Dirck Jansen van Zutphen was born at Tongerle, Netherlands, in 1645. He immigrated to New Netherlands, ca. 1676 and settled at New Utrecht, Long Island. He married Elisabeth (Lybeth) Van Nuys, daughter of Aucke Jansen Van Nuys, in 1680. They had eleven children, 1681-1699. Descendants listed lived in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

"This Long Winter contains poems that are meditations on life in the rural world: reflections on hard work, aging, and the ravages of time-erasures that Sutphen attempts to ameliorate with her careful attention to language. These poems move us from delight in precise description to wisdom and solace in the things of this world. Noticing its details, the snowflakes, clementines, the lilies, the cardinal's call, is the key for this momentary stay against time that comes at us in a rush. The many mirror images in these poems point to the complexity and hard, loving work of really living in the world. And now, in the deep mid-winter, deep in the enforced slowdown of this pandemic, we need these poems to help us know what to do with the past and how to live and how to love"--

Teunis Jansen Lanen Van Pelt was baptized 5 May 1622 in Overpelt, Limburg, Belgium. His parents were Jan Lanen and Catharina Bakelmans. He married four times and had six known children. He emigrated with his third wife and six children in 1663. They settled in Brooklyn, New York. Ancestors, descendants and relatives lived mainly in Belgium, New York, New Jersey, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Dick Sutphen had two very distinct careers in his lifetime. He studied art and became an Art Director and eventually opened his own studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. His second career was in Self-Help and Metaphysics. When he developed an interest in a subject, he would spend hours researching and developing his thoughts. He was introduced to hypnosis and past-life regression from an artist he employed who convinced him to go to have a past-life regression. That first regression took him to a time in ancient Mexico and the experience was so profound, his interest in his Art Studio began to take a back seat to metaphysics. He decided to turn part of his studio into a seminar room and began the Hypnosis Center so he could experiment with different ways to conduct hypnosis and past-life regressions. His Wednesday night sessions were very popular. Many of his students requested private sessions, which gave him an opportunity to do in-depth research and write about his discoveries. He developed his own style of hypnosis session, which he termed, Spirit Contact Therapy. Dick Sutphen was an amazing artist, Hypnotherapist, lecturer and writer. He left behind hundreds of columns and articles he wrote over the years. Wanting to carry out his wishes, his wife, Roberta organized his most important articles into the years in which he wrote them. This is the first time they have been published in a book. Dick was a Master who came here to enlighten and challenge us to become our authentic selves. You will find some wondrous ideas within these pages and be amazed how his wisdom still holds today as it did when he wrote these over the past five decades.