Bøger udgivet af Sartoris Literary Group

HOW DID THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THE PARTY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, MUTATE INTO A WHITE IDENTITY POLITICAL ENTITY THAT TODAY PROMOTES THE RACIST VIEWPOINTS OF THE OLD CONFEDERACY?

This is a memoir of the star and subject of the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Art and Craft," the story of the search for America's greatest living art forger, Mark Landis. For more than three decades, Landis donated artwork done by the world's greatest painters, to America's premier art museums, explaining that the valuable artwork had been in his family for years and needed a permanent home. Sometimes he showed up at the museum dressed as a Jesuit Priest, other times dressed as wealthy Southern landed gentry. His presentation was very impressive, but it was all a lie.Sometimes Landis would ask the museums where they intended to display the artwork and they accommodated him by showing him exactly where his donated masterpieces would hang. Eventually a museum official at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art became suspicious. As a result, 30 years of art donations, which were accepted as authentic at the time by America's top experts on fine art, were investigated by the FBI and determined to be forgeries done by Landis, who used art materials purchased from Walmart to carry out the deception. To make his frames look old, he simply rubbed them down with coffee grinds and banged the frames around a bit. Landis was not arrested for his forgeries because he never asked for money for the artwork and he never claimed them as donations on his income tax returns. In other words, he broke no laws with his deceptions. However, he did attract the attention of two New York-based documentary makers, Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman, whose 2014 treatment of the story, exposed his scheme.By any measure Mark Landis is a master art forger, arguably the best con-man America has produced since Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Unlike the art that he gifted, which tended to be bold and dramatic, it turns out that Landis is a diminutive, somewhat shy, late middle-aged Walter Mitty-type of man who lives in anonymity in small-town Mississippi, where he meets the legal standards for being a vulnerable adult. Despite the efforts of some to make him into a common criminal, his art fantasies are a threat to no one but himself. More likely, he falls in the autism spectrum and probably qualifies as a savant. According to Landis, he has an IQ of 150, putting him in the genius category. He is a prolific reader and has lived in the Philippines, throughout Europe, San Francisco and Chicago, where he attended the Chicago Art Institute.Complicating the story is the fact that Landis has spent a good deal of his life in mental institutions and mental health group homes after being diagnosed as psychotic, specifically schizophrenic. The Menninger Clinic told his mother he would have to be confined to mental institutions for the remainder of his life. In Mississippi, he was placed in group homes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Says Landis: "I can say I'm retarded. I'm in the club and that's what it was called back then." For a time he also was confined to Mississippi State Hospital, where he was made to sleep on a mattress on the floor of a locked, unfurnished room.

Patsy Cline's story - both professional and personal - unfolds in this collection of letters written from 1955-1959 to her friend and first fan club president, Treva Miller. In her own words, Patsy talks of the recording sessions, television appearances and tours, but behind the glamor she writes candidly about having flat tires, not getting paid (even after her big hit "Walkin' After Midnight") and what it's like to be a mother and housewife while building a career as a recording artist. Few stars have the longevity of Patsy Cline. She died in a plane crash in 1963, yet her voice still moves us, so much so that she consistently appears on the best country artist lists from publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard.A collection of 48 letters written from 1955-1959 to her first fan club president and friend gives us a rare opportunity to glimpse the woman behind the songs. She doesn't come across as bold and brassy, as some movies have portrayed her. Although she was traditional in her attitudes about family, she was determined to succeed as a recording artist. Against the backdrop of her recording sessions, tours and television appearances she was also a housewife who often did the family cooking, laundry and ironing before going on stage. It didn't always pay as expected, either. In 1957 she wrote to Treva: "Bill McCall still hasn't give me my money on "Walkin." I've got 2 lawyers working on it."One can imagine, through these letters, that Patsy is sitting across the table from her friend, chatting about her job, her loves and everyday life. We get to know Treva through these letters too. When Treva plans to marry against her mother's objections, Patsy said, "You are all she has and you are her baby, but then too, all these chickens have to find out about life their own way."In September 1960 Treva was killed in an automobile accident. Less than a year after that, Patsy was a passenger in a near fatal, head-on car crash. Two months later, still on crutches, Patsy recorded one of her defining hits, "Crazy." Her career was finally taking off.The introduction is written by Margo Price, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, who became an overnight success with her album, Midwest Farmer's Daughter. When not appearing solo with her band, she joins Chris Stapleton, Tim McGraw, and Willie Nelson on their tours.

An intense and engrossing novel of psychological suspense set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast-and reminiscent of the darkly tangled familial relationships brought into prominence by Mississippi-born writer Tennessee Williams-Confession features protagonist George Burden, a distinguished attorney who finds himself at a crossroads as he approaches his 55th birthday. From outward appearances, it seems George is living an enviable life. But even with his devoted wife, affluent lifestyle, social prominence, successful career, and beautiful family, George is dogged by the worry that the choices he made were too easy and too safe.His choice to begin an affair with Becca Talbot is anything but easy-and decidedly unsafe. A young woman who works in his law firm, Becca is a divorcee with a five-year-old son-and younger than George's youngest daughter. But for George, the affair is far more than just physical: he falls deeply in love with Becca. During one passionate noon encounter at a local hotel, George announces that he wants to leave his wife and asks Becca to marry him. When Becca rejects his proposal, George becomes enraged, and when he later sees Becca with an unknown young man, he becomes obsessed with convincing Becca to marry him-and demystifying the ambiguities of Becca's life.But that quest will lead George down a precarious path. Lust, jealousy, rage, and envy are on a collision course-and even in the present day, George's past begins to bubble to the surface. When a violent confrontation ensues, George will not only learn the truth about Becca, he will learn the truth about himself. Might some secrets best be kept secret?A tense thriller with a shocking conclusion that unfolds in four days, Confession is a powerful tale about passion, obsession, and desire. Novelist Richard Freis paints an extraordinary-and extraordinarily compelling-portrait of a character is crisis in Confession, a haunting tale that will leave readers breathless. "A taut psychological thriller, focused on a mid-life crisis and arriving at a stunning conclusion."-Suzanne Marrs, author of "What There Is to Say We Have Said: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell.""Richard Freis reminds us how deep our struggle remains with all the great questions-first among them love and faith. In Confession, the end result is a masterful portrait of our familiar world, where we are all obsessed with the complex machinations of the human mind, and the human heart"-Steve Kistulentz, author of "The Luckless Age" and "The Little Black Daydream"

"Our own precious Annie Oeth has penned Genius for us in BECAUSE I SAID SO. Matters not if one never parented a child--for certain, everybody WAS one, once--so the appeal and the truth are universal." Jill Conner Browne, Multiple #1 New York Times Bestselling author and THE Sweet Potato Queen"But whyyyy?""Because I said so."It's the answer that rolls off the tongues of mamas from all over. In Because I Said So: Life In The Mom Zone, veteran mama Annie Oeth tells of the worries, laughter and sheer terror of being a mother. Trips to the emergency room, college graduations and the dangerous combination of teenagers and fireworks are all fair game in this romp through southern motherhood. Spilling the (jelly)beans on Easter egg hunts, Santa Claus and frogs in mailboxes, Annie Oeth writes of life, love and raising children while hanging on to her sense of humor.From stories of laughter to tales of tears shed, she remembers her own growing-up years in small-town Mississippi, her parents' 44-year romance and her own children's travels on their way to adulthood, crafting stories that will touch hearts and funny bones.Anyone who's ever rocked a baby, worried over a teenager or seen family game night degenerate into a knock-down, drag-out can relate to these life lessons, straight from The Mom Zone. Mamas are tender-hearted, but don't mistake their kindness for an absence of backbone. In these stories, the love, strength, humor and super powers of mothers are hailed for the wonders that they are. Whether you're a mama to sons who have an affection for reptiles and bottle rockets or a daughter who thinks you're wrong just when you've figured out your own mother was right, you'll love yourself, your kids and your life more after this read."Why?""Because I Said So."

Doe Peterson is a beautiful 26-year-old Asian-American model who turns to Memphis psychologist Rivers Mann for help after she concludes that someone is trying to kill her. Her excuse for visiting Dr. Mann is that the attempts on her life are driving her crazy. "That's what psychologists do, isn't it? Stop people from going crazy!"Reluctant to believe her story, Dr. Mann concludes that she has a borderline personality disorder. Not until he escapes an attempt on his own life does he believe her story. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that someone wants to kill Doe and Dr. Mann. Standing in the way are two sleuths-Dr. Mann and an eccentric computer guru who developed a top-secret government computer program that monitors telephone calls and emails. As part of Doe's therapy, Dr. Mann explores her early life and learns that she was put up for adoption in China by her American father. Not until the mystery of her birth is solved, and the identity of her birth father established is it possible to ascertain who wants her dead-and why. The mystery surrounding why Dr. Mann is marked for death is less complicated, but more passionate.This is a psychological thriller that will leave readers questioning their own sanity-and wondering about their parentage.

EVEN VAMPIRE SLAYERS NEED A GOOD LAWYERJohn Brooks is a brilliant young lawyer working hard, but not getting much notice. Those who know him admire his work ethic and his intellect. His friends believe that he needs one big case to show off his talents. Defending Hal Boyd, known as the Butcher of Belhaven, on arson and four murder charges, looks like that big case as the world media, hungry to fill 24 hours a day of non-stop news coverage, converges on Jackson, Mississippi. Soon the Boyd case looks like a career ender when Brooks announces to his defense: "Not guilty by reason of insanity. My client was so insane that he believed that the person he intended to kill was a vampire." The world media ridicules the "Vampire Defense," and Brooks and his defense team become the laughing stock of the legal profession.Ridicule becomes the least of Brooks problems when he discovers that a satanic cult is intent on exacting murderous revenge against Boyd and his defense team for daring to defend him. Kidnapping and multiple murders occur at a dizzy pace as the action careens from the city to the swamp to the courtroom. Romance coupled with comic relief allows you to occasionally catch your breath, until even that is stolen by a double climax with a verdict that shocks the world, followed immediately by a dramatic final battle between good and evil.The Vampire Defense is so "bloody good" you can taste it.

Love a little, die a little, and break the law. Trey Milligan did them all in one summer, and before his 14th birthday.Trey lives in Southern California with his parents and younger sister, but is spending the summer after 7th grade with his widowed grandmother in a small Tennessee town. The South becomes home to Trey, but also represents the freedom every child associates with the summer months.Three of Trey's friends - Wendy, Devon, and Larry - come to personify love, death, and the criminal element, challenges every child must, at some point, confront. Together, the trio builds an unasked-for bridge to adulthood for Trey. The warmth and comforts of a "summer at Grandma's" becomes a life-changing season of internal growth.None of the transformative events of this fateful summer, though, prepare Trey for the horror almost literally next door . . . the monster in hiding, and far too close to the girl he comes to love.A coming of age tale set in the summer of 1982, the story reflects the transition of a young man forced - over three months - to grow up in ways that typically require several years. Trey's grandmother, sister, and an older second-cousin help shape him through the most memorable summer of his life. But it's three friends - Trey's company - who forever change his life.

"Many of Friedmann's stories contain an admixture of quirkiness, with elements of dark humor. Most of the stories contain startling surprise endings that this reviewer hesitates to explain, lest the surprise be ruined. These stories are truly enjoyable-New Orleans Review of BooksOver the course of her novel-writing career, New Orleans writer Patty Friedmann also has written short stories that resonate with her darkly comic voice. This collection offers the best-some old, some new, some before Katrina, a few written after she unscrambled her mind from not evacuating for the storm.What the reader finds here are the New Orleans characters only locals recognize. Patty doesn't venture much into the French Quarter; she doesn't do public drunkenness; she certainly never secondlines. Instead she shares what might be her most memorable character, Jerusha Bailey, a mean old white woman who loses her husband's ashes in a McDonald's parking lot. And Darby, the smart girl who lives in a New Orleans gingerbread house but is tormented by her dumb brick-house-dwelling private school classmates-with tragic consequences. Patty takes us back to the time when Mr. Bingle was hoisted every Christmas onto the front of Maison Blanche on Canal Street in New Orleans. But she also brings young cynics into the flooded city after the storm. We meet lonely men and controlling women, yet we smile crookedly. Patty Friedmann's bio says she has lived all her life in New Orleans "except for education and natural disasters," and it shows. Walker Percy once said, "I make bold to predict that the next Southern literary revival will be led by a Jewish mother," and he went on to describe her as "a shrewd self-possessed woman with a sharp eye." It has been said that this is Patty Friedmann. The reader can see it here.

In the collected stories of Cold Eye, the characters face emotional mishaps, soulful sorrow and sucker-punch surprises in the City of Memphis, alternately known over the years as the murder capital of America, the home of the blues, and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. With a backdrop like that, it figures that the stories told in the bars, barbecue joints, and churches of such a gritty city would offer a unique perspective on life.In the title story "Cold Eye," a man named Franko discovers his own breast cancer while participating in his wife's monthly breast exam. "In Lou Groza," a grown man experiences the surprise of his life when he meets his father for the first time ever in a neighborhood tavern. In "The Things She Carries" a married woman receives both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star from her former lover in the setting of Memphis' Old Forest.In "Banana Day," a surprise visitor turns Mawgrits' life inside out and, at the same time, recalls Beale Street and the sins of her Great-Uncle Jim Kinnane, Czar of the Underworld and Beale Street kingpin. The shadow of certain death hovers close by the lake as a mother, father and son fish in "Wapanocca" . . . "Cane Brake" finds family members watching the clock and discussing the life and times of the family patriarch as he undergoes a liver transplant, questioning his worthiness.In "House of Fury," the mother of four grown sons living at home, takes on the task of raising a grandson who plays blues harp with a black youth as Memphis Sanitation Workers strike during the Civil Rights era of 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King came to town in support of the workers and met his death.

A REMARKABLE COMING OF AGE STORY ABOUT TWO YOUNG GIRLS GROWING INTO WOMANHOOD ON THE BLUEGRASS CIRCUITBy the time Hannah was in the 11th grade and Caroline was in the 7th grade, the Melby sisters were touring the country in bluegrass bands, with Hannah on fiddle and Caroline on mandolin. Today the sisters are the front persons of a very popular Nashville-based country music touring band named HanaLena.Do they ever have some great stories to tell about coming of age on the concert trail! Recipes and Road Stories: Life on the Road with Sisters Hannah and Caroline Melby of the duo HanaLena blends touching and rollicking road stories with an assortment of tasty recipes, and then tops everything off with plenty of exciting photographs.Also contributing recipes are friends they made on the road, including Rhonda Vincent, a 5-time Grammy nominee who has been called the "Queen of Bluegrass," and Claire Lynch, who is the reigning Female Vocalist of the Year for the International Bluegrass Association. The sisters, who grew up in Starkville, Mississippi, performed from an early age-Hannah is now 28, Caroline is 24-evolving from bluegrass to progressive country as they perfected their songwriting and performance skills out on the road. In 2008 they won the "Best New Act in Country Music" competition at the Colgate Country Showdown in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville-and took home a check for a cool $100,000 presented by country music star LeAnn Rimes.On the road they have opened for stars such as Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and performed with Grand Ole Opry member Charlie Louvin and the "King of Bluegrass" Jimmy Martin, who was a frequent performer on the Opry before his death in 2005."Hannah and Caroline remind me so much of the Dixie Chicks," says SLG president James L. Dickerson, whose biography Dixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage, was the first in-depth analysis of that group's road to success. "Their musicianship is superb-and they have the grit, vision and good humor to make it to the top." WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING"In recent years especially, the bluegrass world has been a welcoming one for talented youngsters, and that's certainly a good description of Hannah and Caroline Melby. With "Recipes And Road Stories," the gals return the favor, giving outsiders a glimpse into the lives of young musicians learning the art and business of bluegrass and its close musical relatives. They share some funny tales of life in a traveling band, along with some heartwarming ones, too--and more than a few that are both. I look forward to hearing more from their new venture, HanaLena, and after reading this collection--and maybe trying out some of the recipes--I'm sure that you will, too."-Jon Weisberger, IBMA Songwriter of the Year (2012)

Addie Jackson has witnessed people trying to kill her family her entire life, and now her grandparents' attackers are hunting her. The Memphis police are never able to catch these crooks since the cops have been bewitched to stay away. Her grandparents, Pop and Grandma, habitually lie to Addie, but she is attentive enough to overhear the secrets they keep from her. In her predictive dreams, Addie regularly sees future events which disturb her, but to her dismay, she has never been able to stop them from coming true. She often dreams of a dark character, who she is later shocked to discover is the Man, a devil from hoodoo legend.Addie is disturbed to discover she is being stalked by a witch doctor named Hoodoo Helen. To make matters worse, the more secrets Addie uncovers, the more danger she finds. Addie presses Grandma for answers about the power behind the ring and pocket watch she often toys with, but Grandma remains tight-lipped. Knowing their deaths are imminent, Grandma makes a deal with the hoodoo devil to take care of Addie, and Addie is later horrified to discover that her beloved family has been murdered. John, a family friend, steps in to help Addie, and she soon realizes he knows more about her family's tainted past than she ever has. Addie begins receiving cryptic letters from her deceased grandmother, which reveal a shocking family history revolving around slavery, time travel, and magic. If Addie can survive jail, her cousin's abduction, threats from a menacing gang, corrupt law enforcement, and hoodooed attacks, maybe she can finally dream of a future where she will be safe and free.

"Annie Oeth's Living On Love is the kind of down-home sass that every kitchen needs. Oeth chats with the reader in a way that feels like a front porch setting and uses cooking as a love language, reaching straight to the heart of the reader. The best part about this book is the lengthy list of recipes that make your stomach growl, but don't take a bite out of your pocketbook." -Hannah and Caroline Melbyof the band, Hanalena, authors of Recipes and Road Stories"Living on Love: Cooking When You're Short on Time and Cash" is a cookbook for individuals who neither have an unlimited budget for food nor have the time to prepare and cook elaborate meals for themselves or their family.Sometimes cooking with love is all about snatch and run.Other times it requires a certain amount of discreet psychology."Cooking like anyone else but you is impossible. If you used recipes by Martha Stewart, you'd be putting your spin, your flavor, on Martha's "suggestions," writes Oeth. "With this in mind, here are my recipes. Put your own spin on them."Not only does the author provide a tasty assortment of recipes, she offers the cost and prep/cook time for each meal. Most of the meals cost less than $10 and take less than 30 minutes to prepare or cook.Chapter titles include: If you are what you eat, then I am cheap, fast and easy: Quick Dinners To Save Your SanityIt's 5 o'clock Somewhere: Recipes for Appetizers, Tailgating and the Cocktail HourThe Crock Pot: Your Secret Weapon

Ancient books in a monastery ... a code left by Nazi soldiers ... a deep fjord ... and a mysterious stainless steel cylinder-all lead to a fantastic war-time discovery.The one hundred thousand ancient books in the Great Library of the Benedictine monastery were just part of the majestic beauty of Austria's 12th century Melk Abbey. But that beauty was marred when the monks discovered that scores of valuable books had been marked and disfigured by persons unknown.Wilhelm Gerhard was retained to find the cause. With help from his friend Wolf and 100 monks in black habits, they examined every volume in all 12 rooms of the library and even searched the rock catacombs deep under the 900-year-old abbey where the screaming Will-o'-the-Wisp lived. They discovered that the marks were a code left by Nazi soldiers during the Second World War. The deciphered code leads to a stainless-steel box hidden in an old stone ventilation shaft. Scratched on a piece of slate inside was a set of coordinates to the location of a fantastic war time secret-one lost for over 70 years in the Sognefjord, Norway's longest and deepest fjord-and one that leads directly to the demented mind of Adolf Hitler himself. If Nazi Germany had won the war, Hitler's secret would have forever altered the course of human destiny by undoing the handiwork of the Lord himself.

"From Sport McAllister to Billy Hamilton, this is the definitive book on Mississippians in the Major Leagues. I am really glad Mike Christensen, who knows the sport inside and out, wrote this splendid narrative."-Rick Cleveland, Executive Director, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and MuseumMississippi's contributions to music are well known, whether the focus is on Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Bobbie Gentry or Jimmy Buffet, or on the creation of the blues and rock 'n' roll. Not so well known are the state's contributions to Major League Baseball. Drawing on more than a hundred sources, including personal interviews, this work chronicles the roles, large and small, played by Mississippians throughout five different eras of Major League Baseball.It explores Mississippians' connections to significant teams and events, such as the dismal Cleveland Spiders of 1899, Babe Ruth's career, Jackie Robinson's arrival, the 1946 World Series and the recent home run boom/steroid scandal.Included are sidebars on such subjects as Red Barber (Hall of Fame broadcaster); pitching legend Dizzy Dean (an adopted Mississippian); Luke Easter (first black Mississippi native to play in the majors); the many colorful nicknames (Cool Papa, Mudcat, The Rope, Tin Man, Oil Can, etc.) bestowed on Mississippians; and an all-time dream team of Magnolia State products.

"If you have a heart, if you have a soul, Karen Hicks' The Coming Woman will make you fall in love with Victoria Woodhull."-Kinky Friedman, author and Governor of the Heart of Texas"What kind of confidence would it take for a woman to buck the old boy's club of politics in 1872? More than 140 years pre-Hillary, there was Victoria Woodhull. This book takes you back with a breathtaking, present-tense bird's eye view into a time when women's liberation was primarily confined to one woman's very capable, independent mind. I couldn't put it down."---Ruth Buzzi, Golden Globe Award winner and Television Hall of Fame inductee"Sadly, too many Americans have never heard of Victoria Woodhull, let alone learned of her story: her revolutionary campaign for the presidency at a time when women weren't even allowed to vote, her support for worker's rights, or her feminist commitment to equality, a century before the official battle over the Equal Rights Amendment. But in The Coming Woman, Karen Hicks brings Woodhull's efforts to life, and reminds us that some of our nation's greatest figures aren't always featured in the history books. It is a riveting account of an amazing woman and her struggle for justice and human dignity, told in an engaging and eminently readable style."-Tim Wise, author, "White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son""The Coming Woman" is a novel based on the life of feminist Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for U.S. President, 50 years before women could even vote! Running for President wasn't Victoria's only first as a woman. She was also the first to own a successful Wall Street firm, the first to publish a successful national newspaper, and the first to head the two-million-member Spiritualist Association. She was the first woman to enter the Senate Judiciary Committee chambers to petition for woman's suffrage, her argument changing the entire focus of the suffragist movement by pointing out that the 14th and 15th Amendments already gave women the vote. In her campaign for the Presidency, Victoria Woodhull boldly addressed many of the issues we still face today: equal pay for equal work; freedom in love; corporate greed and political corruption fueled by powerful lobbyists; and the increasing disparity between the rich and the poor, to name only a few. Her outspoken and common-sense ideas may shed a new perspective on the parallel conundrums of today's world. This bold, beautiful, and sexually progressive woman dared to take on society and religion. To make an example of the hypocrisy in what Mark Twain dubbed The Gilded Age, she exposed the extramarital affairs of the most popular religious figure of the day (Henry Ward Beecher). This led to her persecution and imprisonment and the longest, most infamous trial of the 19th century. But it did not stop her fight for equality. Victoria's epic story, set in the late 1800s, comes to life in a modern, fictional style, while staying true to the actual words and views of the many well-known characters.

As it turns out, bungee jumping is much saferthan entering into new relationships or investing your money.Love, money and taking risks all have one thing in common.Each is a series of leaps, large and small.For Love or Money: A Guide to Bungee Jumping Through Life sorts our life's triumphs and pitfalls, whether they be in relationships, finances or all of the above. Annie Oeth, author of Because I Said So: Life in The Mom Zone, offers in her new book a second helping of down-to-earth laughter, love and encouragement with a little self help in the mix. Although the author is a newspaper columnist, all entries in this book were written exclusively for the book.About Oeth's first book, bestselling author Jill Conner Browne wrote: "Our own precious Annie Oeth has penned Genius for us in Because I Said So. Matters not if one never parented a child-for certain, everybody was one, once-so the appeal and the truth are universal."Also commenting on the first book was a reviewer for the Library Journal: "As a weekly newspaper column, these entries are quite charming and likely have a destination readership . . . "-May 2014. Whether you're just starting out in life or have been there and have the T-shirt to prove it, For Love or Money will take you from the shaky ground on which you sometimes stand to the launching pad of your next leap of faith.

Can knowing more about sports help you become a super salesperson?This author thinks so.Playing To Win is a convergence of sports analogies and practical business skills to educate and entertain readers as they further develop their sales abilities. Written to appeal to youthful professionals seeking to grow in their careers, the book provides applicable advice that can easily be remembered as a result of the book's sports theme.The market is filled with books promising to propel one's sales career to the top. Yet these books make it impractical for readers to retain, let alone apply, the myriad principles laid out in such writings. Playing To Win combines simple, yet effective sales principles with sports analogies to help the reader absorb and implement what he or she reads. Playing To Win first defines the four basic personality types as positions on a football team - The Quarterback, The Running Back, The Wide Receiver and The Lineman. Readers are exposed to personality characteristics that are easily identifiable with each of the positions, making the concepts easy to remember. Parallels are drawn between sporting events and business situations that aid the reader in growing his or her skills as a salesperson.Whether the reader has years of sales experience or is simply contemplating a new career in sales, Playing To Win provides valuable resources to men and women regardless of the level of expertise currently possessed. The concepts discussed in the book are relevant for any industry where a buyer/seller relationship exists.

Author Chris Minshew was at a point in his life where he felt suicide was his only option. He made it to the point of placing the pistol against his head. Then something happened that brought him back from the brink of death. That experience-and what he was able to learn and accomplish in subsequent years-convinced him to interview others who had shared his experience. Back From the Brink is a collection of riveting stories told by individuals who either attempted suicide and failed-and then realized it was a bad choice-or individuals who have stepped back from that fatal choice and gone on to live satisfying lives filled with hope. There is life after saying no to suicide.Back From the Brink has garnered high praise, including: "There is power in the personal narrative. Back From The Brink is an intimate collection of stories provided by individuals who've survived attempting suicide. This unique book gives a voice to a pervasive epidemic so many struggle to talk about. These are stories that need to be heard."-J.L. Craig, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist"Who knows more about suicide than someone who has attempted it, or changed their mind at the last minute, and gone on to live a productive life? Chris F. Minshew has done a public service by interviewing individuals who have attempted suicide and recovered, or who have journeyed to the brink of suicide and stepped back to say no to taking their own lives, himself included. Their stories of struggle and redemption are inspirational. This is an excellent book for anyone who is contemplating suicide because it shows there is always hope."-Kris Jones, MSW, Project Director, SAMSHA Suicide Prevention grant "Through this compilation of the exceptional and courageous stories of those who have faced suicide, Chris Minshew provides a unique view into the agonizing struggle when one comes to the point of unbearable life. The personal chronicles of those who have survived suicide are both touching and disturbing as they tap into the struggles for the reader who relates to this overwhelming experience. This book will validate the sorrow of suicide, yet will offer hope for the return to life."-James D. Herzog, Ph.D., Clinical PsychologistThe book was written for those individuals who have survived suicide attempts and want to build a new life-and for those who are contemplating suicide but want to find encouragement from others who understand their problems. There are an estimated 5 million individuals who have attempted suicide in America. You may be surprised to learn that one in every nine of us experience serious suicidal thoughts and about 5 percent of us will actually attempt suicide in our lifetime.

March 29, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. It hardly seems possible that it has been nearly 50 years since the Vietnam War was at its zenith. In 1998 author James L. Dickerson went to Canada to meet with and interview Americans who had gone to Canada in opposition to the war in Vietnam. This is a revised and updated edition of the book that was published in 1999, made even more poignant by the realization that today America''s crumbling democracy is likely to send a new wave of Americans to Canada in search of freedom and a better way of life.At the time of the Vietnam War, if you had asked those who fought against the war-and those who fought in the war-if the day would ever come when it would cease to matter, you would have been greeted with derisive laughter. The Vietnam War, whether you were for it or against it, is who we were then -and still are today, if you are old enough to remember it. In this new updated and revised edition of this American-Canadian history book, author Dickerson answers the question: whatever happened to the men and women who went to Canada? Incredibly, only 7 million of Canada''s current 38 million population are of an age to have any memory of the thousands of American war resisters and deserters who fled to Canada during the Vietnam War. That''s because, according to Statistics Canada, 31 million Canadians living today were born after 1957, too young to have been influenced by the arrival of Vietnam War resisters.That is of current interest because of the belief of many political observers that disillusioned Americans will once again flood into Canada in the years ahead as American democracy is threatened by those who strive to install an authoritarian style of government in the United States similar to those that rule Russia, China, and North Korea. If that happens, Canada will be one of the few democracies left in the world. Ironically there may come a time when the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of American war resisters may be called to fight a war against an authoritarian Dis-United States of America in need of Canada''s natural resources.With contextual information regarding the polices of both the U.S. and Canadian governments toward the war and its resisters, Dickerson offers evidence that a generation of America''s "best and brightest" was lost to Canada. His inclusion of female resisters contributes a new perspective to the debate that continues to rage almost 50 years after the last American troops in Vietnam were sent home to an ungrateful nation to resume their lives amid the destruction caused by the war.