M.E. Sharpe, Inc. is an academic publisher that was founded in 1958. Its headquarters are in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York. It is a privately held publisher of books and journals in the social sciences and humanities.

M. E. Sharpe specializes in social sciences, humanities, business management, and public administration.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of divisions and mergers, the M.E. Church became the major component of the present United Methodist Church.

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was an Anglican. Prior to the American Revolution, some people had concerns about Methodist evangelism in the colonies that took no heed of established Anglican parishes.^{[citation needed]} For example, the Rev. Devereux Jarratt (1733–1801) was and remained an Anglican clergyman who founded Methodist societies in Virginia and North Carolina. However, after the 1784 establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he expressed shock that the Methodists "had rejected their old mother." It is possible that Jarratt and others considered the Methodist movement to be some sort of 18th-Century parachurch organization. However, as more and more migrants from England who saw themselves as Methodist, not Anglican, arrived in America, the establishment of a distinctly Methodist denomination was inevitable.^{[citation needed]}

Ray Sharpe (born February 8, 1938, Fort Worth, Texas, United States) is an American R&B and rockabilly singer, guitarist, and songwriter.

He grew up influenced by country as well as blues music, and many of his recordings are classed as rockabilly – he was described by one record producer as "the greatest white-sounding black dude ever". His recording career started in Phoenix, Arizona in 1958, when Lee Hazlewood produced his single, "That's the Way I Feel" / "Oh, My Baby's Gone". His second record, "Linda Lu" / "Monkey’s Uncle" – both sides written by Sharpe, produced by Hazlewood, and featuring Duane Eddy and Al Casey on guitars – was much more successful, reaching #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. “Linda Lu” has subsequently been covered by many artists, including the Rolling Stones, Johnny Kidd And The Pirates, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Tom Jones.

Subsequent single releases on a variety of record labels were less successful. These included recordings made in 1966 with King Curtis, which featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar. However, Sharpe’s songs have been recorded by acts ranging from Roy Head and the Traits to Neil Young and J. B. Hutto, and he has continued to release records, as well as performing regularly in the Fort Worth area.