Lori & Wayne Earl

Together, Wayne & Lori Earl contributed to and curated the New York Times Best Selling This Star Won’t Go Out, a memoir of their daughter, Esther Grace Earl.  One of five children, Esther was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 12-years old. Before losing her battle with cancer in 2010, Esther’s friendship with John Green became the inspiration for the book and movie, The Fault in Our Stars.

Inspired by their daughter’s energy and natural empathy, Esther’s parents set up the non-profit foundation This Star Won’t Go Out (TSWGO). The foundation works to serve families with children diagnosed with life-threatening cancer.  To date, TSWGO has given away $200,000 in financial grants.

Lori works as an Instructor and Student Success Coach at Quincy College, in addition to her role as the Director of This Star Won’t Go Out. A certified secondary English teacher, with degrees in Psychology and Intercultural Studies, Lori is passionate about encouraging others to move towards wholeness, live life fully, and make a difference in their world.

In addition to helping to curate his late daughter’s memoirs, Wayne has taught philosophy courses for many years at Quincy College, a community college located just outside Boston. Before that, he taught English overseas in Belgium and Saudi Arabia, served several churches as a protestant minister in Massachusetts and France and worked as an ecumenical chaplain for Volunteers of America, a social services organization which focuses its work serving the neediest of the needy. In college and seminary Wayne studied psychology and theology and he recently completed doctoral studies in Spirituality and Story at Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC.  His doctoral project focused on young adult grief and resilience and is entitled: Giving Sorrow Words: Helping Young Adult Grief Find Its Voice. Wayne continues to be passionate about writing and is currently completing both a spiritual memoir and collection of essays about spirituality, loss and hope. He enjoys traveling, languages, reading history, poetry and non-fiction, taking long walks with friends and working with his hands.

Lori and Wayne have two grown daughters and presently live in Massachusetts with their two sons. In 2014, they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.

The Earls speak to families across the country about caring for a teenager with cancer and how their experience relates to The Fault in Our Stars, all while spreading Esther’s message of love and life.