John Schlimm (born December 1, 1971) is an American author, activist, artist, and educator. His books include Five Years in Heaven: The Unlikely Friendship That Answered Life's Greatest Questions, The Ultimate Beer Lover's Happy Hour: Over 325 Recipes for Your Favorite Bar Snacks & Beer Cocktails, The Cheesy Vegan, Stand Up!: 75 Young Activists Who Rock the World, And How You Can, Too!, Grilling Vegan Style, and The Tipsy Vegan. John's essays and other writings have been widely published, including as a regular contributor to HuffPost and as an "Architect of Change" for Maria Shriver.com. Early years John was born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, a small city in Northwestern Pennsylvania, that was once called the "Carbon Capital of the World". He still resides there. The great-great-grandson of Straub Brewery Founder Peter Straub, he grew up immersed in the beer culture and within walking distance of his family's brewery. Memoir: Five Years in Heaven In 2015, John released his first memoir, Five Years in Heaven: The Unlikely Friendship That Answered Life’s Greatest Questions. The book chronicles how at age thirty-one, lost and alone at a crucial crossroads in his life, John found Heaven on earth. On the grounds of a 150-year–old monastery, he met 87-year-old, artist and cloistered nun Sister Augustine, the wise and humble artist at the convent’s ceramic shop. Over the next five years, John visited Sister just about every week. Their hundreds of visits became a master class in the meaning of life, love, and starting over, with a lot of laughter along the way. In 2016, Five Years in Heaven was honored with a Christopher Award. Cookbooks A member of the award-winning Straub Brewery family of Pennsylvania, one of the oldest and most historic brewing families in the United States dating back to the 1870s, John called upon his family roots to write The Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook. With more than 400 food and drink recipes that all use beer as an ingredient, The Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook made history in 2008 as the largest beer cookbook ever published. In 2009, the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards named The Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook The Best Beer Book in the United States and The Best Beer Book in the World. That same year, The Beer Lover's Cookbook was released as a smaller paperback adaptation of the original, with just over 300 food and drink recipes. In August 2014, John's