About Erik Bean
Erik Bean holds a master’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, and he also holds a doctorate in education with sanctioned research interests in cultural competence, leadership and mental health. A section editor of The Journal of Leadership Studies, John Wiley & Sons, he also is founder of the Ethan Bean Mental Wellness Foundation, a Michigan 501(c)3 public charity. Because mental health issues have adversely affected his family and so many others around him, he is passionate about helping others. This lifelong effort includes the 2019 award-winning Ethan’s Healthy Mind Express: A Children’s First Mental Health Primer and the self-help series 20/20 Prudent Leadership. Read our review of his book, Bias Is All Around You: A Handbook for Inspecting Social Media & News Stories, here.
To learn more about Erik’s work, visit BiasHandbook.com and healthymindexpress.org.
BOOKS:
Ethan’s Healthy Mind Express: A Children’s First Mental Health Primer (2019)
20/20 Prudent Leadership: Your Values: Prudent Decision-Making for Work/Life Success (2020)
Bias Is All Around You: A Handbook for Inspecting Social Media & News Stories (2021)
Your biggest literary influences:
Carl Sagan and Ray Bradbury, two authors whose works primarily focused on humanity and the needs of the many, not just the few.
The book that changed your life:
I’m a huge fan of the 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian tale of a society where books are not allowed. To calm the masses drugs are freely available as well as large screen interactive televisions. In 2016, I had the luxury to visit the London area suburb where the film was shot and wrote a blog
about it. As a kid and to this very day, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web is still among the best all-time stories I have ever read.
Words to live by:
Life goes by in a blink of an eye. Make the most of your family and loved ones. Cherish every moment. Use prudence and goodwill in all communications, including those we share on social media.
Advice for aspiring authors:
The journalistic highway is enormous. There is more than enough for everyone to find their voice. But no matter how philosophical or entertaining your work is, every author is responsible to help market their work.
Articles and Reviews:
Bias Is All Around You: Reader’s Choice Five Star Review
Ethan’s Healthy Mind Express: Reader’s Choice Five Star Review
Ethan Bean’s Legacy Honored by ‘Mental Health Primer’ for Children
Testimonials
” BRAVO, BRAVO! Clearly, Erik Bean and his team, Illustrator Gail Gorske and Editor Sherry Wexler, have very carefully thought about this book's audience —everyone who wants to contribute meaningfully to responsible civil discourse where damaging language has been spiritually and emotionally draining, contributing to an alarming loss of critical thinking. Bias Is All Around You works hard to present complex information in an easily digested format. This book invites us to become re-acquainted with critical thinking in a non-threatening manner through examples that teach the reader how to vet information bombarding us daily. The inclusion of a Bias Assessment Tool can help readers curtail their personal biases as well as understand the sources of their information, practically removing opinion out of the vetting equation. Thank you for writing this timely and very necessary book — and not a moment too soon!
- Dr. Angela Celeste May, President, Michigan Psychological Association Foundation Board; President, A.M. May & Associates, Incorporated
” What Bias is All Around You really does is instill the value of integrity. Integrity is defined as doing the right thing when no one is looking. If we only listen to those who are part of our club, our political affiliation, our religion, our neighborhood, if we hastily cling to false narratives as well as share them, then all of humanity loses. Let's all take more time to vet information so we can all be more confident in how we use it. That is what Bean and his team have demonstrated in this short easy to read handbook. This is a handbook that deserves all our admiration. Three cheers to the Bean team!!!
- Senator Michael MacDonald (R) Michigan
” Digital and social media are so pervasive that it's very hard to escape their influence. Every source of information today has hidden bias that can create divisive communities across the world. By following a pragmatic framework outlined in this thought-provoking book, Researcher and Author - Erik Bean, shows you how to quickly alleviate the hidden agenda behind any piece of information and provide you with the ability to think critically. This is an essential read for anybody interested in shaping a positive future where information is helpfully used with consideration.
- Rahul Jerome, Founder, insight-intelligence.com, United Kingdom