5 comments about The Vow: The Kim and Krickitt Carpenter Story.

1. Has anyone else noticed that he didn't address this? The double standard lives on, IMHO. One star deducted for this.
   
   Otherwise, it's a beautiful story of love that triumphed over enormous adversity, and yes, they are still married. A movie is in the works and the Carpenters now have two children: Danny, born around the time the book was released, and Lee Ann, born in 2003.
   
   Even if you leave the religious aspect out of it, they stayed together for one reason: They wanted to.



2. A newlywed myself, I bought this as an "airplane book" after seeing the Carpenter's story on "Today" and "Dateline." Not only is the story inspiring, it's also very easy to read. (I'm not the fastest reader in the world, but finished this book in 3 short sittings over a weekend!--it never made it to the plane)

   In a day when the "D" word is an "easy out" this is a great example of how two people put their faith in God and each other to keep a promise.




3. I purchased this book for my wife after seeing the Carpenter's story on NBC's "Dateline". It is a touching story of how one man will go to regain his wife back.

   I have yet to read the book, but I can assume my wife loved based on the fact that she finished the book in one day.




4. The Vow is one of the most amazing TRUE love stories that I have ever read. In our disposable society today, it is so refreshing to read about true love, faith, and commitment.

   Kim Carpenter's wife, Krickitt, was not expected to survive massive head injuries sustained from a head on collision with a truck. Miraculously and against all odds, she did survive. Her faith in God, along with the unrelenting adoration and help of her husband and family (and of course all of the doctors!) helped pull Krickitt back into a functioning world. Unfortunately, Krickitt lost all memory of her brief marriage, engagement and courtship with her husband. Kim held on steadfast to his marriage vows and never, never gave up, despite the unsurmounting odds of their marriage ever surviving such tragedies.

   It is so humbling to read of their devout faith in God, which pulled them both through some incredible life challenges, if not providing miracles in their lives, time and time again. Kim's heartfelt love for Krickitt comes through strongly and I do so admire his integrity, his devotion and the love he has for his wife. This story is a huge testament to the power and bond of love and marriage. I do believe that many men in his position would have walked out and not stood by Krickitt's side.

   The Carpenters renewed their wedding vows for a second time, as Kim had to woo Krickitt all over again, as she had no memory of her husband at all. Their lives will no longer be what it was before the accident and Krickett is not the same person she was before, as is Kim. Both have grown and both have a deeper commitment and love for one another.

   Living a nightmare in every conceivable way, the Carpenter's faith in God gave them the strength and will to persevere. God often gives us challenges in life and we do not understand why, and only later do the "lessons" or the meaning of all become clear to us. The messages imparted in this heart-felt story will hopefully ignite the love shared in all marriages and to help to heal those marriages in trouble and cement even further those solid marriages.

   This story will have you crying and cheering as well as have you questioning what is "really" important in our lives and how faith in God can pull us through even the darkest nightmares. Love and undying faith is what it is all about!

   Kim Carpenter you are one heck of a guy - the world needs more guys like you! Thank you both for a wonderful book - I recommend everyone read this book, especially couples that are engaged.




5. This is a beautiful story of love and commitment. In a world where so many couples get divorced for the sake of convenience, it's nice to read about a couple who stood by their vows (and each other) in the face of tragedy. Some of the chapters with Krickitt's journal entries get a bit long, but over all I loved it!

5 comments about Facing Down Evil: Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage Negotiator.

1. I enjoyed this book. I have great respect for the author's insight and experiences. His views into hostage psychology were enlightening for me and should be an eye opener for those interested in hostage negotiations. I found this book to be a very fast read and very interesting and while I found parts to be somewhat glib, it is recommended for those interested in the workings of the FBI and those with an interest in what the FBI does and the human feelings experienced in the performance of their difficult duties as FBI Agents.



2. I really enjoyed this book and it had many interesting thoughts and details for someone looking to get into the FBI, like myself. However, I felt it layed a little too heavily on his family issues and Christian background. Not that I'm opposed to either, but I had assumed, by the synopsis of the book that the author would go into more detail about high profile cases he had worked on but did the exact opposite. He talked about cases that were probably least known to anyone reading the book. Still, it was a good read but don't pick it up if you expect to read about cases like the Oklahoma City bombing or the Unabomber.



3. I recommend this book to any one who enjoys a true-to-life FBI drama.
   Each chapter told a different edge-of-your seat story about this author's fascinating life as a negotiator/profiler for the FBI.
   Exceptional book and a great read!



4. "Facing Down Evil" is a legitimate, keenly observed look at the FBI and Hostage Negotiations by one of it's key players. Van Zandt brings a unique perspective of the Bureau to the page. He is real in his emotion and attitude and doesn't play the glory card so many others do in their memoirs. You actually feel as if you walk a mile in his shoes and it is a tough, yet gratifying path. Van Zandt succesfully intertwines stories of his personal life with his carreer and in doing so draws his audience in and keeps them wanting more untill the last page is turned.



5. I was actually disapointed in this book. Given the authors background I was hoping for a book that went into some detail into his methods, beliefs and techniques of crisis negotiation. What I got was a very light but enjoyable read that covered his career in the FBI (including his battles with the beaucracy which I felt did not add to the story) and four incidents of crisis negotiating, which had some good basic tips. Waco got a mention - but only to say he will leave it to the next book - rather frustrating.
   
   My recommendation is, if you want a book on techniques, buy one of the others on the market (for example Van Zandt's fellow ex-agent Fred Lanceley's "On Scene Guide for Crisis Negotiators", or even Frank Bolz 'Hostage Cop"), but if you want a good read and an interesting story then this would be a good book to get.

No comments about A Secret Symmetry: Sabina Spielrein Between Jung and Freud.

1 comments about Knowing Stephanie.

1. "My body and soul do not function as separate parts. I pieced together a new self, unified and wonderfully alive." ~Stephanie Byram
   
   "Knowing Stephanie" is a beautiful gift and I am amazed at how a woman I will never meet in this life has affected my life in a profound way. I am also deeply touched by the sheer beauty of the souls who surrounded Stephanie during a time when she became so very human and vulnerable.
   
   Stephanie had a dream for her life. She was pursuing a career and wanted to start a family when her life turned into a nightmare instead of the dream she had envisioned.
   
   After becoming concerned about a painful, swollen breast, all the tests showed the presence of a tumor. At the young at of 33, she was diagnosed with a highly aggressive breast cancer. Doctors said she only had a 50 percent chance of surviving five years.
   
   Stephanie refused to see this situation as an obstacle to her dreams. Although she struggled with cancer for eight years, she decided to get married, buy a home, earn her Ph.D. and even travel the world. Stephanie didn't give up on life because life decided to take her on a path that would show her the limits of her own endurance.
   
   Knowing Stephanie is a combination of Charlee Brodsky's photographs and Stephanie Byram's words. There is also an wonderful essay by Jennifer Matesa to give us a story of the medical journey without being overly clinical.
   
   In "Reconstructing a Life" we learn how Stephanie found out about her cancer and how chemotherapy works. We finally understand what causes the nausea and why patients undergoing chemo go bald and experience neutropenia.
   
   In this collaborative effort, you will meet Stephanie and learn about her struggles. You will see how she took charge of her own life and relive the experiences of chemotherapy and doctor visits through photographs. There are also beautiful notes from her mother, father and niece. She makes of list of everything her friends and family did to help her including telling her is was "OK to cry."
   
   Stephanie had weaknesses and strengths and both are portrayed in this story. We are invited to share her love of gardening, the feelings she experiences as she wondered how men would accept her after her surgery, how she is suddenly confronted with her mortality and how she uses the experiences in her life to heal instead of withdrawing into the darkness of despair.
   
   A portrait of a woman who refused to see cancer as anything less than an opportunity to embrace life in all its beauty and sadness and learn from the experience. Her optimism and determination is an inspiration to us all.
   
   "What is my future: love, laughter, gardens, family, friends, spirituality, travel ...more of what I love in life. I surround myself with positivity, gentleness, challenge, and hope. I be, I am, until I pass, as we all shall." ~ Stephanie Byram
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

3 comments about Acknowledged A Man.

1. After reading this book I was so greatful for the excellent care hospitals now give.I am also thankful for all this family has done.



2. It is an excellent resource which can help us all to deal with the difficulties of life and use them to create a better world where the wounded are cared for with heart, not just hands.



3. I read with intererst the story of the Del Buono family as they fought for services for their son/brother. Barbara obviously has tremendous faith courage and strength. Her husband and children, esp. Mary, are also amazing. As the mother of a brain injured son I also am caught in the maze of TBI--and it is not pretty. Barbara has done a good job describing nursing home situations. Even though Nick's nursing home experience was years ago conditions in these homes, at least in Indiana, for TBI survivors has not changed enough. Reading this book has helped give me the strength to continue to fight for services for my TBI son.

2 comments about Helen Keller.

1. Essays and transcripts of speeches by Helen Keller, which reveal her true concerns and her work on behalf of others. For example, she advocated on behalf of public health measures to prevent causes of blindness. She advocated for social and economic reforms which she believed were morally just and socially necessary.
   
   Keller's concern for others shines through this text, transcending the specific political alignments she felt were necessary to achieve her goals, so that any reader of any political persuasion will find herein much value.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. Many people have heard of Helen Keller, the first deafblind person to graduate from college, an author, and the individual honored on Alabama's state quarter. Many fewer actually know what sort of person Keller was, what she stood for and believed in. Keller's activism on behalf of women's suffrage, pacifism, civil liberties, and radical socialism have largely been stripped from the sanitized images of her in popular consciousness. This short collection of some of Keller's best-known radical writings can help address this ignorance and raise consciousness about an American radical and militant socialist most often remembered as little more than a "poor little blind girl".
   
   In "Helen Keller: Rebel Lives", editor John Davis brings together a collection of letters, articles, and essays (all written by Keller except for one interview) outlining her radical social visions. Davis opens the volume with a 14-page biographical sketch, chronology, and introductions to the documents written with Karen Fletcher. The remaining 75 pages are organized into four sections, each including 5-7 brief documents, that explore Keller's views on disability and class (and the links between them); socialism and industrial unionism; women and women's suffrage; and war, militarism, and pacifism. Also included is a very short bibliography of electronic and printed resources for more information.
   
   The documents I found most interesting were those relating to Keller's involvement with the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a radical anticapitalist union. Even though I was already familiar with Keller's revolutionary socialism, Keller's lively and witty articles on socialism and the IWW were a pleasure to read even with the burden of hindsight. I can only imagine that readers who know little about Keller the radical leftist will find these writings much more of a revelation, and more interesting as a result.
   
   This volume is in no sense a complete biography of Keller. It includes only introductions to her activism and revolutionary politics, and could have benefited greatly from providing background and analysis that was both more comprehensive and more in-depth. However, this slim volume is plenty to burst the bubble of sanitized history that surrounds popular views of Keller, and help readers get past her whitewashed image and learn a bit about the least-remembered aspects of the real person. It may also be of special value to teachers looking for primary sources on Keller or any of her fields of activism.

4 comments about Ernie Davis : The Elmira Express, the Story of a Heisman Trophy Winner.

1. I am the official biographer of Ernie Davis. Gallagher and I were researching this story around the same time. His is a blend of quotes from many people of that period, following through Ernie's sports life. "A Halo for a Helmet" is the actual life story of Ernie, told in a novel form, absolutely true in every part. It is a read you can't put down. Congratulations to Gallagher on helping the film to happen, now read the story that will touch you for a lifetime, "A Halo for a Helmet: The Whole Story of Ernie Davis".



2. The Elmira Express
   
   I love the Twin Tiers in the autumn. The days are still warm; the nights cool, giving birth to vibrant fall colors. The hills seem almost alive, and the threat of colder weather is a promise on the wind. Fall in the Twin Tiers ushers in a revered tradition. When it's autumn in America, it's time for football. Across the land, in big cities and small towns, in large stadiums and rural high schools--the sights, sounds, and colors of the game are all around us. The common thread is the game, and the athletes that practice and play it with heart and determination to the very best of their abilities.
   
   Few players have shown more heart or determination than Ernie Davis. Davis was born on Dec. 14, 1939, in New Salem, Pa. His parents separated shortly after his birth, and his father was soon killed in an accident. He grew up in poverty in Uniontown, a coal-mining town 50 miles south of Pittsburgh, where caring grandparents raised him.
   
   At 12, Davis moved to live with his mother and stepfather in Elmira. He went on to become Elmira's favorite son, both as an outstanding athlete and as a respected and well-loved citizen. Ernie's talent bloomed, and the honors came early and often. He led Elmira Free Academy to a 52-game winning streak in basketball and as a Syracuse sophomore helped the Orangemen gain their only national football championship.
   
   As a senior in 1961, he became the first African American athlete to win the Heisman trophy and was the number one pick in the 1962 NFL draft. And then, suddenly, he was gone. He was diagnosed with leukemia the summer before his rookie season. He never played in the NFL, but succumbed to the disease less than a year later. Though Ernie never played a game for the Cleveland Browns, they retired his number 45, worn only in practice.
   Davis was easily recognized as a great athlete, but his high school coach, Marty Harrigan, summed up what many felt for Ernie Davis when he said, "Everyone knew Ernie's athletic greatness, but few realized what a great human he was. His concern for his fellow man, and his affection for children, was sincere."
   
   I think this is what moved me the most when I read The Express, The Ernie Davis Story by Robert C. Gallagher. There are lots of talented professional athletes today, and most of them are more than willing to inform you just how gifted they are, but the media exposure never changed him. "Ernie was the same kid at the end as he was at the start," said Jim Flynn, his high school basketball coach.
   Ernie believed he was fortunate to be so gifted and never took his ability for granted. He worked hard both on the field and in the classroom. "Ernie was always the first one on the practice field and the last to leave." Many athletes, assured of a college scholarship, would have coasted in class, but "Ernie worked hard when it wasn't popular to get good grades. The teachers loved him. He never would excuse himself from work and say he had too many outside activities." Ernie intended to play professional football, but he knew that career expectancy in the NFL was only a few seasons, so he wanted to be prepared for another career when he retired from football. He believed that education would lead to social and economic success.
   
   Syracuse University experienced its greatest football success during Ernie's career. The Orangemen became the national champions and winners of the Cotton Bowl. Four days before the game, Ernie pulled a hamstring while practicing place kicks. It was doubtful right up until game time whether he could play. Before leaving the game in the fourth quarter, he scored two touchdowns, including a then Bowl-record pass play, scored twice on two-point conversions, and intercepted a pass that led to Syracuse's final touchdown.
   
   He was voted the game's Most Valuable Player. Davis was to have received his MVP award at the awards banquet that night. But when bowl officials said that only white players were invited to the dinner and that Davis would have to leave after picking up his trophy, the Syracuse team refused to attend.
   
   It was Ernie's performance against the University of Pittsburgh that same year which inspired the nickname "The Elmira Express." Elmira Star-Gazette sports writer Al Mallette coined the phrase. Penn State coach Joe Paterno had this to say about Ernie Davis: "He's the kind of runner you hate to coach against; you can't instruct a boy to tackle a man if he can't catch him."
   
   It was December 1961 when Ernie won the Heisman trophy. Winning the Heisman is a significant accomplishment regardless of the year or player, but it was a significant racial breakthrough at a time with segregation was just beginning to become a social issue. Today, black players often win the award, and it might be hard for his contemporaries to appreciate his achievement.
   
   When he was in New York to receive the Heisman, Davis was treated with media coverage usually reserved for national heroes. President John Kennedy was in the city at the time and asked to see Ernie, a visit that thrilled him. "Imagine," Davis said, "a president wanting to shake hands with me."
   
   Ernie was the number one pick for the 1962 National Football League draft following his senior year. The Washington Redskins had the initial selection, but soon traded him to the Cleveland Browns, who signed him to a three-year no-cut, no-trade $65,000 contract with a $15,000 signing bonus, a new record for a rookie.
   
   The next summer while training for the upcoming All-Star game, Ernie awoke with swelling in his neck. A trainer sent him to the hospital, and doctors soon discovered the leukemia. At the time, Ernie and the public were told only that he had a "blood disorder". He wasn't told it was leukemia until October, after he had been in and out of the hospital. "Either you fight or you give up," Davis said in remembering how he felt when told the news.
   
   The disease went into remission, and Davis kept planning on pro football. He practiced with the Browns. Coach Paul Brown, heeding the advice of medical people who warned him of the risks, did not play Davis. The next spring, Davis noticed more swelling and entered the hospital again. Two days later, on May 18, he died in his sleep. In Elmira, more than 10,000 citizens passed the Neighborhood House on May 21 where Ernie lay in state. Flags in the city were flown at half-mast. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, also the burial place of Mark Twain.
   
   Universal Pictures has finished production on the film adaptation of Davis's life. The movie is slated for release Oct. 10. The book is available now. Stop by your local bookstore or library and check it out. You can catch Kevin tailgating at From My Shelf Books in Wellsboro. Stop by or tackle it online at www.wellsborobookstore.com



3. The Elmira Express (on which the movie, The Express, is based) may not be the most literary piece of work ever written, but it the real story of Ernie Davis' legacy. The movie may make for good "family viewing", but this book explains the TRUE story of just how brave, unselfish and caring this young man was, right up until his death. The book explains the indepth accounts of not only Ernie Davis' plight, but also of those who coached him, loved him, and experienced his untimely death. If you have a teen-ager, please try to get him (or her) to read this book. It may just change your child's view of the world. Well... OK...Just maybe.



4. This isn't the greatest book, but a very good and emotional read about a guy that a lot of people should strive to be. Hopefully the movie coming out next year will capture the true heart of Ernie Davis.

3 comments about In Search of My Husband's Mind.

1. I find this book very inspiring. She's a very strong woman



2. If you are a little suspicious of the medical profession and if you fear the day when you have to take a loved one to a hospital please read this. Or better yet, give it to whomever might be taking you. This is not only alarming but it is a wonderful personal love story. It puts it all in perspective. If you want to read a great book that nobody seems to know about, this is a great discovery.



3. When we're sick, we need to think the doctor knows enough, and cares. But something went horribly wrong in the medical treatment of Monroe Hirsch. The change in his personality was sudden, unexplained, even denied by the health professionals who did know the reason.

   This is a love story and true, told by Monroe's wife. Seeing the man who'd loved her replaced by a beligerent and distrusful stranger, she tells how she sought to find answers, and any way at all to help him.

   Winnie had every reason to expect competence and honesty from doctors, having seen it at work for so long. Monroe was an eminent optometrist, Dean of the School of Optometry at the University of California at Berkeley. Winnie had worked with him in his practice and knew the demanding standards he set for himself. But professionalism is like every other form of goodness -- an ideal to build again every day. The best of us admit to falling short somehow, daily. This story reminds us that some don't admit to falling short.

   Deliberate lies and false hopes make dirty wounds. The cruelest aspect of the deceit Winnie faced was that it turned her own strengths against her. In situations of alienation, fair-minded people look first to themselves. In the face of difficulty, responsible people try harder. With intelligence and courage, Winnie battled alone and lonely, often against herself, for something already lost.

   There's redemption here too. Winnie did find answers, and did have some last months of better knowledge and a kind of peace before her husband died. And now her story carries a powerful message. Even in a medical crisis, we must trust our own persistent convictions. And we're entitled to stay in control.

   I was moved by this book -- angered, inspired, saddened and empowered. I wish everyone, particularly every woman could read it.

No comments about Fly Like a Bumblebee: A Blind Magician Shares His Most Powerful Secrets.

No comments about A Life of Agony and Praise.