As Hill remarks in her introduction, birdwatching is “an experience of the ears and intellect as much as it is of the eye,” all of which comes across clearly in the instructive, revealing, and beautifully written excerpts she has culled for this book. Over seventy-five writers, famous and unknown–from John Muir, John James Audubon, and William Wordsworth to the largely forgotten ornithologists Florence Merriam and Olive Thorne Miller and the English country poet John Clare–share their infectious observations about bird song, migration, nests, raptors, sea birds, hummingbirds, and much more. The entries are by turns practical, lyrical, humorous, literary, scientific–on occasion even mystical–as they illuminate the magical and occasionally unexpected ways in which birding connects us both to the history of the natural world and to that of human experience. This charming compendium is certain to delight birdwatchers and natural history lovers alike.

Glen House, MD, was a typical twenty-year-old, college student when he suffered a skiing accident that paralyzed him. But he never pitied himself, he was never angry and he never wavered in his faith. Instead, he pushed forward—with often nothing but sheer determination to sustain and motivate him—and went on to become a doctor, inventor, businessman, husband and father who now daily touches the lives of others facing physical difficulties. This is not a story of his disability; this is a story of Glen’s success-ability.

Glen House may sit much of the day in a wheelchair, but he does not sit still. He’s a bundle of energy, helping other people navigate their new world following life-changing injury. The key influences that Glen credits for his own journey are “faith, family, and friends.” I believe you will be inspired by Glen’s story, as powerfully told by his devoted sister, Shelly Templin.

~ Don Simpson, coauthor with Dallas Willard

of Revolution of Character

When you get the call from an ER telling you that your 24-year-old daughter is barely alive after a ski accident, you hope and pray that the right people will be put in your path. Dr. House was that person for us. His firsthand knowledge, compassion, and experience told us we were in great hands. Four months later, our daughter walked out of the hospital on her own.

~ Reg and Barb Francklyn, parents of Sally Francklyn,

Adventurer, Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor

Award-winning journalist Tedd Thomey tells the poignant stories of the two photographers who took the pictures of the flag-raising sent around the world in 1945. Joe Rosenthal, a combat photographer for the Associated Press, became well known for his work, but when accusations surfaced that his famous photo was staged, he endured years of abuse and humiliation. Thomey also highlights the tragic story of the second photographer, Sgt. Bill Genaust, a Marine killed in battle just nine days after the flag went up. Genaust was not acknowledged for his immortal motion picture until a fellow cameraman mounted a decades-long campaign that resulted in a plaque in his honor being placed atop Mount Suribachi in 1995.

Bill Lawrence served his country for thirty-seven years in a remarkable naval career filled with triumphs and adversities. A naval aviator and test pilot who commanded a fighter squadron in the Vietnam War, he was shot down in combat and held by the North Vietnamese at the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison for six years. During his imprisonment he became a hero among heroes, demonstrating superior qualities of leadership, physical strength, and mental acumen, tap-coding messages to keep his sanity while withstanding solitary confinement and regular torture sessions. Upon release from captivity, Lawrence learned that his wife and the mother of their children had divorced him and remarried. Although these events had a severe emotional impact on him, he resumed his distinguished naval career, rising swiftly through the ranks, remarrying, and being named to such prestigious positions as Commander of the Third Fleet, Superintendent of the Naval Academy, and Chief of Naval Personnel.

In this autobiography, Lawrence credits much of his resolve and ability to overcome difficulties to his strong and nurturing parents, his youth in Nashville, Tennessee, his experiences at the U.S. Naval Academy (where he served as brigade commander and earned letters in three varsity sports), and to the love and support of his wife Diane. With the help of his friend and writer Zip Rausa, the admiral tells his story without glossing over the darker elements. This recounting of his path on an extraordinary journey through life is uniquely American and filled with lessons for us all.

Miracles in Appalachia is a first person account of a youth mission trip that takes a miraculous detour midweek and all the wonderful ways God steps in and takes care of the Taphouse family. It is a story of grace through preparation, protection, and provision. You will be truly blessed and encouraged as you travel this road with them.

Gifted storyteller Kemp Tolley guides readers through the lively world of a young naval attaché in Moscow from 1942 to 1944. His absorbing tale describes the adventures of a thirty-day journey on a trans-Siberian train, the success of a long-sought-after inspection of a Soviet warship viewed through the haze of innumerable Vodka toasts, and the unease of state banquets with Stalin and Churchill. It also provides dramatic evidence of the contrasts of Soviet life with descriptions of elegant nights at the ballet accompanied by a beautiful agente provocatrice and memories of starving stevedores wolfing down scraps of raw meat thrown out by American ships. Filled with clever one-liners and complemented by numerous period photographs culled from the author’s own collection, this reminiscence has enjoyed great appeal, since first published on 1983, with readers who like adventure and have an interest in the behind-the-scenes activities of the U.S. Navy and Soviet Union in the early 1940s.

Despite racial discrimination and second-class status within the enlisted corps, the U.S. Navy’s mess attendants, officer’s cooks, and stewards compiled a proud legacy of combat service in World War II. The heroism of a few like “Dorie” Miller became well known to the American public, but most have long been forgotten. This book tells the story of those thousands of unheralded sailors of African descent who served in frontline combat with fellow “messmen” of Filipino, Guamanian, and Chinese ancestry from the first day of war to the last. Their story begins with recruit training in the racially segregated confines of Norfolk, Virginia’s Units K-West and B-East during the 1930s and proceeds through the perilous early months of war. Though long disparaged as “seagoing chambermaids” and worse, they gallantly upheld the honor of their race while shedding their blood in full proportion in some of history’s greatest naval battles.

For this first major study of the subject, Richard E. Miller draws on a wealth of previously untapped primary documents and more than forty oral history interviews that he conducted. The men he interviewed served at the Naval Academy and aboard ships of all types prior to their wartime service. Miller focuses on the period from late 1932, when the Navy reopened its doors to black men, to 1943, when the ranks of the re-named “steward’s branch” had grown and become transformed by the influx of wartime inductees. Collectively, the interviews cover nearly every naval campaign in the first two years of war. This unexplored perspective of the U.S. Navy puts a face on the “greatest generation’s” last overlooked heroes while making a significant contribution to the operational, social, and cultural history of the U.S. Navy.

In 1881, a little girl was born in Turkey to an Armenian father and a French mother. Her life’s journey would eventually lead her to immigrate to America, marry, and run a training camp in Chatham Township, New Jersey, that would host twelve world heavyweight champions and no fewer than seventy-eight International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees.

In a well-researched biography, boxing enthusiast Gene Pantalone shares the story of Madame Bey—a remarkable and fiery pioneer of women in business—who stood tall in a sport of men. Pantalone details the history of boxing and the life of Bey as she demanded exemplary behavior from the toughest of men. He shines a light on her ability to connect with people without preconceived notions, her roots in government and opera, and her friendship with President William McKinley. Included are bios of the notable boxers during Madame Bey’s era.

Madame Bey’s: Home to Boxing Legends shares the fascinating story of an aristocratic woman who managed a training camp for world champion boxers during the early twentieth century.

This is a Mother’s story of a family that loves God and believes that he can do anything but fail, and how they reacted when God didn’t have the same plan that they had been praying for. It’s a heartbreaking journey of how they had to give their daughter Kahlie back to God when she died of cancer at the age of 13 years old. It’s a story of hope and disappointments, but at the end they still had hope. Renewing Your Hope Ministries believes that no matter what you are going through, God CAN Renew Your Hope every day!

Uncle Bob, Robert E. Lee Leavitt, was a true pioneer of the Wild West. This is his story, and that of his family, friends and fellow pioneers.

The story tells of Uncle Bob’s forbearer’s as they ventured from Germany and Ireland to America’s shores, and traveled to what is now the city of Victoria, in southeast Texas.

From there, Uncle Bob leads a historic cattle drive to Montana, participated in crucial battles with the Comanche Indians, ultimately settling in a small Montana town where he ends up staying to run a red-light saloon.

Uncle Bobs story is told by himself, as well as by those who knew him best.

Uncle Bob, a man who knew triumph and defeat, jubilation and sorrow, displays the American Experience with all of its true grit, as well as its uncanny humor.

Fans of Edward L. Beach Jr.’s books, including his classic submarine novel Run Silent, Run Deep and his 200-year history of the U.S. Navy, will be drawn to this memoir by his late father, a U.S. Navy Captain, who was a popular novelist of his era. Not only was Beach Sr. a good storyteller but he also was an astute observer of history in the making, and his naval career spanned the sailing and steam navies. Written in the 1930s but never before published, the book is as much about the U.S. Navy as it is about Beach. In his early days Beach served with Civil War veterans aboard wooden ships, while late in his service his shipmates were the future naval leaders of World War II. His account of the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, the Philippine Insurrection of the early 1900s, Haiti in 1915, the British Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1918, and the wreck of the Memphis, a cruiser under Beach’s command that was destroyed by a 1916 tsunami in Santo Domingo Harbor, is eyewitness reporting at its best. As Beach describes the growth of the Navy, he tells not only what happened but how and why things happened. Beach Jr. puts his father’s writing in historical context for today’s readers and offers insights into his father’s feelings. Rarely does a valuable primary source like this come to light so many years after it was written.

While studying the astrological birth charts of all the US presidents, I discovered that those of the thirteen modern US presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama, all had the natal Sun (the planet most associated with one’s basic identity) making an aspect (certain designated degrees between two planets) to their natal Neptune. This was surprising since I would have thought that politicians, particularly those aspiring to the presidency, would have an overwhelming emphasis on the Sun-Mars aspect, but not on the Sun-Neptune aspect.

What I discovered in my research was that good politicians are not warriors (Sun-Mars) per se who use the techniques of warfare to muscle their way through adversity. Rather, they are good actors (Sun-Neptune) who are essentially chameleons (Sun-Neptune) operating in the foggy (Neptune) realm of subtlety (Neptune) and seduction, using their sensitivity (Neptune) and charm (Neptune) to serve their intuitive (Neptune) sides to try to achieve their goals. It became apparent that a good politician is excellent at assuming different roles in order to fit a given political situation and move his agenda forward.

The Sun in aspect to Neptune is not unusual, but there is no aggregate population that has 100 percent of its members with this aspect like the modern presidents. I was intrigued with this occurrence and thus set out to research their individual biographies to see just how this aspect played out in their lives. After all, it seemed to be almost a prerequisite for being elected to the modern Oval Office.

A well-known observer of Taiwan and Asian history and culture provides an insightful biography of Lee Teng Hui, the pro-democracy statesman and former president of the Republic of China. As head of the Taiwanese government from 1988 to 2000, Lee managed, without violence or major civil unrest, to reform the authoritarian state into a constitutional democracy with a multi-party political system. This examination of Lee’s success puts to rest the idea that Asian values support only authoritarian regimes and reject human rights and political democracy in favor of economic success and military power.

Richard C. Kagan describes in rich detail Lee’s struggle to reinvent Taiwan’s culture and political system by advocating an independent sovereign nation with universal values of human rights, democracy, freedom, and economic justice. His book offers new insights into the role Lee played in the still volatile Taiwan Strait crisis and how Lee’s diplomatic skills used the crisis to break free of the “One China” straitjacket of the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972 while avoiding open warfare with the People’s Republic of China. The author argues that Taiwan is a vital part of America’s national security interests in Asia and that the loss of Taiwan to Mainland China would seriously damage American economic and military power in Asia. He calls Lee’s life a beacon for people looking for new ways to promote democracy and sovereignty and intends this biography of Lee’s life to highlight the statesman’s significant contributions, until now little known or misunderstood in the United States and Europe.

In 1806 Lt. Louis Garneray’s ship was en route to France when it was captured by the Royal Navy. Confined for nine years with hundreds of others in the cramped quarters of a prison ship off Portsmouth, he tells a compelling story in turns violent, poignant, dark, and humorous. Originally published in 1851 in French as Mes Pontons, the memoir is considered to be the most detailed account of shipboard prison life at that time. Translator Richard Rose presents the first full, unabridged English-language version of the classic and draws on extensive research to examine the veracity of the more fanciful elements of the narrative. As an added feature, the book is illustrated with paintings and etchings done by Garneray, who became a distinguished maritime artist later in life. This rare first-person expose; on a little-known facet of the age of sail is a valuable resource and makes fascinating reading.

We are longing to find something that will truly satisfy our hearts. This longing leads us into many situations and circumstances. In the end, anything we give our hearts to within this world will find its end. There is an eternal light that reveals our need and helps us understand those longings within us. Within this light, we find what will never fade away, always satisfying the human soul. What we desire most is love, but there is only one lasting love for humanity.

When the sun is setting and the dark creeps in, what’s revealed is only a shadow of who we really are. We are not fully known by others within this fleeting light, and many people find themselves living in the sunsets. We hope the oncoming night and passing light will reveal a bit of our beauty but hide what is perceived unacceptable or, in many cases, too real. Our “spots”, our imperfections, have driven our entirety into hiding. It’s a humanity problem. We hide. We’ve always hidden. We’ve found solace in the darkness, but our worth is not lost, and our value has not faded away. We are fully known, even in the darkest of nights. The life we live now is vulnerable to darkness, but there is no need to hide for acceptance. We all have our spots, we all have hurt, but what remains hidden from humanity will not find shelter from the light. When someone is close enough to see the struggle within and provides a way out, it’s our opportunity to take hold of what we need and begin to trust.

I sought to find the answers to the questions that puzzled my mind (Why do we die? What is death? Where do we go?) and then with my own NDE (near-death experience), past life regression, and witness to a soul entering the human body, and the pieces to the puzzle started to fall into place.

The understanding came through loving, losing the physical presence of the human body, and learning how to communicate with the other side—beyond the veil and spirit world.

For all of those who believe in life after death and for those who do not believe in life after death, there is a new awakening upon us. Let’s open our eyes to all the possibilities our lives have to offer.

We are never alone.

And so it is.

Me, Darst, and Alley Oop is many things–a romp, an adventure, an odyssey, a coming of age tale, but mostly it is great good fun. A true story that frames the summer of 1964, it relates the cross country journey of two young men in their borrowed car, a hobbled and cobbled 1946 Dodge named Alley Oop.

Darst and Riggs, a mismatched pair of fraternity brothers from Indiana University, have little in common but the desire to leave it all behind and hit the open road for the golden shores of California, and the bouncing beach bunnies and boundless good times they hope to find there. Little do they know what hazards lies ahead or what it will take in resilience and fortitude, conflict and compromise, to make their dream come true. From the first day on, as they leave home and comfort behind with no cell phone or credit card and a hundred dollars between them in a car lately driven to its death, they are at odds with the elements and each other and can only succeed by forging ahead. Because, to return is to admit defeat, and thus cast a shadow over all future journeys of faith.

Told simply with wit and humor, Me, Darst, and Alley Oop takes an unvarnished look at the travelers, the journey, and the people they meet along their way. Its lessons come as revelations. With each new challenge, each new fork in the road, each new mountain high and valley low, Darst and Riggs learn a little more about themselves and each other, and the marvelous goodhearted country they are crossing. Never again will they undertake such a journey. Never again will the stars align. It’s either make or break with no points given for a nice try.

My joy was soon shattered by the gut-wrenching moment when I learned that another man from Denmark had perished in his valiant attempt to rescue me. He swam to me earlier without hesitation but had disappeared in the riptide.

The intense drama continues on the sharp-edged lava rock cliff, as several people arrive to place themselves in harm way and finish rescuing me literally by their fingertips. So now comes the face-to-face moment with being met at the base of the cliff by an amazing lady of elegance, strength, and compassion. This new widow from Denmark exhibited the grandeur of a forgiving Danish society and their love for all mankind. This was the beginning of my boogie board ride to Denmark.