Michael E. Marks

In 2007, Marks teamed with award-winning country music artist Michael Martin Murphey to create the hit country single adaptation of "A Soldier's Christmas" after the poem met with longstanding ovations in Murphey's national Cowboy Christmas tour, leading to a national release. Marks' works have been professionally produced by on-air personalities such as Thom Richards, WOKO Radio and air annually on radio stations across the United States. In 2009, Chicago radio celebrity Paul Brian teamed with Joe Cantafio to produce a musical performance of "A Soldier's Christmas" to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project in their support of injured soldiers and their families. Several of these poems have been termed modern Christmas classics that have been incorporated into school plays and public presentations around the country.

Michael Edward Marks (born November 5, 1960) is an American author noted for his work in counterterrorism, special operations and counter illicit traffic, most recently including co-authorship of "Understanding Narrative: The Battle of the Narrative and the Operations Process" published by the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group in 2014, drawn from his work for US Special Operations throughout Afghanistan in 2011-2012. Prior to this effort, Mr. Marks was responsible for mapping illicit traffic patterns across the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Central Asia and the Balkans in support of US Special Operations and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).