No comments about Inside the Pinball Machine.

5 comments about A Single Step.

1. Not quite what I expected, but interesting. HM wrote this book just before her marriage to Sir Paul, so there is very little in it about their relationship. Pity. But she tells a compelling story in her own right, from her childhood with an abusive father and bolter mother up through having her leg torn off in a traffic accident, then on again to her being a crusader to distribute prosthetic limbs and ban land mines. (Oh, and she was also a model.) Perhaps a bit of "St. Heather" going on? But her childhood was Dickensian and she lost a pregnancy and she had horrible relationships with all the primary men in her life, including father and stepfather and even perhaps brother plus lovers, and she was for a time homeless and living under bridges. She comes right out at one point and says that she craves money for security. She portrays Paul as a romantic suitor, not at all pushing the status symbols he was entitled to. Had he read her book and fathomed its implications (men, $, and pregnancy), I doubt he would have married her.



2. Given the current media interest in the breakup of her marriage to Paul McCartney, I picked this up to learn more about the woman the tabloids all call a golddigger.
   
   As an autobiography, it's not the best I've ever read. So many incidents are vague in terms of time frame, and especially names of people involved that it gives credence to those accusations that Ms. Mills has embellished her life story. There are two separate stories of her being threatened by people (a lesbian roommate, a french magazine employee) in such a similar and bizarre way that I was left wondering what really happened. The latter incident is used to explain her sudden flight from France and back to her on-again off-again boyfriend Alfie Karmal. Apparently, a former prostitute to rich Arabs is claiming that Ms. Mills was enjoying the same lifestyle during this period when her book says she had a high-paying contract with a French cosmetics company. She never mentions the company's name. I found it a strange thing to leave out.
   
   It's not my intention to point another finger at Ms. Mills and scream "liar". I'm judging the book solely on its merits and as it's an autobiography she's entitled to write whatever she likes. It's just not very effective.
   
   I would have enjoyed learning more about her charity work between the time of her accident and meeting Paul McCartney. It seems like this is the period when she re-invented herself, and I mean that in a totally positive way. She could very easily have hit the bottle after her accident, but she found a purpose her prior years of life had been missing.
   
   Overall, I give the book 2.5 stars. It's an easy read, but the omission of basic facts is distracting.



3. Revised: 11-06.
   
   Actually forget almost everything I wrote down there. We now know Heather Mills probably made her entire life story up. Might her autobiography be more honest if it began with a preface that said, "Why I am a gold digger..."?
   
   
   For posterity, here is what I said in 2005 about "A Single Step" back before I found out what Heather truly is:
   
   Heather Mills McCartney comes through these pages as a delightfully tough, caring woman, who has endured more in her still-young lifetime than any human should have to bear. I read along glued to each page as she took me from her difficult childhood in a working class home, through an adolescence that included homelessness and brushes with the law, up through the horrific motorcycle accident in which she lost her leg. After following her through of all of that, I was delighted when her story took its upswing and she met and later married the great love of her life, Paul McCartney. I felt like cheering for Heather! Good karma had come home to roost at last!
   
   Something I also admire about this remarkable woman is that she does not use the space of this (auto)biography as an exercise in vanity, she makes full use of her newfound place in the public eye to campaign for such worthy causes as a global ban on land mines, and also to inform about the evils of international child labor, which forces Third World children as young as three into cruel employment in sweat shops and agicultural concerns. I see in Heather Mills McCartney not just a fine woman I now admire very much, but the makings of one of the great humanitarians of our time.
   
   (11-06: Wow, was I ever wrong!)



4. Living in the USA, we were not regaled with the blow by blow, tabloid fevered, paparrazzi driven accounts of Paul McCartney's new love interest. Consequently, I knew very little about her background and her life prior to picking up this book. I found that her early life story bordered on "soap opera", though that is not to diminish in any way the obvious struggles that she and her siblings undoubtably faced. She is obviously a survivor and managed by strength of will and ingenuity to rise above her circumstances and fashion (pardon the pun) a life for herself.
   The most intriguing facet of her life as far as I'm concerned is how someone so self driven and somewhat selfish in terms of her love-life, could at the same time be so devoted to causes that certainly put her outside of her comfort zone. There are echoes of Princess Diana in this story. THe other point that struck me was how little reference there is to faith or religion in a story that seems to be permeated with an unseen grace and blessing.
   It is a good fast read...I found it hard to put down and enjoyed the reading journey.



5. This book has been out for at least three years, but its price is what drew me to it! I like biographies and will give almost anyone's a chance. The beginning chapters, describing her childhood, were written in a very amateurish style, but I found them interesting reading nonetheless. Oddly, the writing style improved quite a bit in the middle of the book and I could not put it down. Toward the end of the book, my interest waned, but I kept at it. I do not regret it.
   
   I know the rags to riches story has been told a million times, but I never get sick of it. Like the song by Paul McCartney says people seem to be sick of those silly love songs, but it just isn't so. I also don't think many of us will tire of stories like Heather's story. The person she became was amazing after being raised in a home with a violent, narcissistic father and a mother who left her three children with that father so she herself could escape her bad marriage. Heather Mills has guts and determination and was painfully honest about her failings too.
   
   I am not sure where a previous rater found her criticizing Paul McCarney for being uncompromising. I must have missed that part. She spoke of Paul, Linda and their children with great respect. It changed the opinion I had of her from what I read in the media. Surprisingly, I would recommend this book.

1 comments about The Deaf Mute Howls (Gallaudet Classics in Deaf Studies Series, Vol. 1).

1. Albert Ballin's _The Deaf Mute Howls_ has been rightly rescuedfrom obscurity by Gallaudet University Press. Balllin offers usvaluable insight into the Deaf community of the 1930s. As a utopian thinker, Ballin argued that all people, deaf and hearing, should learn sign language, in order to end the isolation of deaf people in a hearing world. This was a powerful "howl" indeed in the '30s, a time when oral education had succeeded in banishing sign language from schools for the deaf completely. Ballin reveals the discontent bubbling in the Deaf community in this difficult period, and his book remains an important one today for anyone interested in Deaf history. Doug Baynton's introduction to this new edition is also quite useful.

No comments about Clara and Me: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship.

1 comments about Lisa, the Brief Life of a Writer.

1. LISA, THE BRIEF LIFE OF A WRITER is a collection of poems, essays, and book reviews written by Lisa McDonough, who died at age 34 in March 2001 from Cystic Fibrosis. She had been a journalist with the PALM BEACH POST newspaper. Her poems are insightful and mature, employing a gift from the muses; her essays (many about dealing the trials she had to face) are inspirational without being sentimental. Most interesting to me are her book reviews. Oddly enough they reveal much about her character, while providing readers with a vehicle to access a wide variety of reading material.

   This is a beautifully designed book, with a photo of Lisa on the cover. That same photograph sits on my own writing desk, a gift from Lisa following a visit to her home in Jupiter, Florida in 1999. Years ago, I had the honor of teaching Lisa McDonough when she was in the eighth grade, in Hawaii. Later, she helped to edit two of my own books, published by Susquehanna and Syracuse University presses. What enormous pleasure it gave me to watch my little student, now a college honors graduate, take red pen to her teacher's work. She had learned well and had become an expert teacher herself.

   Lisa's brief time with us is a message that life--even with the weight of trials and tribulations--can be possible, useful, and hopeful. Her passing was a lesson in grace and bravery. Her book is not just a tribute to her but a guide to help all of us live with courage and joy.

2 comments about People With MS With the Courage to Give.

1. This book can change peoples lives!
   
   Highly reccomend, also the BIG read, her first book The Courage to Give.
   
   If you have any type of adversity or illness or know of someone who is suffering, this is the cure to help them get going.
   
   Positive energy creates wellness, so do these books.
   
   A standing ovation to Jackie Waldman...Thank you so much!



2. Words cannot describe the impact this book had on me after reading it. Author Jackie Waldman has compiled twenty-four of the most inspiring and touching stories of people with MS, and the effect the disease has on both the person with MS and their families and friends.

   I purchased this book because my husband Anthony Zaremba was one of the featured people in the book. As I read the profiles of the others, my emotions ran through a gambit of highs and lows. At times while reading the book, I filled the pages with my own teardrops, and often laughter, as I read of the fortitude and courage that the people in this book exemplify.

   If you know of anyone with MS, or if you have MS, place this book on your "must read" list. Best of all, Jackie Waldman's proceeds from this book are being donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Thank you Jackie! I give this book five stars!!

5 comments about Helen And Teacher: The Story Of Helen Keller And Anne Sullivan Macy (Radcliffe Biography Series).

1. This is the best biography about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller that I have read. Since I was a child I have been fascinated by them and have read everything that I could get my hands on. Lash goes beyond their heroism and describes Annie and Helen as real people with "feet of clay."
   
   He relies heavily on voluminous correspondence to show the many facets of Helen and those in her life. Many of these details are not explained in other biographies. For example, Helen's father tried to shore up his finances with loans (often defaulted) from Helen's patrons. The "Frost King" incident caused many people to doubt Annie's veracity and credibility as a teacher for the rest of her life. Mr.Sandborn and Mr. Anagnos used the controversy to divert attention from Annie's role as Teacher to Helen and to re-focus attention on the role that the Perkins Institute played in her education. Lash also shows that John Macy had a complex relationship (for the good and the bad) with both Annie and with Helen. Helen was a radical Socialist and often risked her popularity and, therefore, their income by speaking out in support of Socialist leaders and causes. In the end the reader sees that Helen and many of those around her did great things, but they were not perfect. Insecurity, jealousy, money and a desire for love and fame caused all of them to act ugly sometimes.
   
   The other point that was never clear to me before, is that Helen and Annie spent their lives marketing themselves in order to generate an income. Helen's father faced a serious financial downturn that prevented him from supporting them from Helen's young womanhood on. Therefore, to continue Helen's formal education and to maintain a home away from Alabama, they had to cultivate sponsors, write publishable material, and earn money speaking at a myriad of functions. In many ways, this was an uncertain life that dictated that they remain in good standing with public opinion at all times.
   
   The other connection that Lash made for me concerns the complexity, the depth and the breadth of Annie and Helen's relationship. Because Annie suffered through a harrowing childhood, she desperately needed to create a loving family. Helen presented the perfect opportunity for Annie to be needed and to love and be loved unconditionally. While some people construed their relationship to be unhealthy or manipulative, it seems that it was a natural outgrowth of their particular situation. Once again, it was not perfect, but it served a huge need for them both.
   
   I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a more realistic view of the lives of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.



2. Informative! It does get a bit long & wordy at times, but it's a fair representation of Helen & Annie's lives. The more I read about Annie Sullivan, the more I like her. I think it was a real shame that Arthur & Kate Keller felt threatened by the close bond Annie had with Helen. I think Arthur & Kate just wanted Helen to be "trained," but not really the free independent spirit she was meant to be. I'm so glad Annie stood by her & helped her become a free person & became a lifelong friend to Helen as well. Annie was very open about whatever failings she'd had & was a warm, loving supportive guide in Helen's life. I get the feeling Helen & Annie had almost a mother-daugher-like bond, which of course practically killed Arthur & Kate. The stupid thing was, the Keller parents wanted to just shift over the responibility to Annie of educating her & getting her to fit into society, yet wanted total control over Helen's life. If anyone was manipulative & controlling, it was Arthur & Kate. Esp. Arthur, I think was really patronizing & downright domineering toward Annie. Kate didn't help matters either & when I read about her attempts to break Helen & Pete up later on & her consent to try to split Helen & Annie up, I really lost respect for Kate. I know I'm slamming Kate & Arthur here, but I see Annie as more of a loving parent figure in Helen's life. I really commend Annie for standing strong against Helen's domineering, manipulative parents. Oh, boy, was that John Macy a real creep! I was sooo glad Annie got away from him; he accused Annie of being "manipulative & controlling" when he was controlling himself! He KNEW Annie & Helen had a tight bond, yet after he married Annie, he started giving poor Annie a hard time about it! What was really contemptable was that John wrote to Kate & others badmouthing Annie behind her back & it's good that the book exposed that clearly. That made me lose respect for John too; sorry, but I have no sympathy for John Macy. I think Annie tried really hard to be a good wife, yet John just criticized her for being too close to Helen. Poor Annie, it was sad reading about her heartbreak. It was touching & kind of reassuring to read that it was Helen who came to Annie's support when Annie couldn't stop crying for several days over John. It was Helen who fired a letter off to John blasting him for badmouthing Annie. I cheered when Helen was the one who helped Annie get back on her feet, esp. since I hear that John cleaned out the Macys' joint account & closed it without Annie's consent & Annie had to struggle to get her career going again. Boy, was it inspiring to read about Annie's heart healing & her getting her writing going again as well as back on her feet financially! I love how Helen & Annie stood by each other all the way & once Polly joined them, stood by them too. Annie's shaky pride suffered a lot of blows in her life, but always she managed to get back on her feet. I always knew Helen was forever grateful to Annie for freeing her from her early wordless prison & helping her get started to an independent free life & Helen showed this gratitude by being the one to take care of Annie when Annie grew old & frail & went permanently blind. It was a touching mother-daugher bond almost...when Helen was young, Annie looked out for her, then the roles reversed; when Annie got older & weaker, Helen was the one to look out for her & it was great that Helen was able to be by her bedside when her mentor & friend died. What was wonderful also was that Annie was a really sweet, accepting person; she had so many problems in her life, yet never sank into self-pity; she even made wry jokes about her blindness & even wrote a self-effacing column "Foolish Remarks From a Foolish Woman." That part cracked me up! Annie was a quick-tempered little thing, but was quick to forgive & had a big heart & I'm glad this book acknowledged that. Even Helen said that Annie was generous "to a fault." But the last best gift Annie gave Helen was the capacity to be completely independent, even from her, so once Annie died, with only a little help from Polly, Helen was able to live a free life, even long after Annie was gone. I say kudos to both Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan!!!!



3. The lives of Helen Keller and her teacher, Ann Sullivan Macy are eternally intertwined. Helen Keller, blind and deaf since infancy depended on Annie since the age of 6 when the latter was hired to teach her.

   This comprehensive, fascinating and completely riviting biography does an excellent job of separating the two women's lives and analyzing each woman in her own right. Helen takes giant steps beyond the water pump where Annie first impressed upon her the concept of language. It is to this author's credit that the reader does not languish at that water pump, but follows these women throughout their lives.

   The true symbiosis is fully described when other teachers as well as Helen's own mother Kate, try to separate her from Annie. Feeling that her maternal authority had been usurped, Kate understandably wanted to wean Helen from Annie. Each attempt by any person to effect such a change resulted in disaster. Even Annie's marriage to a gifted editor named John Macy ended in an acrimonious split because he felt Helen took up too large a portion of their lives together. From all accounts, Macy seemed to feel that Annie used the same domineering methods she had used on the child Helen with him. He also described Annie as "manipulative and controlling," which certainly seem like apt descriptions of her approach. Resentful of Helen's constant presence and feeling like an odd member of an equally odd triadic relationship, John retreats further from the marriage.

   When Annie dies, Helen is disconsolate; she feels she can't survive without her "Teacher," although she, by that point had been at Annie's side for nearly half a century. A bright, progressive woman named Polly assumes the role of "Teacher," and Helen flourishes under her gentle tutlage and interpretation. Polly is clearly accepting of Helen's challenges and appears to make a sincere effort to see that Helen is fully included in all conversations and activities which she [Polly] is part of. One does not get the sense that Polly is a martyr. One gets the impression that Polly is loyal and determined with no agenda of her own.

   Helen's relationship with Polly does appear to be much healthier than her relationship with Annie. This book fully explores Helen's character, her life experiences and the types of relationships she forged in the post-Teacher years with intelligence and sensitivity.




4. AFB Press is the publishing arm of the American Foundation For The Blind. Helen And Teacher, written by biographer Joseph P. Lash and published by AFB Press, is a magnificent, 811-page opus that is the most comprehensive work ever done on the unique and moving story of a little blind, deaf and dumb girl, and the dedicated woman who brought her into contact with the world, and with people. The basic story is well known to the general public, the subject of stage plays and movies. But in Helen And Teacher, we are treated in exhaustive, definitive detail to this landmark biographical story of the human spirit. Also highly recommended from AFB Press is their wonderful little gift book, To Love This Life: Quotations By Helen Keller which is also available in an audiobook format.



5. There is no need to read anything else on Helen Keller or Annie Sullivan Macy, because it is all included in this incredible biography. This in-depth look at these two remarkable women was both readable and throughly informative. Of all my research on Annie Sullivan, I have found nothing that is not mentioned in Mr. Lash's work; he has truly captured her spirit, along with her triumphant pupil.

4 comments about I Would Be Loved.

1. The pictures and stories that show what alcohol can do to a baby are shocking. More people need to know about this tragedy so it can be prevented. This is a fast reading and fascinating book.



2. I use this book in jr and high schools. The kids are fascinated and amazed. Hopefully, this will prevent some of them from drinking during pregnancy, and save a child from this tragedy. This book is not only a great read, but it's full of must know facts. Very highly researched, and written from her heart.



3. Ms. Falkner provides readers with a dose of realism in living with children exposed prenatally to alcohol. Social service professionals, foster parents and adoptive parents would be wise to read this to gain a better understanding of the devastation FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) causes in the life of the child. Only by facing the truth as a society will we be able to prevent this 100% preventable birth defect. This book would also make great reading for high school students in health classes.



4. In this memory of foster caregiving Ms. Falkner brings together the true flavor of foster parenting in the age of "coke babies" and "crack moms". Little did we- as reader- know that ALCOHOL would prove to be the greater toxin. The first wave of little cocaine and other drug exposed children appeared to do well clinically and even educationally until a certain age, around 5-8 years. Suprisingly when alcohol was the come-down drug, or the drug not-of-choice in times of coke scarcity; the babies did not fare so well. These organic damages were evident from birth and never let up. Alcohol is a legal drug and Ms. Falkner makes it very clear how permanently her clients were affected; how readily accessible this legal teratogen remains and how terribly devastating pre-natal alcohol exposure is. There is no known safe amount of alcohol from conception through nursing. That is the premise of this book. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is the underlying thread which runs throughout. Subtle in its forces of confusion, overwhelm and lifelong vulnerability, a simple working knowledge of FASD is conspicuous by its absence in so many circles [CD treatment, adult child circles, the field of corrections, special education etc]. This book makes a good read for anybody beginning to see how very wide spread and unspoken FASD is still- despite two and a half decades of available wisdom in the public health arena as to the dangers of alcohol use by pregnant women. Judges, sherrifs, social workers, school principals, teachers and aides, as well as daycare providers, latch-key providers and foster caregivers and related professionals can all benefit by taking this book along on their summer breaks. Read something else for fun; because as human and warm as this memoir of a very special family is--you will no longer wonder "what's up with johnny?" or "why jane won't try?". Linda Falkner tells no lies. This is exactly how the system feels when in our homes. This is how pervasive and frightening the developmental delays and other disorders caused by exposing a fetus to alcohol......are when in our lives. Our kids are so very special. They need an outside brain. These biological moms can recover while their children [exposed] can never. As a foster caregiver during that same epoch, I am grateful to Linda Falkner. She has spoken my mind......and more. My heart sighs in sadness.

5 comments about A Whole New Life: An Illness and a Healing (Scribner Classics).

1. THis is a great inspirational book for anyone suffering from a major life changing injury.



2. The best compliment I can provide is I'm buying more copies to give to friends. The book is thought provoking as well as extraordinarily uplifting.



3. Should be mandatory reading of all Medical Students and Residents. Disease process as seen and documentd by a patient. The physical, emotional, and spiritual swings a patient goes through during a long protracted illness.



4. 
   This is a book about severe illness and recovery. It is a true story of hope and healing told without self-pity. Price writes of being faced with a diagnosis of severe cancer of the spine. "Some vital impulse spared me needing to reiterate the world's most frequent and pointless question in the face of disaster - Why? Why me? I never asked it; the only answer is of course: Why not?"
   
   In the same candid, sometimes funny, yet always affecting words, the popular and prolific author tells of his battle with disease. First struck down in 1984, he suffered through surgery, days of agonizing pain and was eventually confined to a wheelchair, unable to function professionally or personally.
   
   He later sought treatment with a hypnotist at Duke University's psychiatric department with beneficial results. Throughout, Price gives credit to the power of prayer, which he calls "the first strong prop beneath my own collapse."
   
   This is not only the story of an illness and recovery, it is the saga of resolve when confronted with a frightening enemy, and it is a tale of family and friendships, the human network that supports us.
   
   Highly recommended.
   
   - Gail Cooke



5. A very honest emotional description of experiences while dealing with a cancer, a surgery, radiation, learning how to live with pain as a companion, learning how to live as a "gimp"--word used by the author, and many other superbly described experiences. Just the right touch, just the right doze. Very subtle and lithe. Joy to read.

2 comments about Second Sight.

1. This was a short book, for which I'm grateful. It would have been much more enjoyable if it was half as long. The aspects of going blind and than regaining sight many years later was intriguing, and those parts of the book I enjoyed. But the author spent (IMHO) much to much time talking like a philosopher, which made it an effort to read.



2. When Robert Hine was coming of age, he learned that, sooner or later, he would be blind. Instead of giving up, Hine went on to earn his maters degree and later his doctorate degree. He became a respected college professor, author, and researcher. Before age fifty, he was completely blind, yet he continued to work. Fifteen years later, circumstances necessitated a risky surgery that couldn't have gone better. Hine's sight was restored. He shares the miracle of his instant return to the sighted world, taking readers along as he reacquaints himself with the visual parts of his life. Hine demonstrates how truly relative "disability" is. WIth some sight, no sight, and restored sight, the author remains motivated and sucessful. This book is both a personal journey and a manual on living with loss and the rewards of not giving up. Hine is a true hero. Amazingly he carries it all off without an ounce of pretention.