit. She founded The Rudy Agency, a full-service literary agency in 2004, and Armin Lear Press in 2020. She is committed to partnering with authors throughout the entire publishing and marketing process. Maryann earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from The Catholic University of America and has been a successful competitive athlete in several sports, including gymnastics, bodybuilding, and adventure racing. She is a member of The Explorers Club and The Authors Guild.
Judith A. Bailey
Executive Editor
Judith began her publishing career in the early 1990s managing the production of data-focused books for internal use by the leading high-technology companies in the world. She moved into trade publishing in 2010 and currently is the Armin Lear lead for acquisitions and author relations, including royalties and permissions.
Vincent dePaul Lupiano
Senior Editor
Vincent dePaul Lupiano is Armin Lear’s story development expert and lead editor on anything related to World War II and other key events in military history. He is the author of four novels and four acclaimed works of non-fiction, including his latest, Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane, which Publishers Weekly described as follows: Even though the horrors of WWII have been documented extensively, Lupiano’s account of this infamous killing is shocking, harrowing, and impactful. He adeptly chronicles the men and motives behind the heinous act, bringing insight and clarity to the debate over what happened on this tragic day. Vince spent years as program director, writer, and host of his radio program at WFAS in White Plains. In New York City, he worked at WOR-TV and WOR-AM as a promotional writer and producer. At the American Broadcasting Company's WABC and WPLJ, he was a writer, producer, and editorial director. He also worked at IBM for ten years as a speechwriter to senior execs, editor of a management publication, producer, and director of corporate films.
Jacalyn S. Burke
Customized Promotion Programs for Authors
Jacalyn brings 30-years of experience in organic marketing to Armin Lear. A successful writer and artist, Jacalyn splits her time between New York City and Bordeaux working with clients from all genres. Her specialties are brand awareness, building grassroots communities of readers, dynamic platforms, and digital marketing using AI. Jacalyn is a graduate of Middlesex University, The Morris School of Journalism and the School of Visual Arts.
Meet Our Team
Advisors
Jim McCormick
Advisor
Jim McCormick is founder of The Research Institute for Risk Intelligence and author of the bestselling book First-Time Manager (HarperCollins Leadership). He holds 18 skydiving world records and was a member of an international expedition that skydived to the North Pole. Jim is an expert in organizational risk and a risk practitioner. His current book with Armin Lear is The Power of Risk; he is also the author of Business Lessons from the Edge (McGraw-Hill). Jim has been a full-time advisor to organizations and an executive coach since 1996. He previously held various executive level positions in the real estate, construction, and architecture industries, is a former corporate Chief Operating Officer and served in Washington, D.C. in a Presidential administration. He earned a degree in engineering from the University of Southern California and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.
David Hemphill
Corporate Treasurer/Advisor
David is a specialist in tax preparation and is a devoted patron of the arts, literacy programs, and animal welfare in his community and beyond. He is a director of the Estes Valley Library, Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation, Inc., and Estes Park Memorial Observatory, among other charitable organizations, which earned him the distinction of being a National Philanthropy Day winner.
Neil Giarratana
Advisor
NEIL is the author of CEO Priorities, an influential contribution to the art of successfully managing and leading international-based operating companies. CEO Priorities continues to be sold twelve years after its publication around the world. Neil is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in International Relations. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Fluent in German and French, he spent the major part of his business career in Europe managing both American subsidiaries as well as stand-alone European companies.
Meet Our Team
Audiobooks
Chuck Bowler
Audiobook Narration and Chief Audio Engineer
Chuck is the technical lead on Armin Lear’s audiobook efforts as well as a primary narrator. He has a bachelor’s degree in communication studies, a master’s degree in business administration, and a master’s in teaching. Chuck’s debut audiobook was Armin Lear’s The Power of Risk: How Intelligent Choices Will Make You More Successful, a Step-by-Step Guide by Jim McCormick.
Mary Ann Nichols
Audiobook
Narration
Mary Ann voiced hundreds of local and national sponsorship messages weekly, aired on WBUR-Boston and other public radio stations around the country. She was trained in music and dramatic arts and recorded numerous books for the blind and disabled, available through the Library of Congress. And for more than twenty years, Mary Ann loved being the pre-concert speaker for the Boston Classical Orchestra at Faneuil Hall, enlightening audiences about the composers and their music in a light-hearted way. She is also co-founder of a national online theatre group, PlayZoomers, Inc.
Jerzy Jung
Audiobook Narration
Jerzy is a singer, songwriter, actor and podcaster who loves a good story. She's been reading aloud with enthusiasm since age 3, when she and her mother would make cassette tape recordings of her reading Peter Rabbit to mail to her grandparents. In addition to audiobook recording, Jerzy also enjoys getting behind the microphone to record her original music, and to perform live for the occasional Fleetwood Mac tribute night.
