Peter Maeck is a writer, teacher, and photographer. As a cruise ship destination speaker for Royal Caribbean, Viking, Crystal, Holland America, Celebrity, and Regent Seven Seas cruise lines, Peter explores locales such as Alaska, Mexico, India, and France. As an enrichment/special interest speaker he presents on photography, memoir writing, poetry, playwriting, and Hollywood movies. He also teaches introductory French language.

Peter's novel Zänker, a murder mystery, was published in 2023. His published poetry volumes include "Remembrance of Things Present: Making Peace with Dementia" about his father's journey through Alzheimer's disease, and "Aperture," a collection of his latest verse. He is currently collaborating as writer/photographer with a mental health counseling service in Mumbai on a book aimed at relaxing the mental health taboo in India.

Peter's plays and dance scenarios, including for Pilobolus and MOMIX Dance Theatres, have been produced in New York City, Europe, and Africa. Peter served as a U.S. State Department Cultural Specialist in Tanzania and Morocco. He has created training and motivational programs for corporations worldwide.

Peter's photographs are in private collections and international galleries. He was named one of the "Hot 100 Photographers of 2021" by the Duncan Miller Gallery in Los Angeles.

Peter has taught French language to American university students in the US and abroad. As a certified instructor in the world-renowned Rassias Method™ of language instruction, Peter offers short immersive, interactive, and incredibly effective entry-level French language workouts for cruises calling at French-speaking destinations.

Peter has a BA in English magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and an MFA in Playwriting from Brandeis University. He has been a featured speaker at multiple TEDx events and international mental health conferences.

Peter is a member of The Authors Guild, The Dramatists Guild, The American Academy of Poets, The World Dignity Project, and the World Federation for Mental Health.

Link to a podcast interview with Peter Maeck:
PETER MAECK interview Mysterious Goings On
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sPzOFhZ8rYA24brHcZgcz?si=69a7ca5c28bf40f9

Click here to visit Peter's website >> www.petermaeck.com

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DESTINATIONS

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ALASKA:
ALASKA: GOLD FEVER
Rush north to Alaska with the 100,000 prospectors stampeding toward fortune (or misfortune) between 1896 and 1899.

ALASKA: MY GRANDFATHER–THE "FATHER" OF GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK
Salute W.S. Cooper's scientific and preservationist work and behold the mountain named for him.

ALASKA: VISION QUESTS
Join heart and mind with diverse seekers of Alaskan wisdom, creative inspiration, and peace of mind.

MEXICO:
REDISCOVERING THE MAYA
Savor the grand and startling history of the Mayan civilization, then marvel at how, after disappearing after the 16th-century Spanish Conquest, it was rediscovered in the 19th century by two unlikely explorers – a self-effacing British architect and a red-bearded lawyer from New York.

CONSORTING WITH THE CONQUISTADOR
March with Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) on his scorched-earth campaign to conquer for Spain what is now Mexico. Discover how he succeeded not just with military might, but also with the invaluable assistance of a young Mayan woman, "La Malinche," who served as his concubine and his translator with the indigenous peoples of the Yucatán. Consider whether Malinche should be judged today as a feminist saint, a scheming seducer, or someone in between?

MEXICO: THE FIRST 66 MILLION YEARS
Plunge back 66 million years to the day a 6-mile wide asteroid smashed onto the Yucatán Peninsula, gouging an 18-mile deep crater, releasing more energy than a billion Hiroshima bombs, raising a dust cloud that blocked out the sun, snuffed out plant life, rendered the dinosaurs extinct, and enabled the rise of primates, culminating in the appearance of human life. How do we know all this happened? The story of the archeologists and geologists who uncovered the clues deep in the earth is as fascinating as the long-ago cataclysmic asteroid's encounter with earth.

INDIA:
MY PASSAGE TO INDIA
Be welcomed into the mind, heart, and soul of the world's largest democracy in this verbal, visual, and very personal dramatization of what makes Indians today shout, whisper, rage, whimper, laugh, and cry. Presented by the creator of the book "The Mind of Mumbai" on mental well-being in India, and featured speaker at multiple Indian mental health conferences.
"Suppose that peace of mind is Atman; Beauty then is Brahman.
Now the path to one of them's the path they have in common."

FRANCE:
FRENCH IN A FLASH: PARLEZ FRANÇAIS WITHOUT OVERTHINKING IT
Trained in the world-renowned Rassias Method™ of language instruction by Prof. John Rassias himself, Peter Maeck conducts an immersive, interactive, incredibly effective, and FUN entry-level French language group workout.

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SPECIAL INTEREST/ENRICHMENT
PHOTOGRAPHY:
PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH THE AGES
Orient yourself within the grand and fascinating history of photography from Camera Obscura to Kodachrome to Camera Phone – and beyond!

PHOTOGRAPHY–RAISING YOUR OWN GAME
Join masters of the art in skillfully and imaginatively composing, capturing, and enhancing your own photos.

MEMOIR WRITING:
MEMOIR WRITING AT SEA
You are the hero of your own life story, though not everyone knows it yet. We'll fix that In this workshop on daily and lifelong personal written expression.

HOLLYWOOD/CINEMA/MOVIES:
THE WIZARD OF OZ & THE GODFATHER–A MOVIEGOER'S STORYBOOK JOURNEY
Learn how what inspires these movies inspires you too. (Hint: "The plot's the thing.")

THE MAKING OF CASABLANCA–THE CREATION OF A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE CLASSIC
Meet Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and marvel at the genius of the Hollywood Studio system during World War II.

POETRY:
ENJOYING GREAT POEMS & WRITING YOUR OWN
Learn who said:
"When power corrupts, poetry cleanses."
"The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth."
"Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."
"Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for."
And find out what they meant.

MINDS IN RHYME–AN ARTFUL APPROACH TO PEACE OF MIND IN CHANGING TIMES
A poetic, photographically illustrated treatment of emotions high and low,
personal and communal, illuminating paths to more peaceful states of mind.

PLAYWRITING:
THE PLAYWRIGHT'S RIGHT STUFF
An interactive introduction to playwriting, referencing my own experience as a playwright and teacher of playwriting. Passengers will write their own short dramatic sketches, inspired, if they wish, by their cruise experiences.

FRENCH LANGUAGE:
FRENCH IN A FLASH: PARLEZ FRANÇAIS WITHOUT OVERTHINKING IT
Trained in the world-renowned Rassias Method™ of language instruction by Prof. John Rassias himself, Peter Maeck conducts an immersive, interactive, incredibly effective, and FUN entry-level French language group workout.

2019-2025:
Crystal
Viking
Regent Seven Seas
Royal Caribbean
Celebrity
MSC/Explora
Holland America

WEBSITES
www.petermaeck.com
www.petermaeckphotography.com

TEDx TALKS VIDEO LINKS
"Remembrance of Things Present: Making Peace with Dementia":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXBNNQqE2jw
"Cradle and All: Making Peace with Loss":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4LGhF7dJOw

SPEAKER: CONFERENCES (land)
World Federation for Mental Health World Congress 2022 (London, UK)
Legend Senior Living 2020 (Wichita, KS, USA)
International Neuropsychiatric Association Conference 2018 (Bengaluru, India)
National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society 2018 (Ranchi, India)
American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry Annual Meeting 2018 (Honolulu, HI)
6th International Child & Adult Behavioral Health Conference 2018 (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
World Federation for Mental Health World Congress 2017 (New Delhi, India)
World Psychiatric Association XVII World Congress of Psychiatry 2017 (Berlin, Germany)
Royal College Of Psychiatrists Faculty of Neuropsychiatry Annual Conference 2017 (London, UK)
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry Annual Conference 2017 (Tauranga, NZ)
6th European Conference on Mental Health 2017 (Berlin, Germany)
2nd International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia 2014 (Valencia, Spain)
Alzheimer's Association/Banner Health/Spirit of Women (Ft. Collins, CO, USA)
Alzheimer's Association/Estes Park Senior Center (Estes Park, CO, USA)
Southeastern Symposium on Mental Health (Greenville, SC, USA)
TEDx TALKS:
TEDxUnionTerrace (Aberdeen, UK)
TEDxStendenUniversity (Leeuwarden, Netherlands)
TEDxMarionCorrectional (OH, USA)
TEDxTallaght (Dublin, Ireland)
TEDxLSCTomball, (TX, USA)
TEDxPeachtree (Atlanta, GA, USA)
TEDxLizardCreeek (NC, USA)

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.