2 comments about My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun.

1. This book keeps getting beaten up for not being science or pure sociology, and reviewers keep missing what is excellent about it--the intersection of the writer's own reflections, aspirations and ideas with the violent, dull, and endless world of incarcerated young men. Padnos's honesty about his own motives and feelings give this book a rare freshness. In his attempts to connect the books he loves to the real and brutal world of these men, he illuminates much about the struggles of growth, the uneven progress of our ambitions, and the enduring power of stories to shape all of our lives.



2. Jailhouse literature is a rising trend these days, and it is producing some of the toughest, most original, most disturbing nonfiction on the market. From the lost souls at Guantanamo Bay to the terrifying Aryan gangs that kill and terrorize from behind bars to the dread-soaked life of a Sing Sing guard, a composite portrait is emerging of the mostly invisible Hell that is the American prison system and the dehumanizing effects it has on inmates and their keepers alike.

   Theo Padnos has made a quirky, but brilliant and unforgettable contribution to this literature. From his vantage point as a part-time English teacher in a gothic juvenile detention center in Vermont, Padnos draws us--almost against our will--into a collection of scary, wretched, lost young men who have been obliterated from the view of "respectable" society. In terse, electric, revelatory prose, sparing neither his subjects nor himself, he obliges us to see them for who they inescapably are: versions of ourselves, versions of an America drifting toward apocalypse.

   This is a book that demands attention--more attention, by the way, than it received from the prissy, careless Publishers Weekly reviewer quoted above. In garbling the name of one of the chief characters in this book, Laird (not "Lance"!) Stanard, the PW scribe unwittingly represents the blindness and indifference of a society that is a lot more complacent about its incarcerated alter-egos than perhaps it can afford to be.

No comments about Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Continuum Library of Educational Thought).

No comments about And There Were Giants in the Land: The Life of William Heard Kilpatrick (History of Schools and Schooling, V. 5.).

5 comments about No Child Left Behind? The True Story of a Teacher's Quest.

1. Ms. Blake took me into the classroom and gave me a sense of what really goes on between students, teachers and the administration. Real life, real situations and real emotions make this book a great read. I highly recommend it.



2. Mrs. Blake walks you through the obstacles she had to face as being a teacher to at-risk teenagers.
   
   The book is disturbing, because of the fact that passionate and talented teachers who care about their students have no support from other teachers and administrators.
   
   Maybe, this book will ignite a flame in teachers as well as administrators to care and have compassion again for students.
   
   No child left behind? The true story of a teacher's quest is unpredictable and is very structured in writing style.



3. By the third paragraph I was already hooked. Elizabeth Blake (by the way no relation) had my attention. I needed to read her story, "No Child Left Behind: The True Story of a Teacher's Quest."
   
   Well into her twentieth year as a Medical Technologist in chemistry and hematology Elizabeth Blake felt a strong desire for a change, for a new career path. With a deep-seated sense of calling Elizabeth pursued the necessary education courses and passed the required State Department of Education tests and was ready for a provisional license for teaching.
   
   Helping teen age at-risk kids "pulled her like a magnet." She applied for a position as Science teacher at a small alternative school for at-risk and homeless kids, students that couldn't make it in regular school.
   
   An idealist, Elizabeth was not ready for what faced her on her first day of classroom experience. Her carefully laid plans exploded. Chaos ruled. Beth soon learned that many of her students had a probation officer. Others attended school by a court order. A few wore electronic tracking bracelets on their ankles. Many had to drop out of regular school or didn't fit in and needed alternative options.
   
   Special students like Conejo, Javier, Bobby, Nakisha, Erica and others like them were filled with promise and showed marks of maturity and learning during their classes with Mrs. Blake. This was the motivation that inspired her to renew her contract each year, in spite of duties over and above her classroom teaching, assignments in three different schools. Administrators and district office personnel made a teaching-learning situation an even more difficult challenge in a school where poverty, shooting, and the influence of gangs became a way of life. She only received the support of administration in one of these assignments. The administration and school board gave lip service only to the ministry statement of the district: "Our teachers deal with problem students. Every child deserves and education."
   
   As a Christian Educator, myself, and having worked with a Faith Based Ministry serving the needs of incarcerated juveniles, I can identify with Beth's dilemma. She had a strong love for her students. She was proud to see them learn, mature and grow under her tutelage. The undermining of the administration and. the trauma, riots, chaos became a burden hard to face. She was left heartbroken each time another of her students injured, hospitalized or killed. In desperation she cried out to God for direction and inner strength.
   
   I found Blake's writing style compelling, often heartbreaking, yet positive in attitude and approach. I especially enjoyed the follow up on some of her students who have moved on to enroll in various college programs or to pursue professional training for promising careers.
   
   "No Child Left Behind? The True Story of a Teacher's Quest" is a book that should be read by every school administrator. It should be required reading for educators, teachers and administrators within any inner city school district.
   



4. Author note: Some vendors are offering discounted prices. A couple people I know have purchased discounted books and got their money refunded. If you purchase a book at a discounted price and get your money refunded to you, please order directly from Amazon. You will be fine if you order from Amazon itself.
   Happy reading!
   
   (This post requires a rating.)



5. This compelling book evoked the entire spectrum of feelings and emotions from inspiration, admiration and joy to anger, fear and grief. You made my already high opinion of teachers, even higher. You taught me and you made me think....always signs of a great book!

3 comments about Henrietta B. Seiberling: Ohio's Lady with a Cause, Third Edition.

1. If you had asked me a few years ago about Henrietta B. Seiberling of Akron, Ohio, I would have drawn a complete blank. I hadn't heard of the famous Seiberling rubber tycoons. I hadn't heard of Congressman John Seiberling. I hadn't been to Akron and seen the street name Seiberling. And I certainly didn't know about Henrietta. Yet she lived in the Gate Lodge at the foot of the huge Seiberling estate--the largest in Ohio. She lived there and raised her three kids alone. She persuaded Dr. Bob of A.A. to turn to prayer for help. She responded immediately when help arrived in the form of the "rum hound from New York" who said he was with the "Oxford Group." And she went to great effort to introduce the still-drinking and drunk Dr. Bob to Bill Wilson at her home. Six hours later, the two founders had hit it off. She put Bill Wilson up at the Portage Country Club, and then Bill went to live with Dr. Bob and his wife in the summer of 1935. From that point forward, Henrietta taught, counseled, loved and helped the early AAs and their Christian Fellowship. And this new book by Dick tells details I had never heard before; and they are a rich part of the early A.A. legacy of healing and victory. It's a fine piece of reading. Try it.



2. This little book (which is now the 4th edition)is one of the later additions by author Dick B. to the family of Akron A.A. founders about whom he has written. And it almost seemed as if Henrietta Seiberling had slipped through the cracks since you rarely if ever hear her name mentioned or hear anything about her A.A. role in fellowship meetings. Yet she played such an important part in getting our society under way. She had befriended Dr. Bob and his wife Anne. She had her own problems and knew what the Smiths were going through because of Dr. Bob's drinking situation. When the Oxford Group came to Akron in 1933 to attest to Russell Firestone's conversion and release from alcoholism, Henrietta jumped at the chance to hear the story. She persuaded Dr. Bob's wife Anne and two other ladies to go to the big meeting at the Mayflower Hotel. Hearing the deliverance that was available through Christ, she urged Anne and soon Dr. Bob to attend an Oxford Group meeting regularly. And soon Henrietta, Bob, Anne, and Oxford Groupers T. Henry Williams decided to form a "rump" meeting and hold it at the Williams home. It was unlike the Oxford Group meetings in several ways and certainly because it was a little group of OG people, alcoholics, and families who were meeting primarily to overcome their problems, and soon Dr. Bob's drinking problem. It was Henrietta's revelation from God that impelled her to caution Bob that God had told her by revelation that Bob must not take one drink. But Dr. Bob continued to drink--because he wanted to. Then Henrietta convened a special meeting to deal with Dr. Bob specifically. At the conclusion when Bob had admitted to his alcoholism, she asked him if he would like to join the group in prayer. And, on their knees, they prayed with Dr. Bob for his deliverance. Yet he continued to drink--because he wanted to. And then the miracle happened. Out of the blue, Henrietta received a call from Bill Wilson, an alcoholic and Oxford Grouper, who announced that he needed to talk to a drunk. Understanding the "pass it on" principle of witnessing, Henrietta exclaimed that Bill was "Manna from heaven." He was, to her, the real answer to the group's prayers. And she quickly brought Bob and Bill together at her Gate Lodge home. The men talked for six hours, hit it off well, and decided to start helping drunks. And this, of course, was not an Oxford Group agenda item; so they called the Akron meetings a "clandestine lodge" of the Oxford Group. Henrietta continued to particpate in leading the weekly meetings during the summer of 1935 and long thereafter. She counseled Bob and Bill in Bible matters. And she helped distribute biblical literature that Dr. Bob was reading and recommended. And it was the little band of three (Bob, Anne, and Henrietta)who, along with T. Henry and his wife, developed the program that worked. And they kept at it until Wilson and Smith counted 40 people who were maintaining complete sobriety and that they had developed a cure which could be passed along to others. I love the book, and I love Henrietta's special role as a non-alcoholic woman of compassion and love who helped to found our great society.



3. Henrietta Seiberling has been vilified in recent AA-related biographies as a sort of cancer to AA's history. One writer (Francis Hartigan) suggests that Seiberling was jealous of Bill Wilson because Bill "succeeded where she had failed." Others have relegated her legacy to being nothing more than a door greeter, the woman who "happened" to bring together Bill and Dr. Bob Smith. It seems that anyone who spoke out against certain facets of Bill W.'s style has been thrown under the revisionist bus. [Any doubts? Reference Clarence Snyder, Father Ralph Pfau, Jerome Ellison, and Hank Parkhurst.]
   
   "Henrietta B. Seiberling: Ohio's Lady with a Cause" is a gem. Presented at the dedication of the opening of the Stan Hywet Hall's Gate Lodge, Henrietta's residence, this syllabus blends the efforts of Seiberling the teacher, supporter, and believer with the Akron laboratory as led by Dr. Bob. Henrietta was one of several non-alcoholic friends of early AA who were so vital to the movement's infancy. She helped with the first program's spritual structure and understanding. She counseled the alcoholics and helped them look to the cure: God Almighty. And she was weary of AA's eventual transformation into what she termed a "rotary club" conglomerate. Henrietta knew what worked for the early AAs. She was more than simply a witness to the successes of the Akron "alcoholic squad."
   
   This work covers the main ingredients of the Akron legacy of Alcoholics Anonymous and adds key information as to the real Seiberling role. [Dare I say it, Dick's found a real niche with the syllabus format.] It is amazing to see the true picture develop when all agendas are swept aside. If nothing else, the reader will come away with the understanding that Henrietta was by no means a failure with Dr. Bob. Without her aid, we may not be studying the Alcoholics Anonymous story today. That fact in itself warrants a look into this intriguing piece of history.
   
   -Richard K.
   Author, Researcher
   Haverhill, MA
   February 2005

No comments about Portraits of Influential Chinese Educators (CERC Studies in Comparative Education).

No comments about Nature's Messenger: Memoirs of a prophetic meteorologist.

3 comments about There Will Be Wonderful Surprises.

1. What a great book! I enjoyed reading this book and finished it in one sitting. I have had the honor of meeting Marco the Magi on a couple of occasions and have found him to be one of the most amazing people I have known. I work at Montserrat College of Art, one block from where Marco and Le Grand David perform and have watched them a couple of times with amazement. Marco has even opened his incredible theater to us and we have had three commencement ceremonies there and a couple of convocations at his other historic theater, the Larcom Theater.
   
   I have always wondered, how on earth did he create something so amazing. Avrom has done a wonderful job of lifting the curtain and enabling the reader to understand Marco's life - and wonderful suprises. I strongly encourage those who have an interest in magic, theater, or leadership to read this book!
   
   Brian Bicknell



2. Marco the Magi, an inspiration to immigrants everywhere. A book which takes the reader through time and hardship of a young man leaving his motherland with little other than the clothes on his back and to the present successful person he has become through the fruits of his hard work and sweat of his brow.
   
   The reader will come to admire Marco as much as those who know him personally and know of his kind and generous heart.
   
   The author, Avrom Karl Surath is not just an original member of Le Grand David and his own Spectacular Magic Company, but has also been a close personal friend of Marco's for over four decades. It is little wonder that he has been able to capture the true essesnce of this magnificent individual and of his accomplishments from childhood in Cuba to the present time as producer and director of the magic troupe from Beverly Massachusetts.
   
   Through the years the author has had an opportunity to personally meet many of the people he has interviewed for the book and to be witness to many of the reuniting meetings between Marco and those friends he had been separated from for years.
   
   Maria Ibanez
   Miami, Florida



3. The Life of Marco The Magi - Researched and written over many years by Avrom Karl Surath, an original member of Le Grand David and his own Spectacular Magic Company, this book carries you through Marco the Magi's childhood and youth in Cuba up to the present time as producer and director of Beverly's famed magic troupe.
   
   The author's research brought him in contact with members of the Cuban diaspora who were Marco's friends and members of his theater company when they were all beginning their lives in Cuba. The author was present when they rediscovered him in America fifty years later.The book recounts the revolution and the agony of Marco's forced exile. It covers his seven years of doctoral studies and friendship with Abraham Maslow at Brandeis University. It gives new perspectives on his founding of the Le Grand David stage magic ensemble. It shows how the genial magician has incorporated Maslow's principles in the colorful and often surprising life of the magic company over its thirty-year-plus history.
   
   The book includes forewords by John Fisher, Dr. Ricardo Morant (Fierman Professor of Psychology, emeritus at Brandeis), and Luis Puello, a former student in Santa Clara, Cuba. Chapters contain interviews with Cesareo about how he conceived and directed the shows. It also includes interviews with Le Grand David about his role in the productions.
   
   Pages 228 - Soft Bound

No comments about Minds and Hearts in Praise of God: Hymns and Essays in Church Music in Honor of Hugh T. McElrath.

1 comments about Scraping By in the Big Eighties (American Lives).

1. I first heard Natalia Singer read aloud from her book at a conference a few years back and was both elated and moved. Here was someone writing about the deeply personal struggle involved in dealing with her mother's mental illness, and yet weaving the story against the background of a relatively unmined, under-appreciated decade in our nation's history. We've had the 60's done to death, with almost as much (mis)information and rant having been written about the 70's. But what to make of coming of age in the 80's?
   
   In Singer's capable hands, we experience both her own personal turmoil and growth, as well as that of the nation. Written with a combination of clarity, honesty and true empathy for those close to her during her journey, Singer's book provides a deeply satisfying, entertaining read. Highly recommended.