Irwin Berent ...
 A Career of Open and Honest Communication

Irwin Berent has an abiding passion for open and honest communication, around which all his professional activities have revolved throughout his multi-faceted career, from his earliest work in family history and genealogy to naval and Norfolk history to interpersonal communications, biography, story development and writer's software to lexicography, fundamentalism, legalization, political thought, and economics to his current work of consolidating his ideas on life, society and humanity into a philosophical system of wise decision making known as Heroic Wisdom.

Historian, Geographer, Biographer, Genealogist

Mr. Berent's love of history runs deep. Holding a Master of Arts degree in American History (East Carolina University, 1982), he has researched both sides of the Civil War battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack, the antagonists of the naval battle at Hampton Roads, Virginia, that ushered in ironclad naval warfare. He compiled the biographical directory of the crew of the USS Monitor (N.O.A.A., N.C. Division of Archives and History, 1985), and established a reunion of the descendants of Monitor and Merrimack crews on the 125th anniversary of the battle in 1987. (His Monitor-Merrimack Crew collection is housed at the Mariner’s Museum Archives in Newport News, Virginia.)

He is also the editor and author of Encyclopedia of Norfolk Virginia History-Geography (Norfolk History Publishers, 2026), his magnum-opus of history-geography in 16 volumes. Over two decades in the making, it covers over 400 years of the history, geography, infrastructure, military, agriculture, transportation, people, annexations, and neighborhoods of one of America's most significant cities of the Mid-Atlantic, encompassing the vast port of Hampton Roads and Norfolk.

In addition, he is the author of Norfolk, Virginia: A Jewish History of the 20th Century (JewishHistoryUSA, 2001), and his resource for the study of worldwide Jewish family histories – Jewish Genealogy: A Sourcebook of Family Histories and Genealogies (Garland, 1984, Avotaynu, 1996, co-compiled with bibliographer Dr. David Zubatsky) – is considered a classic in its field. (In 1978, he established the Jewish Genealogical Club of Tidewater, the first local American Jewish genealogy organization outside of New York City; in 1984, he was genealogy columnist for the Indiana Jewish Post & Opinion, and in 1985, his research on Jewish immigration to Baltimore, Maryland, from Eastern Europe was published in the Maryland Historical Magazine.)

And since establishing ShortBios.com with his brother, Steve Berent, in 2009, he has written hundreds of one-page biographies for executives, officers, artists, Realtors, entertainers, and other professionals and students from around the country. Based on this experience, he wrote the Heroic Life Biography Writing Program.

Author of Books on Broad Spectrum of Social and Political Issues

An internationally published author, Mr. Berent has championed a broad spectrum of issues relevant to both liberal and conservative philosophies. With philosophy professor and noted wordsmith Rod L. Evans, he has compiled popular as well as scholarly works on issues ranging from the debate over drug legalization to Biblical fundamentalism. Those works have received introductions, forewords, or endorsements from such prominent individuals as Robert Schuller, Linus Pauling, Isaac Asimov, Hugh Downs, Steve Allen, Charlton Heston, and Milton Friedman.

He is the author of books on free market economics and Libertarian thought (such as The Quotable Conservative: The Giants of Conservatism on Liberty, Freedom, Individual Responsibility, and Traditional Virtues, Adams Media Corp., 1996, Introduced by William F. Buckley, Jr.) and on Christian fundamentalism (including Fundamentalism, Open Court Publishing, 1988, Introduced by Isaac Asimov). His Drug Legalization: For and Against (Open Court, 1992, Foreword by Linus Pauling) is considered an early classic in that field.

In addition, he founded the online magazine Hampton Roads Times Internet Archive (2011-2014), which was a source for business resources as well as news and opinion for Southeastern Virginia.

Wordsmith and Author of Dictionaries and Books on Interpersonal Communications

Mr. Berent has also co-written with Professor Evans books on interpersonal communications (such as The Right Words: 350 Best Things to Say to Get Along with People, Warner Books, 1992), dictionaries published by Berkley (Weird Words, Berkley Publishing Group, 1995, and A Dictionary of Highly Unusual Words, Berkley, 1997), and books on linguistics and word play (such as Getting Your Words’ Worth, Warner Books, 1993).
In 2005, he created a blogsite advocating honest communication and presented his collection of online codes of ethics known as Your Code of Ethics. And in 2009, he founded the Plain Writing Association , which promoted transparency and clarity in government documents. Both the Plain Writing Association's research -- including his study of the first major plain writing act in government -- and Your Code of Ethics are now housed at TheHeroPlace.com.

Creator of StoryCraft Software and Hero Portals

In 1995, Mr. Berent began working with John Jarvis to adapt and incorporate mythological concepts of story telling, the Hero's Journey, into a software program for writers. Together, they developed StoryCraft, one of the first software programs for fiction writing; and in 1997, they established WritersPage.com to sell the software. In 2003, Berent established writersupercenter.com, which today is one of the longest-running purveyors of book-editing and story-writing software on the Internet.

He has also developed Hero Portals here at The Hero Place where the Hero’s Journey concept can be learned, promoted, and used not only for story development but also self-development.

Advocate for Heroic Living through Heroic Wisdom

Mr. Berent devotes himself to an honest and principled way of thinking, a system of decision making he calls Heroic Wisdom Philosophy, which emphasizes respect for humanity as its only absolute principle and taking the leap of faith — faith in humanity, faith in self, faith in Ultimate purpose and meaning, however it may be defined — in spite of the contradictions innate to every issue and challenge in life.

He lectures on his philosophy and utilizes the principles in his writings as pundit, columnist and author.  | Newsletter | Contact |

Irwin Berent is married to Sabrina Terrell Rogers Berent, née Brown.