Recently published books:
She Blooms: Finding Home After the Convent, by Maura Doherty
From the safety of a convent into a world of danger . . . Maura Doherty learned the true meaning of compassion and how to find her real home.
Maura Doherty was raised in the 1950s and 60s, one of seven siblings in the Bronx, New York. Her Irish-Catholic parents owned a duplex on a street teeming with kids who played games surrounded by the roar of the Cross-Bronx Expressway. The Doherty children went to parochial schools and attended Mass on Sunday. Over time, Maura became fascinated with Catholic nuns wearing habits and rosary beads and the peace they evoked.
When Maura decided to become a Sister, she never anticipated that she would leave the convent nine years later. That decision thrust her from the security of religious life into the unknown. Crafting a new future for herself, she became an activist fighting environmental pollution and toxic hazards. Her work brought her from the Bronx to Appalachia to the West Coast, where a growing dependence on alcohol threatened to rob her of all she’d achieved. Once she chose sobriety, her life opened in ways she had never imagined.
Published October 2024
Paperback, $25.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Also available as an ebook, $9.99.
Getting Things Done Where All Politics is Local, by Michael French Metcalf
From a global career to a small-town mayor, Michael F. Metcalf followed the leader . . .
How do you go from a career as a construction and engineering manager for an international gas and oil organization to becoming the mayor of a small northern California town? For Michael Metcalf, the idea felt natural. Mike grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where exposure to politics was part of life. Back then, a man named Tip O’Neill was on his way to becoming a political legend. Elected to the State House of Representatives at age 24, Tip later moved onto the national stage and, in 1977, became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Through it all, he remained firmly connected to the people of Massachusetts and to one of his favorite sayings: “All Politics Is Local.” And he became a positive, lifelong influence on Mike Metcalf.
Getting Things Done Where All Politics Is Local follows Mike’s unexpected, often challenging journey to incorporate O’Neill’s lessons and leadership skills into his own local political arena.
When Mike took an early retirement in 1999, his adopted hometown of Moraga, California, boasted a population of just over 16,000. The town needed help, although the people didn’t realize it. So Mike volunteered in Moraga. He applied his professional skills to his community, which was much different than anything he had dealt with before, all the while retaining Tip O’Neill’s creed as his guidepost. He accomplished a lot and endured some failures, and he learned a lot more about Gettings Things Done Where all Politics Is Local.
Published August 2024
Paperback, $32.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Days of Memory: Listening to Jewish Italians who lived through Fascism and the Holocaust, by Judith Monachina
It takes victims, blood, and years to rid a country of tyranny.
Those are words of a Jewish Italian woman who lived during Fascism and the Holocaust.
Italian Fascism was thuggish and promised order during the chaotic post World War I period. But in its rise, it did not signal what it eventually would aim to destroy, including the lives and livelihoods of Jews. Early on, Italian Fascism was not explicitly anti-Semitic. But 11 years after Mussolini cemented his dictatorship, he began to dismantle the professional and personal lives of Jews in Italy. Then, during the German occupation, in 1943, these Italians experienced the threat of deportation and genocide.
Judith Monachina listened to individual stories, often in the homes of those she interviewed. She also met historians and others dedicated to meticulously documenting and communicating this history. Her journey through this project took years to trace, with one Fulbright period to conduct intensive research and live in the place of memory. Now, the individual accounts in Days of Memory bear witness to how people coped with the collapse of civil society, carried on with their lives as well as they could, and made life-or-death decisions. These stories show us their resilience.
Published June 30, 2024
Paperback, $22.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Mourning and Dancing: A Memoir of Loss, Grief, and Resilience, 25th Anniversary Edition with new Introduction and Updates, by Sally Downham Miller
When we allow ourselves to mourn, we celebrate the dance, and, in our hearts, life keeps beating.
Everyone grieves-some of us more than others, few of us well. Burying a spouse, a child, a parent, a sibling, or any person you love-under any circumstance-changes almost everything. Most survivors grow tired of pretending that this is not so.
This moving story is the thirty-year chronicle of a young widow with two small children who grieved by blocking out pain, plowing ahead, and, yes, pretending she was fine. She told herself if she was able to carve out a successful career, everything else would be okay. Years later, she discovered that others were dealing with grief in their own, also cumbersome, ways. None of them-her included-were doing as “fine” as they claimed. Finally, through research, listening, and learning, she discovered some truths about personal healing that helped her find healthy resilience. Since then, she has assisted countless others in finding their own path along the challenging journey of grief, and has helped establish numerous support groups around the country.
For 25 years, readers have embraced Mourning and Dancing with gratitude for its gentle guidance and sincere comfort. If you are seeking healing and resilience after any loss-regardless of how many years have passed-this book is for you. It is also for friends and loved ones who might be grieving, too. If you would like to join or start a support group based on the knowledge and experience the author has compiled, look for the companion book Mourning and Dancing: The Group, available in stores and online in print and ebook formats.
Published June 2024
Paperback, $22.00. Available from all online booksellers.
The Echo of My Days: The Lost Stories and Poems of Bessie Smith Stanton, compliled and edited, with introductory material by Jim Stanton, Bill Stanton, and Lola Stanton
BESSIE’S STORY
Bessie Stanton’s writings had been packed away and forgotten in an unmarked cardboard box for many decades. Then in 2022, while going through stacks of old family letters and documents, which went back nearly two centuries, her grandson came upon this remarkable family treasure that has now been lovingly transcribed from scores of fragile and faded handwritten originals.
Bessie was the daughter of a Quaker minister, the youngest of five children and was raised on her father’s farm in southern Ohio. After her active and enriching high school years she attended Wilmington Quaker College in Wilmington, Ohio where she grew into an accomplished young woman studying art, music, drama and literature. And she learned to write- which turned into a lifelong passion.
The stories are fun and entertaining with tantalizing twists of plot. The playful wit and colorful imagery within each piece is a delight. The poems and sonnets reveal the deepest pleasures of all her years and also the heartbreaking pain. Her unique and captivating style is that of a writer who truly loved and honored language and used it candidly and honestly on every page.
The Echo of My Days is the culmination of Bessie Smith Stanton’s literary creativity. It was her dream – not realized while she lived – that her writings would find readers. Now, with this book her dream has come true.
Published June 2024
Paperback, $22.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Charles E. Martin’s Island Treasury, with an Introduction by Christian Martin
A collection of Charles E. Martin’s delightful picture books set on a remote island off the coast of Maine. First published in the 1980s, they are reprinted here in their entirety, with an introduction by the artist’s grandson, Christian Martin. The books that are included are Island Winter, Summer Business, For Rent, Island Rescue, and Sam Saves the Day. Each tells a story of the challenges and rewards of small children living in a small community on a remote island.
Enjoyed by generations of children (and adults), these are once again available.
Published June 2024
Hardcover, $60,00; paperback, $50.00. Available from all online booksellers.
The Hummingbird Principle: Seven Lenses for Becoming More Human, by Chris Burke & Anne de Wild
Know Who You Are and Do What You Can
Can it really be that simple? With all of the challenges we face in our daily lives-both at home and out in the world-it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But what if each one of us-yes, including you-has a unique role to play in creatively solving these problems? The Hummingbird Principle is about peeling back the layers of who you have been, who you think you should be, and what you think you can and cannot do to discover the authentic self that wants to express itself through you.
Inspired by an Indigenous story retold by Michael Nicoll Yahgolanaas in his book The Little Hummingbird, in which a little hummingbird responds to a forest fire by doing exactly what she is equipped to do, one drop at a time, The Hummingbird Principle invites readers on a journey of self-discovery. It draws on the spiritual philosophy known as anthroposophy to paint a picture of how individuals unfold over the course of their lives, and how the events of one’s life weave themselves together into a unified fabric known as one’s biography. The chapters are organized around the archetypes of the seven classical planets-Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn-connecting them to developmental phases and to examples from culture, philosophy, psychology, music, and more. With practical exercises throughout, you will begin to reconnect with yourself in order to reconnect with your loved ones and the world around you. No matter the size of your challenges, this book will provide you with fresh perspectives and a framework for approaching life with renewed enthusiasm.
Published May 2024
Hardcover, $32.00; paperback, $22; ebook, $9.99 Available from all online booksellers.
Return to Center Hocokan Unkupi, by Tokala Two Elk, as told to J. Dawn Jones
Tokala Two Elk was born in a chicken coop on the Pine Ridge Reservation, home of the Oglala Lakota Nation . . .
From his humble beginnings, Tokala became a man whose life would be shaped by Spirit, ceremonies, teachings, and traditions of his people, the Oceti Sakowin. His journey was not easy. After years of unrest fueled by his struggle with alcoholism, he was finally able to find and embrace a path to sobriety that opened his world to education, community, and teaching-all of which drew him back to the foundation of Lakota values of Wo (the spiritual world), Wa (the mental world of the Animal Nation), Wi (the sun), and We (our blood), all of which are essential to the Hocoka, the Circle of Life, the core of Lakota beliefs.
Startling, sad, funny, and profoundly moving, Return to the Center is a gripping exploration of the history of the tribe and the centuries of injustices that its people have withstood. From the influx of Europeans who saw them-and treated them-not as people but as savages, to the influx of missionaries who insisted on converting them to Christianity, to the original Reservations that were actually called Prisoner of War Camps, and to many other prejudices, the Lakota, as other Indigenous people, were victimized in countless ways. But in this book, Tokala Two Elk shows how their strength of Spirit and hope can enable the survival of his people if they reconnect to the deeply spiritual foundation of their ancestors.
Published March 18, 2024.
Paperback, $22.00. Available from all online booksellers.
The Real Gatsby: George Gordon Moore – a Granddaughter’s Memoir, by Mickey Rathbun
When Mickey Rathbun began to investigate a rumor that her grandfather, George Gordon Moore, had been a model for Fitzgerald’s iconic character Jay Gatsby, she discovered closer connections than she had ever imagined. In her remarkable, compelling, and beautifully crafted memoir, The Real Gatsby: George Gordon Moore, she examines the striking parallels between the real person and his fictional doppelganger. Beyond their hardscrabble western origins, formative sojourns in England, extravagant lifestyles fueled by suspected criminal activities, and pursuit of unattainable women, Moore and Gatsby shared a heightened appreciation for the exquisite possibilities of life, what Fitzgerald called “romantic readiness.”
These similarities were hardly coincidental; Moore played polo and partied with the social set that inspired The Great Gatsby. Tommy Hitchcock, the legendary polo player on whom Fitzgerald based Gatsy’s Tom Buchanan, was Moore’s close friend, business partner, and housemate.
Rathbun’s book is an honest exploration of her grandfather’s astonishing life and legacy. With unflinching candor, she engages themes that are as relevant today as in Fitzgerald’s time: our single-minded obsession with wealth and social cachet and the mirage of the American Dream.
Published March 1, 2024.
Paperback, $22.00. Available from all online booksellers.
The Sacrificial Daughter: A Novel, by Mary Anne Kalonas Slack
When a mother’s love becomes a daughter’s burden . . . is there really a way out?
Single at thirty-five, schoolteacher Mary Ellen Kelleher is from an Irish-Catholic family whose aging mother expects her daughter to continue to live with and take care of her. Agnes comments to her friends that Mary Ellen needs to find a man . . . but is that what Agnes really wants? And what about Mary Ellen? She loves her mother, but has she grown complacent and thus agreeable to her mother’s frequent, veiled demands?
When her good friends suggest she accompany them on a fabulous trip to China, Mary Ellen is ripe to rebel. She says yes and pays the deposit, not yet knowing that Agnes has offered Mary Ellen’s services to drive her and three cronies to Cape Cod-and to chauffeuring them around for a week. When Mary Ellen says no to her mother, Agnes is angry . . . which fuels Mary Ellen’s desire to break out on her own. The fact that she meets two very different, very attractive men while away certainly helps. But does the good girl, who has sacrificed an independent lifestyle for her mother’s wishes, really have the courage to shake up her-and her mother’s-world?
Published February 1, 2024.
Paperback, $22. Available from all online booksellers.
21 Brix: Jim Forchini ─ Evolution of a Winegrower, by James F. Forchini, with Michael F. Metcalf
From a secure engineering career to a risky dream, Californians Jim Forchini and his wife, Anita, took an enormous leap of faith. A second-generation Italian, born in 1938 and raised in Bakersfield, Jim studied mechanical engineering at Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. His Italian upbringing had instilled in him ethics for hard work, honesty, and perseverance-and introduced him to agrarian life, when Jim witnessed his grandfather growing grapes. After Jim and Anita married in 1961, they moved to Santa Rosa, started a family, and Jim was drawn back to the past to change their future. By 1976, he had acquired three vineyard properties, and, with Anita’s ongoing strength and support, he had resigned from engineering and become a full-time winegrower.
In 1996, the Forchinis started making wine at their own winery, including a tribute wine to Jim’s grandfather. Forchini wines soon earned prestigious awards throughout the state, and their brand was recognized for consistent excellence.
Over two decades later, with Anita’s health in decline, they produced their last wine. Anita passed away in 2021; nine months later, Jim also died, having written this book to the point of releasing his tribute wine.
More than a memoir, 21 Brix: Jim Forchini is an inspirational story of a husband and wife who had the courage to follow a dream and how, by working together, they overcame uncertainties and countless obstacles, and turned that dream into success.
Paperback, $34.00. Available from all online booksellers.
The Evolution of Hallie Jo Everheart: A Novel in Stories, by Catherine Grow
Hallie Jo Everheart is growing up on a farm in the Ozarks, and life isn’t going well. Her mother dies when Hallie is only nine, her brothers treat her like dirt, and her overburdened father is sunk into grief, oblivious. Then she meets Old Man Morrison, a reclusive, cranky, and slightly terrifying neighbor who can fix a broken piece of farm equipment but is not so good with people-until, unexpectedly, he changes Hallie’s life when he discovers her talent for drawing.
As a gifted young woman ready to work hard to meet her goals, Hallie makes her way through good times and bad, falls in and out of love, gets the education she’s always wanted, and experiences the tragedies and comedies of a world that’s always full of surprises.
Over the course of ten stories that take her from girlhood to old age, Hallie finds unpredictable mentors-men and women who serve as guides and role models over the years: a beloved friend whose early death shatters her world, an older couple who help her ride out her sorrows, an art teacher with her own sad tale.
Settling into her beloved Ozark landscape, Hallie grows and changes, and, ever grateful, she reflects on the people who taught her that “the most important thing you can do in life is to give of yourself, to help those in need who can benefit from your friendship and support.” And, in the end, Hallie herself becomes a mentor for another promising young woman.
Paperback, $20.00. Available from all online booksellers.
The Autoimmune Plague: How to Regain Sovereignty Over Your Body and Life, by Colby Kash
Take control of Autoimmune Disease with this comprehensive, science-based blueprint back to health
Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis: Today, 1 in 7 Americans is diagnosed with one of over 100 autoimmune diseases. And that number continues to rise. But in dozens of documented niche populations worldwide, people once lived almost entirely devoid of any of them. Dr. Kash set out to learn why. In The Autoimmune Plague, he identifies provocative factors of today’s evolutionary inconsistent environment, explains how they led to an immune frenzy destiny, and shows how to hijack these messages and eliminate immune triggers that negatively influence our well-being.
As far back as Dr. Kash can remember, he suffered from a myriad of digestive issues that led to a diagnosis of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). By age 24, it had progressed to Crohn’s disease, Psoriasis, and inflammatory Arthritis. But while in Chiropractic School, he was introduced to the concept of treating the root cause of disease, which led him to years of extensive research in nutritional sciences and Functional Medicine that ultimately changed his health-and his life.
Dr. Kash developed-and follows-The KASH Code, which incorporates corefactors of his studies and provides an evidence-based blueprint of how to convert theory into practice and attack the “smorgasbord of psychological, emotional, physical, and environmental stress” that contributes to autoimmune disease. By following the KASH Code sufferers are able to regain sovereignty over their bodies and, like him, thrive without the symptoms that once held them back from living their best life.
Paperback, $24.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Grovania: A Story of Family and Faith, by M. Bruce Shields
This is an American story. The lineage, life and legacy of Dr. Samuel Brewster Leslie is a tale that has been repeated countless times by American families who came to this country in search of their dream. The story traces the Leslie clan from its origins in 11th Century Scotland through migrations to Ireland and then the New World. It follows generations of Leslie descendants on wagon trails from Pennsylvania through Virginia to the Carolinas and points west.
Bruce Leslie was born in 1874 in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in the town that was named for his grandfather. His early days were hard, losing his father when he was still a boy, piecing together an education on his own, and working briefly as a teacher and a fruit tree salesman in Indian Territory. At the age of 19, he moved to Denver, Colorado, trying to find God’s purpose for his life. There he nearly died of black measles, which proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it led to his pursuing a career in medicine.
After graduating from medical school in Denver, he returned to Indian Territory (soon to be the state of Oklahoma) and established his practice in the town of Okmulgee. He married Blossom McKeage, and together they raised a large family. They lived through two world wars and the Great Depression. Dr. Leslie was a leader in medicine, president of the local school board, a strong advocate of social justice, a generous philanthropist, and an astute landowner. But what most characterized his life was his Christian faith. He taught Sunday School most of his life and, when a struggling congregation was about to close its doors, he helped keep it alive and led the faithful for many years in a small, country church called Grovania.
Hardcover, $34.00 and paperback, $24.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Let Us All Breathe Together: Prose, Poems, Practices, by Sheila Peltz Weinberg
2020. Let’s face it: the global pandemic, combined with accelerated violence and negativity throughout America, sparked a vortex of high anxiety for the world and its people. In Let Us All Breathe Together, Rabbi Weinberg offersa thoughtful collection of spiritual messages, insightful poems, and perceptive essays that explore ways to unite faith with reality-all of which combine to provide a valuable guide through the uncertainties of turbulent times.
From meditative relaxation to the soothing sounds of the shofar, to seeing the face of God in ourselves, Rabbi Weinberg shares tools to help overcome trauma and strengthen faith not only in God but also in humanity. She employs her extensive knowledge of Judaism, other spiritual traditions, and her own practice and weaves them into this engaging tutorial to help us relax, restore, and mostly, just . . . Breathe.
$20.00 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
Some Wonderful, by Heidi Watts
In a series of stories, Heidi Watts describes more than 50 years of summers on a group of small islands off the eastern coast of Nova Scotia. In deeply personal recollections, Heidi describes life in an isolated fishing community, watching the sharp decline in fish and a community in transition.
“I wanted to celebrate the beauty of the islands, the land, and the sea-and I wanted to honor a way of life which evolved over 150 years and disappeared in less than 50. This is a celebration of what is, and a lament for what is lost. I watched with pain, close-up and personal, the increasing destruction and final death of the fisheries and the impact on those who made a living from the sea. I also wanted to capture for you and for myself the beauty of the sea, sand, sky, and rocks-what was unique in the culture of the time and place, and the inevitability of change.”
Paperback, $20.00. Available from all online booksellers.
Sandra’s Wine Life: Find Your Wine Identity, by Sandra Guibord
Available in hardcover and paperback.
Learn to Achieve A WINE LIFE That’s Perfect for YOU!
SANDRA’S WINE LIFE is a consummate guide to the world of wine and offers fabulous, sip-worthy suggestions to turn year-round entertaining into memorable events. Summer barbecue? Winter après ski party? Holiday party with a need to impress? With Sandra’s natural, engaging style, she leads beginners and wine connoisseurs through the seasons, sharing ideal wine choices, tasty recipes for perfect wine-pairing, and notable tips to make every event-even a romantic dinner for two-truly special. She also includes intriguing wine histories for great party conversation. With carefully selected information presented in a casual, fun format, this is the book to help readers find a wonderful WINE LIFE of their own!
$36 hardcover, $26 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
The Icarus Boy, by Bill Regan
THE ICARUS BOY is a mystery thriller starring former Boston police detective Nick Magill. When a phone call pulls him from his new life as an artist into a race to save a troubled college kid, Magill must try to stop a monstrous killer who leaves a trail of victims from Boston to Cape Cod. During the chase, Magill is forced to revisit his childhood in an alcoholic home, the past trauma of his police work, and the betrayal by the love of his life. Ultimately, he discovers that the only person he can truly save is himself.
$20.00 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
NIght-Rider Legacy: Weaponizing Race in the Irasburg Affair of 1968, by Gary. G. Shattuck
A study of the impact and consequences caused by the use of inflammatory racially-related language during a police investigation conducted by the Vermont State Police. Beginning in 1968 with the Irasburg Affair when a White man fired shotgun blasts into a home occupied by a Black family, the story describes in detail the course of the investigation. Adverse publicity about the Vermont State Police’s work alleging racism within its ranks ensued resulting in its managers withdrawing from public view and refusing to work with the legislature in the next years causing significant internal problems.
They finally came to the forefront in 1979 when a despondent trooper committed suicide at the state house in Montpelier in an event called the Router Bit Affair that led to significant reforms beginning in1980. Includes bibliographical references and an index.
$30.00 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
Restless Spirits and Popular Movements: A Vermont History by Greg Guma
What is the Vermont Way?
The term has been used to describe everything from the traditional way of making maple syrup to an ability to create something out of nothing. But this small state’s story is also the tale of rebellious individuals and collective outbursts, people and moments that have forged a unique path, preserving traditions while changing with the times.
Restless Spirits & Popular Movements revisits Vermont history through memorable events and people who helped create its delicate balance of sovereignty and solidarity, political independence and mutual aid. It explores the evolution and values of the Green Mountain State through the exploits of revolutionary leaders and feminist pioneers, activists and tycoons, Vermont-born presidents, progressive innovators and modern trailblazers like Phil Hoff, Richard Snelling, Madeleine Kunin, James Jeffords, Howard Dean, and Bernie Sanders.
Recasting the state’s dramatic narrative, this new Vermont history reclaims many of the stories that have been lost or forgotten along the way.
$22.00 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
On Being a Vermonter and the Rise and Fall of the Holmes Farm, 1822-1923, by David R. Holmes
On Being a Vermonter is a case study of a Vermont farm that existed from the early 1800s to the early 1900s. As the Holmes Farm pioneered advanced orchard methods and made a distinctive contribution to the apple industry in Vermont, the book makes an important contribution to the literature and history of Vermont apple orchards. In addition, the farm was a leading breeder of trotters, horses with a Morgan horse heritage. The book examines the end of the farm due to foreclosure in 1923 and the resulting diaspora of the family and its transformation in a single generation. The author is a direct descendant of the Holmes family, which came to Vermont in the 1780s. In addition to reconstructing the history of the farm, he examines what it means to be a Vermonter by building on the legacy of the farm’s 101year history.
$22.00 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
The Making of an Old Soul: Aging as the Fulfillment of Life’s Purpose, by Carol Orsborn, Ph.D.
The Making of an Old Soul: Aging as the Fulfillment of Life’s Promise is the healing vision of a woman who is a scholar in the fields of adult and spiritual development as well as a lifelong seeker. Based on a mystical experience that sheds light on the entire arc of life, Orsborn’s latest work revisions age not as diminishment but as the fulfillment of life’s promise. Bursting through the stereotypes into a world of old souls, Orsborn shows you how to embrace the luminous spirit within that beats steadily beyond the wounds of childhood, beyond the unintended consequences of your best intentions, beyond the twists and turns of fate over which even at the peak of the developmental pyramid you have no control. This gem of a book affirms that hope is merited and that seekers of all ages and circumstances have what it takes to grow not just old, but old souls.
$18.00 paperback. Available from all online booksellers.
The McPherson Principle, by Michael L. Duke
Revenue Cycle Performance: Achieving Breakthrough Metrics in the Healthcare Industry
In the transformative style of Eliyahu Goldratt’s blockbuster novel The Goal, Michael Duke offers the healthcare industry approachable, cutting-edge strategies that unlock the key to maximum Revenue Cycle Performance.
The McPherson Principle is an engaging business novel about a hospital system in big financial trouble. Written through the eyes of Bill Matthews, a VP of Revenue Cycle Management whose career-and the careers of his team-are on the line, the story follows his challenge to come up with workable solutions to radically improve performance, and improve it fast. Early on, Matthews recognizes he must bypass traditional, “acceptable” methods, stick his corporate neck out, and plow into uncharted metrics territory in order to succeed in today’s competitive field. And thus, The McPherson Principle is born.
$18.00 paperback. Available now.
Mourning and Dancing: The Group – A Curriculum for Grief Support Groups, by Sally Downham Miller
Grief. Whether through the death of a loved one, a shattering divorce, a mass tragedy, or other life-altering loss, grief is a common experience of humankind. When Sally Miller became a 24-year-old widow with two young children, she did not know where to turn. Confused, angry, and devastated, she soon realized that she was not alone, that many others had comparable responses to their different losses. And that talking with each other helped. This led her to develop a Grief Support Group. Decades later, using Sally’s topics and experience, many similar groups are located around the country, where anyone who is grieving can find techniques and tools, friendship and support, no matter what their age or circumstance.
Mourning and Dancing: The Group offers a valuable curriculum to help others set up a group in their community that will enable grieving people to begin their journey toward healing through proven methods and suggestions on how to deal with the realities of grief while shaping positive thought processes that can carry them into the days and years to come.
$20.00, paperback. Available now.
Gardens of Karma, Harvesting Myself Among the Weeds: a Memoir by Susan West Kurz
It Began in a Simple Garden . . . and Led to a Spiritual Path.
Susan West Kurz’s earliest memories began in a garden, where she nurtured herbs and colorful flowers, nibbled sun-drenched vegetables and ripe berries, and danced with her doll, Pinocchio. Later, she landed in another garden, that one in Germany, where she shaped her budding interest into a hugely successful career for international organic and natural skin care products. But for decades, Susan was steeped in another role—one of enabler, support system, and overall back-up singer to the alcoholics who were center stage in her life. The pain of that disease ultimately led her to Anthroposophy, her spiritual path, where she soon recognized she had been headed all along. On her subsequent journey to health and freedom, Susan continues to find inner peace in a garden.
Susan West Kurz is the author of Awakening Beauty the Dr. Hauschka Way.
$22.00, paperback. Available now.
REALITY (Can Be OK, but mostly it) BITES – Original aphorisms and other philosophical fragments with teeth, by Gordon Hutchison
Everyone knows reality can really bite. Now you can bite back with this original collection of 400 aphorisms, laugh-out-loud one-liners, and other intellectually and linguistically titillating nuggets that zero in on homo sapiens being himself in politics, sex, love, marriage, family, economics, youth, old age, and more. From thought-provoking to downright irreverent, these seductive verbal twists and turns offer insights, entertainment, and, if you’re frustrated with the mess the world is in, the comfort of knowing you’re not alone. So if you need help connecting with an audience, sounding smarter to your friends, or just making it through another day, this is a resource you can really sink your teeth into.
$18.00 paperback. Available now.
Recently published:
The Grief Forest – a book about what we don’t talk about, by Laraine Herring
What if a gift lived inside grief?
When Bunny’s father dies, she captures her grief in a bubble the color of his soul. She carries this grief with her, afraid that if she lets it go, she will lose her daddy. Bunny’s grief leads her to The Grief Forest and Grandmother Bunny, who meets her at the Forest’s edge. Bunny is afraid of all the grief she sees there, so she runs away and meets Death, who guides her deeper into the Forest. Each animal she meets expresses an aspect of grief. As Bunny’s grief begins to take on a life of its own, she becomes desperate to hold onto it, afraid of who she would be without it. She travels deeper into the Forest, meeting creatures of the sea and the night. When she meets Cobra, everything she thought she knew about grief falls away, and she has to make a choice: hold on to a life that has gone, or learn how to be alive in a new environment.
For children and adults alike, The Grief Forest is a journey through complicated grieving—showing examples of delayed grief, absent grief, PTSD, attachment, disenfranchised grief and many more. Bereavement is a place. When we grieve, we enter this mysterious world, and when we leave it, we are forever changed. By meeting our grief, sitting quietly with it and listening to it, we can access its deeper wisdom, helping to heal not only the griever, but the whole world.
Laraine Herring holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Counseling Psychology. She has worked extensively with bereaved children and families.
$25.00, full-color paperback, available now.
The Glass Straw, by Eleanor Hannemann
At four years old, Eleanor was hit by a car. It was 1937: she remembers the sunshine in her hospital room, the doctor, the nurses, the glass straw in her cup of water. She remembers that her face had been disfigured, leaving her ridiculed for years. But those experiences prepared her for the future – first with apprehension and suspicion, then with acceptance and understanding of others who were challenged.
More than a memoir, THE GLASS STRAW provides insight into pre-WWII and wartime middle-America, from the innocence of young girls playing hopscotch and young boys jumping trains, to nighttime travels in a delivery truck from Indiana to Chicago to pick up boxes for families to ship supplies to their overseas servicemen. Eleanor’s lessons in perseverance continued to develop; they served her well when she married Bob who, despite the difficulties of medical school while they were newlyweds, was destined to become a beloved pediatrician, and Eleanor, a good doctor’s wife. She never minded Bob’s long days, phone calls from worried parents at all hours, or the sacrifices needed for his profession. After all, Eleanor knew firsthand how a frightened child felt, and that long after her own scars faded, it had taken longer for the ones inside to heal.
$20.00, paperback. Available now.
By the Wand of Some Magician: Embracing Modernity in Mid-Nineteenth Century Vermont, by Gary G. Shattuck
By the Wand of Some Magician addresses the severe impact of railroad technology upon its arrival into Vermont in the mid-nineteenth century that introduced an unprepared, rural population to the effects of modernity. It is conveyed through the debates that legislators had following the destruction of their statehouse in 1857 when they considered various factors able to influence their decision in whether to relocate the capital to someplace other than Montpelier. The story revolves around three important aspects of Vermonters’ lives that the solons considered: how the railroad changed one particular community (Rutland); agriculture; and the health of the state’s inhabitants. Each of these topics is covered, with an emphasis on health. That issue has never been touched on before and includes drug addiction, abortion, and infanticide that increased substantially after the technology arrived. Additionally, new forms of business (corporations), debtor-creditor relations (grab laws), and the influence of out-of-state financiers on the direction of Vermont government and policy are discussed. Finally, there are many images that accompany the text to provide further context to the story.
$25.00 paperback. Available now.
The Gritty Berkshires: A People’s History from the Hoosac Tunnel to Mass MoCA, by Maynard Seider has won the
Always an Immigrant: A Cultural Memoir by Mohammad Yadegari with Priscilla Yadegari
This collection of personal stories engages, entertains, and educates about cultural norms and mores of the 1940s, 1950s, and the beginning of the 1960s in the Middle East when Mohammad Yadegari was growing up there.
Serious, yet often humorous, the stories describe the truths behind such topics as temporary marriage, veiling and seclusion of women, ceremonial politeness, racism, and bigotry. A great storyteller, Dr. Yadegari regales his readers with tales of his life experiences that prepared him for his immigrant experience when he arrived in New York in 1964.
At the same time, the book debunks some of the misconceptions that are common in both the Middle East and the United States.
$20.00 available now
Whole Person Integrative Eating: A Breakthrough Dietary Lifestyle to Treat the Root Causes of Overeating, Overweight, and Obesity, by Deborah Kesten, M.P.H. and Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D.
$22.00 paperback. Available now.
Winner of the 2020 Book Excellence Award in the Health Category
A Holistic, Science-Backed Program to Help You Build a Healthier Relationship to Food, Eating and Weight!
Do you suffer from chronic overeating and have concerns about your weight?
Are you looking for a scientifically sound way of eating to prevent, even reverse, food-related chronic conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, depression, and more?
Are you ready to treat the root causes of being overweight and pave the way to a happier and healthier relationship to food, eating, and weight?
This book is for you.
Holistic nutrition researcher Deborah Kesten, M.P.H., and behavioral scientist Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D., offer documented proof that it is possible to overcome overeating and being overweight by nourishing yourself multi-dimensionally each time you eat. Combining ancient food wisdom with groundbreaking modern science, Whole Person Integrative Eating empowers you to discover the reasons you overeat and gain weight – while offering the Whole Person Integrative Eating (WPIE) antidotes: physical, emotional, spiritual and social nourishment.
Through a powerful self-assessment quiz, you’ll identify your overeating styles, then build a personalized plan to create a new, healthy way of eating. Plus, you’ll discover 30 delicious recipes based on the Whole Person Integrative Eating program to jumpstart your optimal-eating efforts.
Whole Person Integrative Eating is not a diet you will go on…and then off. It is a scientifically sound dietary lifestyle designed to be practiced for a lifetime. WPIE will inspire you to transform your relationship to food, eating, and weight by empowering you to discover true nourishment-physical, emotional, spiritual, and social-each time you eat…for life.