David Zindell (born November 28, 1952) is an American author known for science fiction and fantasy epics. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, and resides today in Boulder, Colorado; he received a BA degree in mathematics and minored in anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His first published story was "The Dreamer's Sleep" in Fantasy Book in 1984; his novelette Shanidar, which formed the core of his first novel Neverness, won the Writers of the Future Contest in 1985. David Zindell's writing style is at once romantic, heroic, deeply poetic and concerns itself with deep philosophical issues in the human psyche. He was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1986. John Clute writes that the author of Neverness is "romantic, ambitious, and skilled.", and Gene Wolfe, who is connected with Zindell in a way Wolfe himself was with Jack Vance, described Zindell as "...one of the finest talents to appear since Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson - perhaps the finest.".

David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".

David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.

Eric Richard Cooper (born December 18, 1966 in Des Moines, Iowa), is an umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked both leagues since 1999.

Cooper has consistently worn number 56 as an umpire. He worked the Division Series (2003, 2005–06, 2008, 2011), the 2004 NLCS and the 2005 All-Star Game. Cooper also worked the San Juan, Puerto Rico round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was a part of the ALDS crew for White Sox-Rays in 2008. Cooper was the home plate umpire for Hideo Nomo's no-hitter in 2001, and for Mark Buehrle's no-hitter in 2007. He was also was behind the plate for Buehrle's subsequent perfect game thrown in 2009. In so doing, Cooper joined Ed Vargo as umpires who had called balls and strikes for two no-hitters by the same pitcher. Vargo had been home plate umpire for the last two of Sandy Koufax's four no-hitters—the latter of which was also a perfect game. Eric is one of only two active Major League umpires who have worked multiple no-hitters, the other being Tim Tschida.

Michael O'Toole is an Irish guitarist.

He studied for many years with John Feeley in the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and also spent two years studying with the renowned Cuban virtuoso Ricardo Iznaola in Denver, Colorado. He has since established himself as one of Ireland's leading guitarists, giving many memorable recitals and becoming Artistic Director of both The Waltons International Guitar Festival and the "Chord" Ennis International Music Festival. O'Toole is also on the board of directors of the prestigious Kilkenny Arts Festival.

O'Toole has performed extensively throughout Ireland, America and the United Kingdom, and has performed live several times on national radio and television, including a live broadcast of Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez on RTÉ lyric fm with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. His commitment to contemporary music and to the expansion of the guitar repertoire has led him to work with prominent Irish composers such as Eric Sweeney, Jerome de Bromhead, David Fennessy and Ian Wilson. He has also performed in ensemble with such groups as the Opera Theatre Company, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Dublin Guitar Quartet and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. O'Toole is also on the faculty of The Royal Irish Academy of Music, the Music Department at Waterford Institute of Technology, and also the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama.