Ron L. Deal is a marriage and family author, speaker, and therapist (www.rondeal.org). He is founder of Smart Stepfamilies(tm)(www.smartstepfamilies.com), Director of FamilyLife Blended(tm) (a division of FamilyLife®) (www.familylifeblended.

com), and is the author/coauthor of numerous books including The Smart Stepfamily Marriage, The Smart Stepmom, The Smart Stepdad, Dating and the Single Parent, and the bestselling The Smart Stepfamily. In addition, he is the Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series and has published over a dozen videos and study resources, and hundreds of magazine and online articles. His work has been quoted/referenced by many news outlets such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Ron's books, conference events, social media presence, online resources, and one-minute radio feature FamilyLife Blended (heard daily on hundreds of stations nationwide and online) make him the leading voice on blended families in the U.S. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist who frequently appears in the national media, including FamilyLife Today and Focus on the Family, and he conducts marriage and family seminars around the country and internationally. He and his wife, Nan, have three boys.