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Pride and Persistence: Stories of Queer Activism (Do You Know My Name? #4)
By Mary Fairhurst Breen. 2023
The activists between these pages have stood up for the queer community, whether on their own behalf or in support…
of people they love. Some made a difference by confronting injustice; others dared to be fully themselves.See It, Dream It, Do It: How 25 people just like you found their dream jobs
By Colleen Nelson, Kathie MacIsaac. 2023
From award-winning author Colleen Nelson, and literacy advocate Kathie MacIsaac, twenty-five profiles present a plethora of jobs, and people, making…
it easier than ever for young people to see their dreams and to live their dreams!Beryl: The Making of a Disability Activist
By Dustin Galer. 2023
The story of a mid-century working-class housewife whose extraordinary physical transformation empowered her to become a dynamic social activist who…
fueled a movement to create a more inclusive future for people with disabilities.The Moon's Our Nearest Neighbour
By Ghillie Basan. 2001
Chasing dreams of their own photographic business, Ghillie Basan and her husband Jonathan swap the comfort of their Edinburgh home…
for Corrunich - a remote cottage at the foot of the Cairngorms. With jumping cows for company, the Basans begin their new life with no electricity and heavy snowstorms. Generators break down and roads quickly become blocked, but the couple have a series of adventures with a fascinating mix of local farmers, terrified tourists, an African president, and their two babies, Yasmin and Zeki. The Moon's our Nearest Neighbour is a heart-warming, amusing account of a life lived in the picturesque beauty of highland Scotland; of the ferocious weather and the spectacularly starry skies; and, most of all, of the tremendous strength of spirit in coming to terms with the hardships and isolation of a new lifestyle.Today in History: Disney
By Eve Zibart. 2006
This irresistible read is packed with fun facts and tasty tidbits about Disney, from stories about the entertainment empire's founding…
family to the inspiration for many of the popular theme park attractions. Memorable dates include: May 11, 1904 - The great surrealist painter Salvador Dali was born in Igueras, Catalonia. His 1946 collaboration with Walt Disney was one of the most unusual partnerships in the entertainment industry. December 2, 1929 - The Haunted House, in which Mickey Mouse takes shelter from the storm in what turns out to be a well populated mansion, was released in theaters. This movie was the first time animators created what was to become a popular Disney setting. January 9, 1937 - The release of Donald Duck's second film, Don Donald, proved that Donald was capable of carrying a series without any help from Mickey. It also served as the debut vehicle for a ducky girlfriend called Donna, who was later renamed Daisy.Released to coincide with the company's 18-month-long 50th anniversary celebrations, Today in History: Disney has something for Disney fans of every generation.Encountering Islam on the First Crusade
By Nicholas Morton. 2016
The First Crusade (1095–9) has often been characterised as a head-to-head confrontation between the forces of Christianity and Islam. For…
many, it is the campaign that created a lasting rupture between these two faiths. Nevertheless, is such a characterisation borne out by the sources? Engagingly written and supported by a wealth of evidence, Encountering Islam on the First Crusade offers a major reinterpretation of the crusaders' attitudes towards the Arabic and Turkic peoples they encountered on their journey to Jerusalem. Nicholas Morton considers how they interpreted the new peoples, civilizations and landscapes they encountered; sights for which their former lives in Western Christendom had provided little preparation. Morton offers a varied picture of cross cultural relations, depicting the Near East as an arena in which multiple protagonists were pitted against each other. Some were fighting for supremacy, others for their religion, many simply for survival.A Legacy of Madness
By Tom Davis. 2011
The story of a loving family coming to grips with its own fragilities, A Legacy of Madness relays the author's…
journey to uncover, and ultimately understand, the history of mental illness that led generations of his suburban American family to their demise.Dede Davis had worried, fussed, and obsessed for the last time: Her heart stopped beating in a fit of anxiety. In the wake of his mother's death, Tom Davis knew one thing: Helplessly self-absorbed and severely obsessive compulsive, Dede led a tormented life. She spent years bouncing around mental health facilities, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities, but what really caused her death? A Legacy of Madness portrays Tom Davis's captivating discoveries of mental illness throughout generations of his family. Investigating his mother's history led to that of Davis's grandfather, a top administrator at one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the country; his great-grandfather who died of self-inflicted gas asphyxiation during the Depression; and his great-great grandmother who, with her eldest son, completed suicide one tragic day. Ultimately, four generations of family members showed clear signs of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and alcoholism--often mistreated illnesses that test one's ability to cope. Through this intimate memoir, we join Davis on a personal odyssey to ensure that he and his siblings, the fifth generation,--recover their family legacy by not only surviving their own mental health disorders but by getting the help they need to lead healthy, balanced lives. In the end, we witness Davis's powerful transition as he makes peace with the past and heals through forgiveness and compassion for his family--and himself. About the author Tom Davis is the Jersey Shore regional editor for Patch.com and an adjunct professor of journalism at Rutgers University. This is his first book. He lives in Metuchen, New Jersey.Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide
By Claudia M ller-Ebeling, Christian R tsch. 2003
An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas • Analyzes the symbolism of the…
many plants associated with Christmas • Reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan rituals that center on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance. It is an evolving feast that over the centuries has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world--practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual. Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child. Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which is red and white, to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples, which figure heavily in Christmas baking, are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun. In fact, the authors contend that the emphasis of Christmas on green plants and the promise of the return of life in the dead of winter is just an adaptation of the pagan winter solstice celebration.Executing God
By Sharon L. Baker. 2013
Why did God have to murder his only son to pay our debts? What kind of vengeful, violent God can…
only be satisfied by vicarious blood atonement? In Executing God, theologian Sharon Baker presents a biblically based and theologically sound critique of popular theories of the atonement. Concerned about the number of acts of violence performed in the name of God, Baker challenges cultural assumptions about the death of Jesus and its meaning to Christians. She ultimately offers a constructive alternate view of atonement based on God's forgiveness that opens up salvation to a wider group of people.Recreating The Church: Leadership for the Postmodern Age
By Richard L. Hamm. 2007
Mainline denominations in the United States are in crisis. These institutions-created in and for modernity-are now facing a changed, postmodern…
culture. Hamm faces the crisis, examining its origins, and offers sound advice on how to lead to church to make the adaptive changes needed to thrive in postmodern times.The Bad Touch: The True Story of Harish Iyer and other Thrivers of Child Sex Abuse
By Payal Shah Karwa. 2014
Real-life stories of victims of child sex abuse who emerged victorious! Harish Iyer is a survivor…nay… he is a thriver…
of child sex abuse. He is an award winning social activist who first shared his disturbing story of his sexual abuse on the television show Satyamev Jayate and who gave voice to the issue when most would be silent. Harish’s story will tear the reader apart. He suffers abuse at the hands of his uncle Satheesh, from the time he was seven. Harish was threatened that his parents would be killed if he did not submit to his uncle’s, and sometimes his friends’ barbarism. Until one fine day when Harish musters up the courage and says ‘No!’ He takes his mother into confidence who supports him, but Harish’s woes do not end there. He is castigated by society, his own father believes Harish to be at fault, and so begins Harish’s solo battle to help other sufferers like himself. There are others: noted film director Anurag Khashyap, a victim of incest and sexual abuse, not once but many times over; Jai, living in a Mumbai high-rise suffers abuse and a now 34-year-old mother who suffered sexual abuse as a 12-year-old. The stories in The Bad Touch will shock, horrify, sadden, repulse and numb the reader. But underlying them is the small ray of hope that if the immediate family is sensitive enough to the signals a child may send out, he or she may be rescued from being victimized. This book is a mission: to help ebb the trauma of survivors and inspire them with stories like Harish’s, and to create awareness of the issue of child sex abuse amongst parents/guardians.Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing through Grief
By John R. Claypool. 1974
With over a million copies sold one s pastor s personal experience with devastating grief…
and learning to heal through faith has touched countless hearts John Claypool had been a pastor for almost two decades ministering to others who suffered through the loss of loved ones when loss hit home with the death of his eight-year-old daughter In Tracks of a Fellow Struggler Rev Claypool shares his own journey through the darkness of heartbreaking grief through four extraordinary sermons The first was delivered just eleven days after his daughter s diagnosis of leukemia the second after her first major relapse nine months later and the third weeks after her death The final sermon an inspiring reflection on the process of grieving was preached three years later Loss is something we must all cope with and one of the greatest spiritual challenges is sustaining faith when life seems most unfair sometimes tragic With a depth of compassion born of his own personal experience the author of Mending the Heart brings emotional comfort and spiritual strength to anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved oneThe Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance During World War II
By Luis Alvarez. 2008
Providing a new history of youth culture based on rare, in-depth interviews with former zoot-suiters, Luis Alvarez explores race, region,…
and the politics of culture in urban America during World War II. He argues that Mexican American and African American youths, along with many nisei and white youths, used popular culture to oppose accepted modes of youthful behavior, the dominance of white middle-class norms, and expectations from within their own communities.Losing Amma, Finding Home: A Memoir about Love, Loss and Life's Detours
By Uma Girish. 2014
Uma Girish s Losing Amma Finding Home is a heart-rending narrative of losing a parent living…
through the pain and transforming it to discover one true-calling and life s purpose This is a breathtaking inspirational and personal memoir that will ring true with every reader When Uma arrives to start life in a Chicago suburb with her husband 14-year-old daughter and her dreams in the spring of 2008 she has no clue of the cosmic wheels in motion Barely four weeks later her 68-year-old mother in India is diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer Eight months later she passes away Losing her mother plunges Uma into the deepest despair but more importantly awakens a sudden clarity and knowing that there has to be more to life than this As she begins to navigate a new country and culture she is also called on to navigate the lonely terrain of grief Life begins to open doors and Uma finds comfort connection and purpose in working with seniors at a retirement community Every relationship that she forms with the seniors opens her heart a little wider as she seeks answers to the only questions that matter Who am I Why am I here What am I meant to do with this life Interweaving two cultures through a textured narrative Uma uncovers the truths of her inner journey as she transforms one event one person at a timePretty Is What Changes: Impossible Choices, The Breast Cancer Gene, and How I Defied My Destiny
By Jessica Queller. 2008
A timely, affecting memoir from the front lines of medical science: When genetics can predict how we may die, how…
then do we decide how to live? Eleven months after her mother succumbs to cancer, Jessica Queller has herself tested for the BRCA “breast cancer” gene mutation. The results come back positive, putting her at a terrifyingly elevated risk of developing breast cancer before the age of fifty and ovarian cancer in her lifetime. Thirty-four, unattached, and yearning for marriage and a family of her own, Queller faces an agonizing choice: a lifetime of vigilant screenings and a commitment to fight the disease when caught, or its radical alternative—a prophylactic double mastectomy that would effectively restore life to her, even as it would challenge her most closely held beliefs about body image, identity, and sexuality. Superbly informed and armed with surprising wit and style, Queller takes us on an odyssey from the frontiers of science to the private interiors of a woman’s life. Pretty Is What Changesis an absorbing account of how she reaches her courageous decision and its physical, emotional, and philosophical consequences. It is also an incredibly moving story of what we inherit from our parents and how we fashion it into the stuff of our own lives, of mothers and daughters and sisters, and of the sisterhood that forms when women are united in battle against a common enemy. Without flinching, Jessica Queller answers a question we may one day face for ourselves: If genes can map our fates and their dark knowledge is offered to us, will we willingly trade innocence for the information that could save our lives?THE CONVERGING WORLD tells the incredible story of one community's attempt to change their world for the better. Faced with…
the challenge of making the English village of Chew Magna a 'zero waste' society, Pontin developed a groundbreaking non-profit scheme that twinned them with Tamil Nadu, a poor rural community in southern India. He helped set up a system of wind turbines for Tamil Nadu that would not only reduce the community's reliance on fossil fuels but also provided a local source of sustainable income. The carbon credits produced through this scheme were then sold in Chew Magna to individuals and businesses to offset emissions they cannot yet reduce - all part of a larger local zero-waste effort. The effects of this scheme have been dramatic and exhilarating - while Chew Magna gets closer to zero waste, Tamil Nadu's carbon emissions and poverty levels are diminishing accordingly. Pontin's story presents a model of action for any individual or community concerned about climate change, environmental damage, social inequality and the plight of the third world.A World Within: A Remarkable Story of Coping with a Parent's Dementia
By Minaksh Chaudhry. 2014
This story is an unfinished one The story of a man dying in slow motion …
He clings to flashes of memory and grapples with his reality As he chases the mirage of his memory his world disappears fragment by fragment It is not just his being his self that disintegrates every moment it is the universe as he knew it that fades into oblivion This is a tale of a man building bridges to nowhere Everything around you changes when you take care of a parent with dementia This person who had been bedrock of your strength to whom you looked up to and who was always there for you is now nothing close to his former self His enquiring glances puzzlement doubts and demand for answers signal a total shift in relationship The despair also reveals the person you are temperamental and escapist But this journey has life lessons too When drama of life ends you will have nothing today is all you have so enjoy life With tears there is laughter and amidst confusion there is clarity that life goes on and we must flow with it Here is A World Within31 Days to Living as a New Believer: A Devotional For New Believers
By R. Larry Moyer. 2002
Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story
By Jewel. 2015
New York Times bestselling poet and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Jewel explores her unconventional upbringing and extraordinary life in an inspirational memoir…
that covers her childhood to fame, marriage, and motherhood.When Jewel's first album, Pieces of You, topped the charts in 1995, her emotional voice and vulnerable performance were groundbreaking. Drawing comparisons to Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, a singer-songwriter of her kind had not emerged in decades. Now, with more than thirty million albums sold worldwide, Jewel tells the story of her life, and the lessons learned from her experience and her music. Living on a homestead in Alaska, Jewel learned to yodel at age five, and joined her parents' entertainment act, working in hotels, honky-tonks, and biker bars. Behind a strong-willed family life with an emphasis on music and artistic talent, however, there was also instability, abuse, and trauma. At age fifteen, she moved out and tasked herself with a mission: to see if she could avoid being the kind of statistic that her past indicated for her future. Soon after, she was accepted to the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and there she began writing her own songs as a means of expressing herself and documenting her journey to find happiness. Jewel was eighteen and homeless in San Diego when a radio DJ aired a bootleg version of one of her songs and it was requested into the top-ten countdown, something unheard-of for an unsigned artist. By the time she was twenty-one, her debut had gone multiplatinum. There is much more to Jewel's story, though, one complicated by family legacies, by crippling fear and insecurity, and by the extraordinary circumstances in which she managed to flourish and find happiness despite these obstacles. Along her road of self-discovery, learning to redirect her fate, Jewel has become an iconic singer and songwriter. In Never Broken she reflects on how she survived, and how writing songs, poetry, and prose has saved her life many times over. She writes lyrically about the natural wonders of Alaska, about pain and loss, about the healing power of motherhood, and about discovering her own identity years after the entire world had discovered the beauty of her songs.From the Hardcover edition.Attila the Hun: Leader of the Barbarian Hordes
By Sean Stewart Price. 2009