Valley of the Shadow: After the Turmoil, My Heart Cries No More

Book Description

A fourteen-year-old boy witnesses the upheavals, tragedies and displacement sweeping central Europe right after World War II. The action centers on the Sudetenland, where the native German-speaking population was uprooted and forced into exile by the Czech goverment at the end of the war. The Sudetenland, a former province of Austria which had been given to newly formed Czechoslovakia by the Allies at the end of World War I, was annexed in 1938 to Germany by Hitler before he occupied all of Czechoslovakia. The territory was returned to Czechoslovakia by the victorious Allies in May 1945. Sudden mass expulsions of the native German-speaking population by the new Czechoslovak government began soon after. From occupation by the Russians to dispossession and displacement by a new Czech government, and the tragic loss of his father and older brother, Dr. Helfert relays the history of his family and country during the tumultuous years just after World War II.

Customer Reviews:

Important service to humanity.......2003-08-30

My mother's family are ethnic Germans from Slovakia, and the book touched me personally. For the overall framework, check Alfred de Zayas. By the way, the Prague University was closed for students after riots in 1940 for the time of the war, not because of anti-Slav prejudice (for Hitler, Czechs were half-German anyway, and indeed they are, and most Germans from the Sudetenland and Slovakia are heavily intermarried with Slavs as well), the Czech Protectorate government under pres. Hacha collaborated beautifully (the Czech part was not treated like Poland, but like France under Vichy), esp. the Vlajka, the Czech fascist movement under general Radola Gajda, there was a Czech armed force of 8,000 men, virtually no German soldiers in the countryside, and the food situation was far superior to Germany itself after 1943.

Edvard Benes, to justify his blood-orgies against civilians, spoke of 50,000 Czech victims of the war, including Czech workers killed by Allied bombs while working in Germany. He did not claim "300.000." For 250,000 of these were Roma (kept in a camp in Lety created by the Czech government before the occupation in March 1939, and staffed throughout the war by Czech personnel), and Jews, many of whom did not feel "Czech" but as ethnic Jews, Magyar or German, and witnessed this in the 1930 Census. Indeed, Jews who survived the Nazi camps and returned were expelled as well if in 1930 they had (the census asked among else about nationality, which in Europe means ethnicity), declared themselves of Magyar or German ethnicity. Seems somewhat ghoulish to suddenly use these Germans and Magyars (Hungarians) of Jewish faith as excuse for the butchering of the native German population.

Not enough Americans know about these terrible events, and the author has done a great service in writing this for an English-speaking audience.

Telling the rest of the story!!.......2002-08-13

According to the estimates of the Goverment of Germany and many mainstream historians such as William Shirer at least 12 million Germans and an untold number of Poles, Ukranians, Russians and citizens of the Baltic states were expelled from their homes in the wake of World War II. Almost 3.3 million Germans were expelled from the Sudatenland, the rest being expelled principaly from East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia. This land was carved up by Joseph Stalin. He took part for himself including Northern East Prussia and the city of Koenigsberg, today Kaliningrad. The rest was given to Poland as partial compensation for lands taken by Stalin when he invaded Poland in September 1939, after making a secret pact with Hitler. These lands were than "awarded" to Stalin by the victorious Allies in 1945. Most of the German civilian casualties in these expulsions were women, children and the elderly. There was neither plebecite nor self-determination for any of the peoples involved. The loftly principles of Great Britian and France, going to war to ensure "Poland's Territorial integrity" as well as the aims of the Atlantic Charter signed by the U.S. were discarded. Hitler's methods of ethnic cleansing and forced deportations of civilians that were condemned, justly so, as war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials were embraced by his enemies after the war. The history of the brutal acts of Hitler's regime has been told and hopefully will never be forgotten. This book "Valley of the Shadow" attempts to shed light on events that today are seldom discussed and carefully avoided in many academic circles as well as some history books in the west. My father was born in the German Sudatenland in the town of Graslitz, (than under Austria) in 1918. His people were denied self-determination promised by the treaty of Versailles and by fiat forced to live as second-class citizens in a new multi-ethnic state, Czechoslovakia, created by the Allied powers after World War I. The swift and final dissolution and separation of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia ten years ago is certainly evidence that the Germans were not the only group unwilling to live under Czech rule. The president of the Czech Republic, Vaclev Havel, has called on his people to critically examine their own history. He, amid a storm a criticism from some of his people, among others, has apologized for the expulsions, calling them a war crime. It is time for those who read books that painfully recount tragic events to decide whether they themselves truly reject Hitler's methods or embrace them selectively. I hope this book engenders discussion and thought provoking debate as well as further study of World war II and its terrible toll on the Sudaten Germans along with millions of others who suffered and died at the hands of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Christian Anton Lehrer, M.A.

Valley of the Shadow - A Missed Opportunity.......2002-04-27

The Valley of the Shadow by Erich Anton Helfert is a narrative autobiographical history of the author's childhood experiences in Czechoslovakia, focusing on the years 1945 and 1946. The book chronicles the tragic decision to expel most of the minority German speaking population from Czechoslovakia after WWII. The book describes some of the most outrageous aspects of the expulsion including the confiscation of the German's property and most of their personal belongings in the process of the deportation. The author lived in Aussig on the Elbe (now called Usti nad Labem) in north Bohemia and he includes in one chapter a description of a dramatic and violent post-war conflict between the German and Czech speaking population in the city. This story is another descriptive example of how the Allies and the newly liberated peoples emerging from Nazi rule were over-zealous in meting out punishment and revenge against the Germans in the closing stages of the war and thereafter. A balanced biography describing some of the day-to-day experiences of the expelled population would be a very welcome addition since this is a chapter in history that we should understand and never repeat. Unfortunately The Valley of the Shadow overlooks all of the most important facts that led up to the expulsion and the book is filled with inaccuracies. The book begins with the post-war expulsion itself and then flashes back to the closing weeks of the war. Nowhere in the book does Helfert have anything to say about the six years that the Nazis brutally ruled conquered Czechoslovakia. Most educated sources estimate that 200,000-300,000 Czechoslovak citizens were killed by the Nazis in the war years, that under the rule of the Nazis the Czech population was not allowed to attend University due to their 'inferior' slavic status, etc. The war years under this regime were an era of indescribable terror and it was significantly worse in neighboring eastern countries such as Poland. In the book the author's family (Helfert's parents were Nazi party members) speaks critically of Czechoslovakia in the pre-WWII years prior to the invasion of the German army. The key fact is that the German and Czech speaking populations in pre-WWII Czechoslovakia enjoyed democracy, which was the first for these peoples in their history. Prior to the formation of the Czechoslovak nation in 1918 the populations of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia lived in the autocratic Austrian Empire, with some preferences shown to the German speaking population since the empire was ruled from Vienna. Unfortunately in the 1930s almost all of the German speaking population rejected Czechoslovakia and the democracy that had been formed, instead deciding that Hitler's promises of another great German Empire in the east, with a privileged status over the 'inferior' slavic (ie Czech and Slovak) and jewish populations was more important than democracy. The Valley of the Shadow neglects or distorts facts both general and specific. Nowhere in the book does Helfert discuss the general fact that the expulsions occured all over Central and Eastern Europe, in Poland, the Baltic States, Hungary, etc. The expulsions did not occur only in Czechoslovakia and they were encouraged by the victorious Allies (ie especially the communist USSR but also the UK and the US). The expulsion decision was made by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference and later further defined and confirmed in Potsdam in 1945. Unfortunately the nations in this region became over-zealous in the expulsion and many German speakers were harmed and some were even killed in the process. Also, specifically when the author describes the violent conflict in Aussig in July 1945 he fails to point out that fighting between German Nazi sympathizers (so called Werewolves at the time) and Czechs continued for months after the war. The unfortunate riot occured in this violent climate. The Czech population believed that the explosion at the refinery was the work of Nazi sympathizers. I cannot recommend The Valley of the Shadow because it lacks balance and misleads the uneducated reader. A more balanced and accurate narration of the events in this tragic period would have been much more effective in generating sympathy for the expellees and help us understand that indiscriminate revenge including violence and the dipossession of property, even following the most brutal, dehumanizing and violent oppression, is unacceptable. For those of you interested in a very good, balanced and accurate general description of this tragic time period, I suggest you read Die Vertriebenen, Hitler's letzte Opfer by Hans Lemberg and K. Erik Franzen.

Tell us your lifes' story !.......2000-03-20

I feel very greatful to the author for telling his families story to us. My mother was a child when her family was given the choice to either leave or die. Her parents avoided talking about the terrible journey on foot from the Sudentenland to Germany. The few fragments I know from their tragedy resonate with the story E. A. Helfert has documented in his sensitive and enlighting book. He has experienced the terrors caused by mens irresistible urge of indiscriminate revenge and his story is a warning from history. Yet his story is also one of hope and faith in the good qualities of human mankind. And when these qualities manage to surface in the midst of terror and dispair then they appear like loving miracles. I wished that more people of his generation would write down their lifes' story, so the younger generation can break this cycle of revenge and make miracles.

For Helfert and others World War II did not end on V-E Day........1999-04-02

The years of World War II were terrible indeed. During those seven years, millions of innocent people (and some not so innocent) died. Yet, with the arrival of V-E Day, many assumed that the years of death and destruction of innocent people in Europe were over. Strangely, for many, the suffering was only beginning. Beginning in 1945, Europe saw the largest forced migration of its population in history as 11,700,000 people were evicted from their homes where their families had lived for up to 700 years. Of this number, 2,100,000 died en route. Among those deported were 3,000,000 Sudetenlanders, who were expelled from Czechoslovakia and sent to Germany after experiencing many attrocities, and the death of 267,000 of them. The story of these Sudetenlanders is told in Erich Anton Helfert's autobiography, "Valley of the Shadow." If you have any interest in the history of post-World War II Europe, you may enjoy (although that is probably not the right word) Erich Helfert's book. It reads like a novel, but one is warned in the beginning that everything described happened as described. I commend it to you.

Book Description

When William Warner's first book, Beautiful Swimmers, was published more than 20 years ago, Larry McMurtry hailed it as "a new kind of classic...modest, intimate, and very personal." And a classic it proved to be, winning a Pulitzer Prize and the hearts of hundreds of thousands of readers who found its blend of elegance, engaging insight, and soft-spoken erudition to be irresistible.

Into the Porcupine Cave finds William Warner still at the top of his form: charming, knowledgeable, adventurous, and ever alert to the wonderful variety of the world around us. He doesn't look at things, he looks into them, and shares what he has learned with a simple, graceful eloquence that combines a childlike sense of discovery and an adult sophistication all the more winning for its modesty. With quiet wisdom and infectious wonder, William Warner throws open the windows of the natural world and teaches us to see.

William Warner's adventures have taken him from the southernmost point of South America to North America's northernmost permanent Eskimo community. He's been mobbed by howler monkeys in the Guatemalan rain forest, cruised the Florida Keys in the company of hardcore birders, and experienced the solitude of Maine's most isolated lighthouse. Always and everywhere, he has looked around him with the fascination of a born naturalist.

Customer Reviews:

The kind of book you can't put down........1999-09-30

I thoroughly enjoyed the account of Warner's adventures. His humorous stories, often poking fun at himself, pull the reader in. I found myself wishing I was exploring with him and his companions from the hot, dry desert to the Pacific islands. Warner ends each chapter with educational information that is often too long or overdone. I confess that I skipped over some of that in the second half of the book. I was disappointed at the end when Warner explained some of the adventures were not altogether accurate (eg. a fellow student is a "composite" ) and he relied on the memories of others in some cases where he couldn't remember. I guess that's just what old age does to all of us. Nevertheless, I HIGHLY recommend the book.

Great read for even the least of nature lovers........1999-07-01

William Warner made his mark with "Beautiful Swimmers," a classic about the unlikely subject of crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. Now in this collection of essays, he looks back on a life of adventures and encounters with nature. He tells of boyhood meetings with porcupine, eye contact with a killer whale, jungle episodes with howler monkeys, treks in artic deserts... There's keen observation, digestible science,and plenty of humor in these short essays. A perfect book to take with you on a summer vacation, or give to all your friends at Christmas.

An engaging and personal book.......1999-05-02

Warner has written a charming book based on some remarkable experiences he has had over his long life. His prose is crisp and straightforward and shows his clear grasp of the language. Each essay holds the reader's attention firmly, and there is always a deeper meaning. While it is a very thoughtful book, it is not without touches of dry but sparkling humor. A perfect gift for anyone who loves the natural world.

Average customer rating:

definitely 5 stars

good ideas, some of which i hadn't thought of before but overall nothing new

Don't DO IT

Patronizing Psycho-Babble

Not a great book... Look elsewhere

Suicide The Forever Decision: For Those Thinking About Suicide, and for Those Who Know, Love, or Counsel Them
Paul G. Quinnett
Manufacturer: Crossroad Classic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Suicide | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Suicide | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Choosing to Live: How to Defeat Suicide Through Congnitive Therapy

The Suicidal Mind

ASIN: 0824513525

Book Description

This book is for those who are thinking about Suicide, and for those who know love and counsel them.

Customer Reviews:

definitely 5 stars.......2007-09-11

Quinnett's appraoch is straightforward. His knowledge of suicide is well-researched, especially the advice he lends to people thinking about or considering suicide. I rated this book 5 stars because it was so helpful and SO VERY thorough. -Chris Palmer, author VOICES BEYOND THE STREAM.

good ideas, some of which i hadn't thought of before but overall nothing new.......2006-11-16

i think this book i s very well intentioned. however i think it is written more for the average "lay" person, not those suffering from mental illness. at the risk of sharing too much about myself i suffer from some degree of treatment resistant depression as well as bi-polar disorder. trust me; it's not a boat you wanna be in. i have contemplated suicide a number of times (more than i can count) to just end the pain and while the book does have some valid points, when you're really down in the dumps and hurting like crazy (no pun intended) it is very easy to put all the advice in the book aside.
would i recommend the book? i'm not sure. however i would not discourage you either.

Don't DO IT.......2005-02-21

I've read some peoples reviews about how suicide can be an alright decision some of the time. That's perhaps the stupidest thing I've ever heard, suicide is nothing more than a copout no matter how you look at it or what. The reasons that people try to explain why someone commits suicide or wants to commit suicide aren't nessarily so black and white as 'someone not being happy with their body or just a general lonelyness. The fact is that suicide is an entirely selfish act whether you admit to it or not.

Now I'm not trying to look down on anyone who wants to or decides to kill themselves. I myself had thoughts of doing it in various parts of my life but I've realized as hard as it is to do sometimes you just gotta have faith in yourself and in life itself not some all knowing 'God' despite what others preach. We all have to find content in our lives no matter where we recieve it.

I hope people find this review helpful.

Patronizing Psycho-Babble.......2004-11-24

I bought this book, hoping that it might offer me some intelligent and persuasive help, but was dismayed by its banal psycho-babble. It may be a helpful book for someone who is new to therapy or who is not struggling with agonizing circumstances, but not for the self-reflective or truly pained.

Not a great book... Look elsewhere.......2004-09-05

A good number of suicides are financially related and people that are stuck in catch-22's. We have excessively rich people in our society that do jack all to help eliminate suicides that are financially related, yet they can line the pockets of politicians with millions. Yet everyone and their mother can spend a few bucks on lottery tickets that the lotto collects to give to the lucky winner(s). We live in a sick society, the only way anyone is going to solve suicide is to acknowledge there are many causes of it and that in some rare circumstances suicide is a rational and final option after all avenues have been exhausted.

But most suicides fall under:

1) Financial circumstances one cannot escape from that was not purposely brought upon oneself (i.e. debt due to loss of job rather then it being self caused by being a spendthrift)
2) Circumstances of ones own biology and neurology which effects how long one can keep a job, if able to function in one at all. Which causes #1, and the downward vicious cycle.
3) Parental abuse or negligence while growing up
4) Crises of expectations/a life of bad experiences, one after the other for an extended period of time that re-enforces the notion that nothing is going to get better.
5) Acute lonelyness, lack of love, self hatred, and body image (if one was born severely ugly/disfigured, etc)
6) One has ones quality of life significantly reduced in extremely significant ways (i.e. become disabled, disfigured, loss of limbs, etc).

Average customer rating:

A real treat of a book!

Everything you've always wanted to know about Ice Cream

You just can't put it down.

A tasty treat for the ice cream lover in you

Ice Cream Lovers Look No Further!

Everybody Loves Ice Cream: The Whole Scoop on America's Favorite Treat
Shannon Jackson Arnold
Manufacturer: Emmis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1578601657

Book Description

Three scoops, please: a travel book, a cookbook and a pop culture history all in one, Everybody Loves Ice Cream is the most complete treatment of the subject a reader can find anywhere. Whether you're looking for a great ice cream stand nearby, a recipe for rocky road, or an explanation for what makes an ice cream "super-premium," you'll find it here. It's true that everybody loves ice cream, and this book tells you why.

Customer Reviews:

A real treat of a book!.......2005-10-12

So far, this book has garnered only five-star reviews, and I absolutely agree with all the raves the other reviewers have given this book. I bought it for a research project along with quite a number of other food history books, and this is probably the best of the lot. It's more than history and facts - yes, it teaches you more than you ever wanted to know about ice cream, but it's fun and entertaining at the same time. The pictures and graphics are fantastic, and make the whole reading experience extremely enjoyable. The book is crammed full of the most interesting facts from what must be hundreds of different sources (for example: Did you know that your favorite flavor may indicate what your personality is like? Or did you know that there is a portable non-electric ice cream maker that makes ice cream after being attached to any moving object or person for forty minutes?)There is also a complete history of ice cream, ice cream recipes, reviews of top ice cream shops, and much, much more. Plus, if you haven't had enough at that point, there's even a bibliography in the back for you to find even more information about ice cream.

My only complaint about this book is that it gave me VERY intense cravings for ice cream - not good for my diet!!!

Everything you've always wanted to know about Ice Cream.......2004-09-14

This is by far the most complete book about ice cream I've ever seen. It's ideal for both adults and kids with fun facts. For example, here's one of the entertaining Did You Know? entries: "In Newark, New Jersey, it is illegal to eat ice cream after 6 P.M. without a doctor's note." The ice cream making tips and recipes make it a wonderful resource for an activity the whole family can enjoy at home or you can visit top ice cream parlors in the U.S. Check out the state-by-state listings included in "Everyone Loves Ice Cream." You'll happily refer to it again and again.

You just can't put it down........2004-07-23

I opened this book with a few free minutes while sitting on my front porch and was still looking at it long after my family was asleep. It's good clean fun. It's so much more than a tribute to ice cream, I swear I couldn't stand it any more and tip-toed downstairs to see if I had peanuts to make a "tin roof" before picking it back up again. The first thing I'm going to do is have great family fun by letting my kids make "Coffee Can Ice Cream". This book brought back such great childhood memories of cranking the old rock salt & ice machine we had all those years ago. In addition to the great text in the book, the graphics and photos put you back in another place and time. I almost feel like taking that trip down old Route 66 after looking at it.

This book will not get stuffed into my crowded bookshelf - it's going to be a great, often-reached-for, home decoration for my kitchen island from this summer forward!

A tasty treat for the ice cream lover in you.......2004-07-20

This book is the most comprehensive guide to ice cream. It's a history lesson, travel guide and recipe book all scooped together deliciously! I found the writing fun and engaging. Arnold brings ice cream to life in a way that had me wanting to chant "Ice cream! Ice cream! We all scream for ice cream!" Makes a great gift along with a pint of a favorite flavor. Highly recommended.

Ice Cream Lovers Look No Further!.......2004-07-20

This book has it all! It's a recipe book, a travel guide, a history manual, and a fun filled fact finder for every ice cream. Easy to read and fun to flip through. Don't miss "Flavors Worth Finding," "Get Sauced," and "Phosphates Preserved: Great Ice Cream and Soda Fountain Museums." I don't know how I survived so long without this guide to my favorite food! Note to My Relatives: Expect to receive this book for all holidays in the upcoming year!

Book Description

In this book are my favorite and most cherished moments in some of America's most beautiful wilderness. Few emotions can exceed the ones acquired while in the presence of the "Great Bear." Share the experience of encountering and observing the remarkable North American grizzly. Walk in his tracks and marvel at his power. Let your outdoor spirit be nourished by the reflections of honest moments in the wilderness places with the true king of the wild. Absorb the splendor and excitement of coexistence in the sanctuary of grizzlies from the tundra of Alaska to the mountain ridges of Montana.

Average customer rating:
So Simple Knits
Hilary Mackin
Manufacturer: Creative Homeowner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1580112587
Release Date: 2005-10-15

Book Description

So Simple Knits is the perfect book for beginner and younger knitters who want stylish, contemporary designs to practice their new craft. The simple stitches and use of fat needles create amazingly quick-knitted pieces. Using chenille, worsted, alpaca, mohair, chunky, tape, and textured yarns, the 24 projects include popular ponchos and scarves as well as smart boleros, cuddly wraps, hooded cardigans, and accessories like hats and mittens. Full-color photography and illustrations supplement the step-by-step instructions, while helpful techniques guide the novice through each project. These fabulous designs combined with the latest popular yarns make So Simple Knits an ideal collection for readers looking to make an old craft new again.

Average customer rating:

So Simple Knits
Hilary Mackin
Manufacturer: Creative Homeowner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SXNAY2

Average customer rating:

Time to feel what it is really about

Living well...

Quietly beautiful, useful

Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
Joe Eck , and Wayne Winterrowd
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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A Year at North Hill: Four Seasons in a Vermont Garden

Annuals and Tender Plants for North American Gardens

ASIN: 0805047867

Amazon.com

After 20-plus years of tutelage at the feet of Vermont's climate, landscape designers and authors Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd have mastered the art of living seasonally. Fundamentally, this means eating what's ripe in the garden--there's no freezing and very little canning at North Hill--when it's ripe. The meditative, ardent Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill describes this life hitched to the wax and wane of the seasons.

Eck and Winterrowd, who also authored A Year at North Hill: Four Seasons in a Vermont Garden, go into luxurious detail on the tiniest aspects of horticultural and barnyard life. These two are passionate and effective teachers--so much so that, by page 43, the reader fully understands their characterization of pumpkin vines as "as wayward as vegetable guineas," a reference to the hen with a mind of its own. We--even those of us who've never sprouted a seed or hoed a row--get it. But some of the most rewarding passages in Living Seasonally are those that ruminate on the inevitable blending of the spiritual with the prosaic, as in this reflection on Vermont pumpkin pie, made with maple syrup from their own trees:

We begin our syruping when the buds of the maples are tight-furled, hardly more than sharp, dull-green points along the bare stems.... By the time the pumpkins have been selected and sown, the leaves of the maples will have hardened into the thick shade of summer.... When the maple leaves have turned transparent again, all into orange and tawny yellow, the pumpkins must be gathered to cure in the warmth of the house. As they lie in heaps and piles, their colors reflect the autumn garden, and are a fit emblem of the season. An emblem, too, is the pie they make, where beginning and end and all the processes in between are caught up in a perfect round.

This book will captivate both the avid gardener-cook with its recipes and techniques for planting and seed selection, and the citydweller searching for the answer to why it's impossible to find tomatoes that taste like tomatoes in January. --Stefanie Durbin

Book Description

With more and more people migrating to the countryside, and with the growing trend away from mass-produced and factory-processed foods, the time is ripe for the wisdom and eloquence of Living Seasonally. Here, Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd champion respect for the seasons and pride in workmanship as they invite us to share in their dedication to both the practicalities and the aesthetics of living off the land.

Living Seasonally puts special emphasis on the raising of vegetables. It details not only the day-to-day aspects of vegetable gardening but also the shaping of the garden to make it a beautiful space with its own particular emotional resonance, its own magic. Delicious recipes and photography complete what will surely become a gardening classic.

Customer Reviews:

Time to feel what it is really about.......2004-01-02

Every time I pick up a book I am about to read,I first weigh it in my hands.The feel of it is as important as the touch and sound of every page I turn.In this book I could feel the authors,as if they were right there still on that very page.They seemed so close.
It is apparent that descriptions as just and as appetizing as the ones in this beautiful work of art,could only come from very passionate gardeners.But Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd are not only gardeners.They are also gourmets in every aspect of life.
Taking time to smell a wonderfully scented flower,or staying up all night to assist their favorite cow giving birth to her offspring every single season,well I think that says it all.
Hours are long when one chooses to farm.But real happiness lays in having dirty fingernails.I say "Bravo" to Eck and Winterrowd.May there me many more books from these two very talented and gifted authors.

Living well..........2000-09-04

For a number of years, I attended gardening workshops sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation and Brooklyn Botanical Garden held at the NWF Headquarters in Vienna Virginia. These workshops were always thematic, covering topics such as 'growing perennials' or 'regional gardening'. On more than one occasion I heard Joe Eck or Wayne Winterrowd speak about their home and garden at North Hill Vermont. Their talks reflected the various stages of change they experienced as they renovated their old house and developed their grounds. I particularly remember the oohs and ahs when they showed us slides of their perennial beds.

"Living Seasonally" continues the story first described in their book "A Year at North Hill: Four Seasons in a Vermont Garden." In this book they leave the perennials for the vegetable patch. Eck and Winterrowd are now working in patch number five.

"Living Seasonally" is a cross between a coffee table book and a garden guide, though for practical purposes the book is more the former than the latter. Much can be gleaned from the book as it is filled with all sorts of useful tidbits and wonderful photographs, but it is not a "how-to garden" book per se. Also, it covers life in a Vermont garden which is not like life in any other part of the U.S. The authors point this out over and over, but some will forget. For one thing, the growing season is short in Vermont (about two months before global warming) and much of the garden work is done in frozen ground or under grow lights in the green house. For another, some plants that thrive in the cool Vermont summers, don't thrive elsewhere in the U.S. and vice versa. Growing vegetables is tricky. Planting dates must be attended to with rigor and special consideration must be given the "ground" work. The reason Eck and Winterrowd are working in vegetable patch number five is because the other four patches did not work out. They are quite forthcoming in the reasons why the other patches were best abandoned for other types of vegetation.

This is an intersting book with lots of anecdotal material that may or may not prove relevant to gardeners outside Vermont. I read from mere curiostity more than anything. Much of what they describe for their garden in Zone 4 or 5 will not work in my Virginia patch in Zone 7. I do like their photographs of garden designs and fixtures as well as farm animals. However, I think the animals are mostly ornate creatures kept for show. This is a very picturesque book.

Quietly beautiful, useful.......1999-08-20

Although I enjoyed their first book, this one kindled my gardening fires. As always, their writing is top notch -- polished and seamless. I cannot detect whether it is one writing about pumpkins ("as wayward as vegetable guineas") and the other about onions ("connecting us to all that has gone on before"). It doesn't matter. What does matter is that once started I had no choice but to slow down and savor every page, every wonderful photograph. Yet for all its beauty, I also had to fight a compulsion to underline portions, to write notes in the margins. I can't recall the last time a gardening book made me feel so inclined. I appreciated their candor as well, especially about raising livestock for food (they do -- I couldn't), their diet (they confess to eating red meat) and even an "occasional smoke." I hope I have the good sense to return to "Living Seasonally" not just when I'm thinking about new tomato varieties but also when my harried pace has my priorities out of kilter. For in these calm and gentle pages I found reminders about why I garden and the affinities I share with those who delight in growing plants.

Customer Reviews:

For social workers and for foster parents.......2002-05-16

The collaboration of experienced social workers Judith Lee and Danielle Nisivoccia, Walk A Mile In My Shoes: A Book About Biological Parents For Foster Parents And Social Workers is a powerful, meaningful, 85-page treatise on understanding the feelings of biological parents and their children when children must be transferred to foster care. A "user friendly" guidebook to easing the transition and helping all parties understand one another better, Walk A Mile In My Shoes is highly recommended both for social workers and for foster parents engaged in a necessary, difficult and sometimes painful process.

Book Description

Poignant art, poetry, and writings giving voice to the Holocaust ordeal.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding.......2007-04-21

Quite simply, you will find it difficult to find another Holocaust text quite like Soundless Roar.

Ava Kadishson Schieber, born in Novi Sad near Belgrade, was a teenager when her parents decided that the best chance of survival was for each family member to go his or her own way. In telling her memories of being forced into solitary hiding, Schieber unpacks her lost adolescence in a way that reveals both unimaginable loss and extraordinary acceptance.

By inviting you to "construct your own image" from her collection of drawings, poems, and short stories, Schieber does not allow you to settle on simple interpretations or superficial lessons. Instead, readers will be taken on a frightening yet gentle journey - encountering Schieber's "friendly ghosts" along the way - that will leave them mystified, refreshed, and inspired.

Somehow, Schieber takes her readers through the world of the Holocaust, including a brief glimpse into the Nazi death camps. It is as if she is leading each reader by the hand, as we discover with her the strength of the human spirit and her own personal tragedies.

Schieber's astounding honesty challenges her readers' preconceptions of what being a survivor means. In a way, she also forces her readers to confront their understandings of oppression in society today. Importantly, her ability to write both simply and abstractly makes Soundless Roar a piece of art that is accessible to teenagers and scholars alike.

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