War Ends, Love Endures

The lives and stories of two WWII veterans and their baby boomer children show that love and marriage are able not only to endure but can thrive in shared happiness.

Ron and Crystal’s anecdotes of humorous and moving childhood incidents, coming of age stories, falling in love moments, wartime separation, and cultural differences are as entertaining as they are practical. Among the more somber yet crucial memories are witness accounts and records of victims of the Holocaust. “We will never forget.” The varied stories and examples in 150 Years of Marriage are not only interesting but provide insights and models for all.

To the characters in this book “till death do us part” is not a quaint saying associated with traditional marriage. It is a commitment that creates strong bonds holding a family together through thick and thin. It enables them to share happiness where whole family joy is greater than the sum of its parts. Laugh, cry, think, learn, and be inspired for your own life and the lives of those you love.

A Darker Shade of Pale tells of Beryl Crosher-Segers' family and community life in apartheid-era South Africa. With a piercing narrative, she details the injustices, humiliation and challenges she faced under the brutal 1950s reign of the National Party.

Through her multi-racial heritage, Beryl was born into a life of inequality and hardship. This is the remarkable story of resilience and courage to power forward toward a better life, to love in the shadow of hate.

A Darker Shade of Pale is a story of hope in the face of despair and of courage when faced with insurmountable obstacles.

"A MUST read primer for anyone who is interested in a public health service career." –Amazon Reviewer

At its heart, A Life in Dark Places is an adventure story, its heroes the men and women who have risked their lives to minister to the vulnerable. Paul writes masterfully about what he has seen and experienced with a keen eye for detail and a leavening of humor.

The author has found himself a participant in some of the most dramatic and horrific events of the past half century--America's defeat in Vietnam and the subsequent "boat people" crisis; the fall of the Shah of Iran; the unspeakable acts committed by violent groups in sub-Saharan Africa, the tension along the Pakistan-Afghan border following 9-11, the flood of refugees unleashed by the war in Syria.

A Life in Dark Places is more than a memoir of one man's journey and evolution. It is a wakeup call to America and its citizens.

Our passions have a way of doing that for us: extending our lives

In 1971, a father and son ventured out of their apartment in New Jersey to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard to try their hand at surfcasting. That trip began a life of Spring trips to the waters’s edge in search of bluefish and striped bass. Fifty years later, Mike Carotta takes readers along for thirty straight nights and days of fishing.

This is not a How To book. It does not contain the secrets to a fantastic fishing career. Rather, hard fishing has a way of revealing lessons from the shore and the people who gather there—binding together strangers in conversations and gestures, failures and successes, new learnings, and, eventually, creating old friends.

Through it all, more than fish are caught—and shared. The result is a thoughtful collection of essays on life with some notes from the trade filtered in. Join Mike on his pilgrimage back to where the distance between heaven and earth gets a little thinner and the real "keepers" of the trip go far beyond the fish on the end of the line.

"I am not a good surf fisherman. There are no helpful fishing hints here. This is a collection of recollection: stories of saltwater characters, occurrences, and conversations. Like stars in the night sky, they are best enjoyed when you get some distance from the lights of other stuff." – Excerpt from A Long Cast

Hadley Ferguson and Catherine Armsden, a painter and a writer, have each spent years seeking a diagnosis for their troubling symptoms. When they are finally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, they meet in an online support group and quickly become long-distance friends. But for Hadley, the shared diagnosis is still not correct. She embarks on a traumatic, six-state odyssey that Catherine documents in vivid detail.

Part critical commentary on the American healthcare system and part primer on Parkinson's disease, An Alert, Well-Hydrated Artist in No Acute Distress tackles many topics beyond Hadley’s and Catherine’s personal experience, such as the causes and treatment of Parkinson’s; navigating the doctor-patient relationship; so-called cognitive errors made in diagnosis; and the role of empathy in healthcare. This moving memoir will resonate with anyone who's had difficulty getting a diagnosis or lives with chronic disease, but will also inspire all readers with Hadley’s and Catherine’s ultimately victorious parallel quests to achieve the most fulfilling creative work of their careers.

"Climbing Lessons stays close to home, with the unflinching discoveries that come from birth, marriage, fatherhood and death, all told with Bascom’s great powers of honesty, humor, and deep sincerity.” –Thomas Fox Averill, Emeritus Creative Writing Professor at Washburn University, O. Henry Award winner, and author of the novel Found Documents from the Life of Nell Johnson Doerr

When Doc Bascom tries to show his grade school sons how to climb a huge sycamore, he ends up dropping 12 feet flat-out on his back. Stunned, he finally gasps, “So that’s how it’s done.” And in that moment, he becomes an emblem for all fathers—trying to lead the way, failing, then getting up and trying again.

This “climbing lesson” is just one of 40 playful, sometimes poignant stories by award-winning author Tim Bascom, who illustrates the special bond between fathers and sons—and how that relationship must change with time. When Tim takes his own turn at fathering, he realizes that his devoted toddlers are turning into unimpressed teenagers. No longer the hero he had hoped to be, he must accept a new, flawed version of himself, not unlike his father before him.

These brief inter-linked stories show that abiding affection can still prevail, bringing fathers and sons closer, even as they tackle the steepest parts of the climb.

Starting in 1875 and covering a span of almost 100 years, three missionary families exhibited bravery, endurance, and sacrifice when their very lives were at risk.

William David Powell and his wife, Mary Florence Mayberry Powell, were missionaries to “Wild West” Texas then Mexico.

In the period 1910-1947 (including during Japanese occupation) their daughter Florence and her husband, Hendon M. Harris, were missionaries to Kaifeng, China.

Their son Hendon M. Harris Jr. and his wife Marjorie Weaver Harris served as missionaries to Taiwan and Hong Kong. Referencing 55 books and 39 articles, this biography gives numerous firsthand accounts from all three families.

"Rademacher’s memoir is an honest portrayal of the confusion of discernment and the comfort of abiding and trusting in God."
– Publishers Weekly

"Not only has Kate been found (by God), but she has been given something to do in service to the Kingdom. Hopefully this book will be read by believer and unbeliever alike because it is an honest narrative of a person of faith."
– Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Time Magazine's "America's Best Theologian" (2001), Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law at Duke University, and author of Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir

In Following the Red Bird, Kate Rademacher describes how she came to embrace a relationship with Christ after maintaining a pick-and-choose approach to spirituality for many years. The image from the book’s title becomes a metaphor for the ways Rademacher unexpectedly began to experience God in her life and how she slowly learned to follow the breadcrumbs that God seemed to leave out for her.

Part memoir and part meditation on Christian teachings, Following the Red Bird explores not only the why of Christianity but the how. How do we learn to listen for God’s voice? How do we develop and sustain a relationship with Jesus? How do we apply Christian teachings to everyday life? Rademacher describes her journey of discovering answers to these questions one step at a time as she stumbled into a new life in the church. Both the searcher and the long-time believer will benefit from Rademacher’s experience and insights.

The school careers of two teenage girls who lived across town from each other ––one black, one white–– were altered by a court-ordered desegregation plan for Durham, NC in 1970. LaHoma and Cindy both found themselves at the same high school from different sides of a court-ordered racial “balancing act.” This plan thrust each of them involuntarily out of their comfort zones and into new racial landscapes. Their experiences, recounted in alternating first person narratives, are the embodiment of desegregation policies, situated in a particular time and place. Cindy and LaHoma’s intertwining coming of age stories are part of a bigger story about America, education and race--and about how the personal relates to the political.

This bestselling dual memoir covers the two women’s life trajectories from early school days to future careers working in global public health, challenging gender biases, racial inequities, and health disparities. LaHoma and Cindy tell their stories aware of the country's return to de facto school segregation, achieved through the long-term dismantling of policies that initially informed their school assignments. As adults, they consider the influence of school desegregation on their current lives and the value of bringing all of us into conversation about what is lost or gained when children go to school in black and white.

Battling to beat cancer, finding a cure, and fighting to survive can become all-encompassing.

Like most people, when diagnosed with cancer, David only wanted physical healing. God had bigger plans and used David’s cancer experience to heal many areas of brokenness in his life. By the time of his first cancer-free report, two years later, his life had been radically transformed.

In How Cancer Cured Me, David Gira, seasoned pastor and cancer survivor, shares fifteen ways God used his cancer experience, with all its challenges, to heal his life in addition to ultimately providing physical healing. The topics range from becoming more courageous to finding his get-up-and-go. David also writes about the ways God used the cancer journey to positively impact his most important relationships.

With refreshing honesty and humor, David tells his cancer story, shares inspiring stories of other cancer patients, and reflects on relevant Scripture.

How Cancer Cured Me brings together the author’s theological training, pastoral experience, and his personal narrative. Cancer patients will find a helpful companion. Christians will be inspired by his testimony. The less religious will appreciate his approachable and authentic voice. All will enjoy his candor and humor.

Move into Abundance and Freedom

You are not alone if you've struggled with not feeling like you will ever be "enough." This can happen when you realize you aren't living the life you want, something dramatically uproots the plan you had for your life, or even when comparison slips in and it seems everyone else's lives are perfect and alluring and yours feels empty.

There are many unseen forces that shape our lives—expectations from society, culture, and religion that impact how we feel about ourselves and our lives. This can lead us to feel like frauds or imposters in the life we're living day to day. Weeding through this slog can feel like walking with weights on our ankles as we go through the motions without really engaging in our lives.

Seen and Heard seeks to reveal the unseen forces holding you back and keeping you from the life you're desperate to live all the while providing a path forward of how it can be different and empowering you with the tools to live the life you dream of.

Songs for the Forgotten: A Psychiatrist's Record offers a strong practical component also, providing information about trauma and healing. [...] You'll be inspired and renewed after reading this important work." –Steve Pemberton, acclaimed speaker, advocate, and bestselling author of A Chance in the World

Combines pivotal moments from Julia Burns’s Southern upbringing in the 1970s with case histories accumulated through three decades of treating psychiatric patients, particularly those drowning in the cultural epidemic of child abuse. This book is her journal of rupture and return.

The reader will follow the author’s hard-won reconciliation. In telling panoply of stories, including her own, Burns argues for the interconnectedness of humanity: when one child is hurt, our humanity is violated, and we are all responsible for undoing that damage. If no one steps up to save children, to show them they are worth saving, the cycle of abuse will continue.

Songs for the Forgotten offers a strong practical component, providing information about trauma and healing. Burns illustrates how hope and wholeness can come from remembrance and telling.

"A sincere tribute to professionals who do not always receive the recognition and support they deserve, Stewards of Humanity is a memoir about healing through—and from—humanitarian work." —Foreword Reviews

When the world turns away from the horrors of war, genocide, famine, and natural disasters, the stewards of humanity run toward the suffering. They stand as a thin line between life and death for thousands of people who will never know their stories. These stewards are neither heroes nor saints—they are ordinary people with ordinary struggles who rise to extraordinary challenges. They are beacons of light in the darkness of humanitarian crisis.

With an unflinching view into some of the worst humanitarian crises of our lifetime, author Robert Macpherson—US Marine combat veteran turned aid worker—tells the stories of the men and women who have courageously confronted evil and injustice from Somalia to Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Throughout his narrative, Robert challenges us to consider our place in humanity and our own role as stewards.

One Woman's Journey of Advocacy, Faith, and Positivity

“You only have three to five years to live.”

On the day she was diagnosed with HIV and thrust from the confines of her suburban mom bubble into the scary and unpredictable world of AIDS, Julie promptly found herself fighting for her life and rights amidst a disease she never imagined would hijack her future.

With three young children, her family began making every effort to create lasting memories while simultaneously managing the debilitating side effects of early meds. They hid her illness for four years, fearing her children would suffer stigma and discrimination often experienced in the early days of the disease.

Her diagnosis began a path of advocacy, faith, and positivity despite her life’s detour. Now, Julie advocates for better healthcare outcomes for women through the personal stories and reflections from her life. Her health journey creates space for those walking through their own family or medical crises to be seen and supported.

Inspired by his immigrant physician mother, who surmounted multiple obstacles in her forty-five year-career, Dr. Friedman worked through a twenty-year battle with depression to realize the life-saving power of committing himself to love, spirit, and service. This story of his personal journey toward wholeness offers thoughtful advice for those who suffer and encouragement for those aspiring to careers in the healing arts.

Where Spirit Touches Matter: A journey toward wholeness is a book about health, healing, and hope by a physician who has spent more than thirty-five years helping patients find relief from pain and suffering.

Dr. Friedman writes: "On a journey to Tibet, while circling what is widely considered the holiest mountain on Earth, Mount Kailash, which sources the five great rivers of Asia with its runoff, I heard the myth that one of the rivers, the Saraswati, existed only in nonmaterial form. In this form, it contributed a spiritual and vitalistic energy to the holy Ganges, which arises at the convergence of four rivers in the Himalayan region of India.

"Eight years later, on my last journey to India, I stood in front of the gorge where the Saraswati River originates, and I wept. I wept because I saw that the nonmaterial had become material, and that the chasm between the mythological and the physically real had been bridged. This is the meeting place of spirit and matter that I have pursued in endless forms throughout my life.

"This book chronicles a sampling of my experiences of that space between. It honors the continuously moving stream running through all of time and space, filled wholly with the presence of a loving consciousness. I am grateful to have been a participant in the flow of that stream and to have been given the opportunity to return whatever love I can into that current."

Growing up in the suburbs in the 1950s was a completely different experience than growing up after the year 2000. Just about everything was self-created and directed. From a very early age, we left our house right after breakfast and would return in time for supper. No parent or adult told us what to do to occupy our time. Mostly, they told us what not to do and we paid little attention to that advice.

Each new adventure took us to its logical or illogical conclusion. Sometimes a lesson was learned, more often than not the hard way. This is a journey through those experiences, many of which are not repeatable today.

Growing up is mental, and growing older is physical. Both form integral parts of the experiential library. Whether in the late 1800s, the mid-1950s or now, it is the best time to be alive in an ever-changing world.

Join C.M. Rip Cunningham in his recollections of what it means to grow up in an ever-shifting environment, supplemented by excerpts from As the Twig is Bent by Dr. John H. Cunningham.

A journey in defying cancer

In this story about her harrowing battle with a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer, Dr. Julia Burns encourages readers to take charge of their own health by seeking multiple medical opinions and fighting for a treatment plan that meets their emotional and spiritual needs as well as their physical needs.

Chapter by chapter Julia shares lessons learned from her own journey through cancer. The numbers were abysmal: her odds of survival were so low some wondered why she should even bother fighting. Julia didn't care what the numbers said—she defied the odds and found a path where few had dared to look.

Julia Burns inspires others who face seemingly insurmountable challenges to take heart, to advocate for themselves, and to pursue the path that makes them feel well and whole—no matter the odds.

An elderly mother, an aging son, and life’s final journey
"Winter Stars is a gift — a modern classic of frontier literature documenting the uncertain journey into the country of caregiving." –Michael J. Fox.

Dave Iverson was a busy broadcast journalist recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he decided to do something he’d never quite imagined: He moved in to take care of his 95-year-old mom. Winter Stars is the moving story of their ten-year caregiving journey.

"The resulting memoir is a love story you won't soon forget," writes Elizabeth Farnsworth, former chief correspondent for The PBS NewsHour and author of A Train Through Time.

By the end of this decade, 74 million Americans will be over the age of 65, including every member of the Baby Boom generation. The pandemic prompted more Americans to consider caring for their parents at home, but as Iverson learned, the gritty, life-changing reality caregiving delivers requires more than good intentions. He didn’t know that his mom’s dementia would pose more challenges than his Parkinson’s. He didn’t know he’d be capable of getting so angry. He didn’t know that becoming a caregiver means experiencing love and loss, anger and insight—usually when exhausted and often on the same day. And he didn’t know that moving in with his mom would challenge and change him more than any other life experience.

"A deeply moving memoir, Winter Stars is still more than that — it is a guide to finding the help we all need, in one way or another, as life poses new and different challenges," praises Ron Elving, Senior Editor and Correspondent, NPR

For the vast number of families who are confronting —or will soon confront—a caregiving journey, Winter Stars offers an intimate, unvarnished portrait of the challenges, choices, and life lessons that lie ahead.

"Honest, comforting, and true, Winter Stars is a testament to the power of family love," says Ann Packer, best-selling author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and Songs Without Words.

When Scott Terry was ten, he embraced the Jehovah's Witness faith and their prediction that the world would soon end. As an adolescent, he prepared for Armageddon and prayed for God to strip away his growing attraction to other young men. By adulthood, Terry found himself no longer believing in the promised apocalypse. Over time, he left the Witness religion and became a cowboy, riding bulls in the rodeo. He overcame the hurdles of parental abuse, religious extremism, and homophobia and learned that Truth is a concept of honesty rather than false righteousness.

Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth: How a Gay Child was Saved from Religion offers an illuminating glimpse into a child’s sequestered world of abuse, homophobia, and religious extremism. Scott Terry’s memoir is a compelling, poignant and occasionally humorous look into the Jehovah’s Witness faith-a religion that refers to itself as The Truth—and a brave account of Terry’s successful escape from a troubled past.

Christine Amoroso did everything right to achieve the perfect life. Falling for a sandy-haired surfer and landing pregnant at seventeen, she knew the “right” thing to do. She could have it all, even if in the “wrong” order: beautiful children, a good marriage, and approval from those around her. Until it all fell apart.

Ever the overachiever, she continued to take on too much, finishing college with two kids in tow. But as her responsibility grew, so did her resentment. A stressed-out young mom, an inattentive husband, and the attention of another man made the perfect recipe for disaster. Hard work and responsible decisions had not guaranteed a happy life or lasting love. She had failed, and now she floundered as she tried to find a fresh start. She turned inward for answers rather than seeking external validation.

After a few missteps, she slowly learned her worth couldn’t come from a list of accolades, achievements, or some guy. Her story is an earnest and humorous account of what it’s like to be a modern American woman trying to have it all and the dangers of losing oneself in the process.

Bare Naked in Public is a must-read memoir for burnt-out overachievers seeking answers about their worth while finally forgiving their past.