Profile Response: Marion Paden, Oklahoma City OK

Posted on January 18, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellow“At the end of your life how do you want to be remembered? I would like people think I’m funny, but I can’t control that. I also want them to think my life made a difference.” For over thirty years at Oklahoma City Community College, in a number of capacities including Dean for Students and Vice-President, Marion Paden felt certain she made a difference. “OCC is the fifth largest college in Oklahoma. It provides college experience and education for students who cannot access our residential universities.”

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Two years ago Marion decided to branch in a new direction. She became Director of Leadership Oklahoma, an education and community service organization that provides training sessions to emerging leaders about the critical issues facing the state, including agriculture, government, penal system, oil and gas, education, Native Americans, and transportation. Each year fifty individuals participate in immersive experiences such as visiting death row inmates and observing petroleum fields to witness first hand the factors that shape life in Oklahoma. Upon graduation, they join the growing ranks of fellow participants who, hopefully, have a broad perspective of the issues that face this state.

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Marion is excited about the educational sessions she’s developed, but wants to increase graduates’ activities and reach. “My slogan is ‘other ways work.’ We have to figure out what they are and try them out.” From Marion’s perspective, the value of Leadership Oklahoma is more than what the program participants receive; it’s what they give back in return.

How will we live tomorrow?

img_8287“I hoped you had the answer for me. I am frightened. It is the work I am doing and it keeps me up at night. The trajectory we are on is not a good one. I am a glass half-full kind of girl but now I am looking at empty.”

 

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Profile Response: Judy Ferguson Oklahoma City OK

Posted on January 17, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowJudy Ferguson: mother of six girls; home school teacher; marathon runner; short order breakfast cook; manager of Francesca’s outlet store; sod farmer’s wife; soccer player; coffee drinker; comfort food cook; mud runner, devout Christian.

After a day at work, many working mom’s heat up leftovers or boil spaghetti. Judy got home after five and at 6:30 p.m. ten of us stood in a circle of hands in the kitchen while second youngest Jasilyn offered the evening prayer. Then we devoured two pans of fresh meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and smore cupcakes for dessert.

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Each daughter, age 5 to 21, has a different home school curriculum. The oldest has auditioned for ‘The Voice’ and is pursing a record contract. Others compete in volleyball, soccer and cross-country at home school competitions all over the country. The day I left they were off to Omaha for the weekend.

screen-shot-2016-12-21-at-12-31-53-pmJudy sleeps four or six hours a night. “Never five, an odd numbers makes me cross all day.” She drinks coffee from morning ‘til night and insists it doesn’t affect her sleep. While awake, her energy never seems to flag.

Judy has an expansive view of love and life. She’s developed an increasing relationship with her birth father, whom she didn’t see for over twenty years. She recognizes aspects of herself in him and her half-sister, ten years junior. “He makes me feel whole.” Judy’s parents are not keen on this, but Judy wants it all. “It doesn’t detract from us in any way. The mscreen-shot-2016-12-21-at-12-35-01-pmore love we have, the more people we love, the better for everyone, the better for the world.”

 

Judy wants to spread that love even after she dies. “People can be cremated into ink for tattoos or even diamonds. That’s what I want, to be turned into something precious so each of my girls can have a piece of me.”

 

How will we live tomorrow?

screen-shot-2016-12-21-at-12-30-10-pm“One day at a time I try to make memories. I want to make new memories, to step out of my comfort zone. I ran a marathon for fun. Then I realized it was exciting and gave me a thrill. Each was different. I run the Oklahoma Memorial Marathon every year because I believe in the cause. But I know it too well now, it’s not new. I like running new marathons, in different places, in different weather.

“I want to give my girls memories. I don’t have many from my childhood. You only have one life; I want to pack it with memories.”

 

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Profile Response: Kenyon Morgan, Oklahoma City OK

Posted on January 12, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowKenyon Morgan saved me from the misery of my first professional job. Six months out of graduate school I was working for a large Oklahoma City firm, the only period of my life I was truly bored. Kenyon had recently hung out his single and needed someone put together the building projects he’d won. I quit the slow, steady ladder, and dove into doing everything: design, detailing, spec writing, on-site supervision; both learning as we went.

imgres-1Kenyon and his vivacious wife Kay had three young girls, upbeat attitudes and the perfect mix of professional integrity and urban cool. After I moved to Boston we stayed in touch; we last met in 2011. Since that time, life threw Kay and Kenyon a curve. In February 2014 Kay slipped on ice. Soon thereafter she started to forget things. By summer she was diagnosed with progressive memory loss.

Kenyon built an addition to their house, downsized his practice, and moved a small staff on-site so he could be near both Kay and his work. He hired someone to oversee the household. He hired a friend to take Kay swimming three days a week. Their church group stepped in to include Kay in activities. “We are fortunate to have the resources so Kay can remain at home. But some things I cannot hire out. There’s a fine line imgresbetween personal chores, like picking out clothes, that I still want to do, and what others can do.”

The same week Kay was diagnosed, Kenyon’s sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. “The two diseases are so different. Everyone talks about cancer; everyone is involved in the treatment. Dementia is still secret.”

imgres-2From the start, Kenyon has balanced caring for Kay with taking care of himself. When she received the diagnosis, he began going to a caregiving counselor. The neurologist prescribed eleva, a mild anti-depressant, to counter Key’s frustration. They use holistic creams. These treatments seem slight compared to the magnitude of the condition. “The last drug the FDA approved for Alzheimer’s was in 2000. I don’t think there’s a pharmaceutical solution to this.” Kenyon has been following UCLA studies that focus on a combination of exercise, spirituality and topicals to counter memory loss. He would like Kay to participate, but acknowledges she is not a good candidate. “She hates taking these tests. Those are her worst days. I can’t subject her to them.”

Kay still recognizes many people, and her frustration is self-directed rather than outward. Kenyon encourages her to interact with others, but she prefers him. “I am her security She likes me. She always wants to be with me, but I need breaks.” He also realizes the importance of making Kay feel important. “I tell her I need her. And it’s true.”

How will we live tomorrow?

screen-shot-2016-12-21-at-11-45-41-am“Things have changed so much since I was a kid, what can tomorrow be like for my grandchildren? It’s more about family and friends and how do we get technology to work for us instead of against us. I think of my son-in-law Josh, who’s a product manager at Google developing apps for India. What are they for? It really only matters if it leads to a better life. I look at our Presidential election and I wonder what technology and God has wrought. In the end, people, families, friends are important. The spiritual is important. How do we reinforce that and also develop the power of the individual? How do we inspire people to develop solutions instead of stirring discontent?

 

“I feel so blessed to sit down, at age 70, and design a building. I have a talent in which I make a difference. It’s what I was doing when I was six years old. Now I’m 70 and still get satisfaction, and it will get built. I wish everyone had that.

 

“I am stuck as a caregiver, and architecture gives me relief. It is my satisfaction and my diversion.”

 

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Profile Response: Johnny Seay Norman OK

Posted on January 11, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellow“The Jeffersonian idea of public education is to integrate the fundamentals of a society. We’ve dumbed down our education to technical and lost the fundamentals that bind society. It’s the root of our dissolution; the reason no one knows how to negotiate or compromise.”

Johnny Seay’s thoughts on the value of a broad education are particularly interesting for a guy who spent twelve years teaching the basics of masonry construction at a vocational / technical school. Johnny, who started as a mason, then became a teacher, an administrator, and ultimately the safety coordinator for the Oklahoma Association of General Contractors, appimgresreciates the value of technical education; he just sees it as one component of what a full education entails.

 

Johnny was fascinated by my journey in a different way from others I’ve met. He saw it as a series of choices that led to a different way of experiencing time, the land, and people. Johnny believes that everything, everything we do, we do by choice. “We make hundreds of choices every day. If I drive to work and focus on the road, I miss the sunrise. That is a choice. We like to think it’s an obligation, but it’s not.” We don’t have to drive to work, we don’t have to pay attention as we drive, but there are ramifications of not going to work or not paying attention. “We have freedom of choice, but not freedom of consequences.”

How will we live tomorrow?

img_8238“My grandson has never seen a rotary phone or a black and white TV. He’s only known tablets and digital watches. His son will probably have implants. Some people think this is terrible; I think it’s great.

“However, if we don’t do something, we won’t be around for that. The human race will exist, but in what capacity? Will we frack our way out of existence?”

 

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Profile Response: Donna Powell, Durant, OK

Posted on January 10, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowIn 1996 Donna Powell was 24 years old. She had two children and a husband dabbling in meth. “I was in a tough place. I prayed to God to show me the Light.” Today Donna owns a $3 million staffing agency, an insurance company, and a collection of real estate in Durant. She lives with her second husband Del at the end of the road in Eagle Lake. Their 4,000 square foot home on four acres has patio views over the swimming pool and sunsets shimmering off the lake. “It’s all because God blessed me. I had no skills. I still don’t. My success is all through God.”

Donna’s two children are now near the age of her own transformation. Her daughter Haley, 23, is a world traveller who’s been to China several times, lived in El Salvador and now Jordan. She’s finished college and applied for a Fulbright to study the plight of the Roma people of Eastern Europe. “When we looked at Haley as a baby, we knew that we needed to be better. She’s always been an extraordinary person, and she brought the best out in us.”

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It strikes me that Donna, who may be the only MSNBC junkie in Durant, is overly modest. She probably has very good business skills and effective parenting skills. She obliviously knows how to pray and to capitalize on the good things that come her way.

How will we live tomorrow?

imgres“Regardless who wins this election, we’re going to live. We’ve gotten through The Great Recession, the Bush years. If Donald Trump gets elected we’ll survive.

“I am less stressed than I used to be. I work with twenty year olds and see how stressed out they are. We get mellower with age. That’s how I’ll live tomorrow. Happy I’m not twenty.”

 

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Profile Response: Pernie Fallon and Guy Giersch, McKinney TX

Posted on January 9, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowHalfway through our evening discussion, trading stories of Pernie Fallon’s life as an artist and teacher, Guy Giersch’s journey from science teacher to historic preservationist, and my shift from architect to cyclist, Pernie said, “Riding your bike is like drawing. You have to pay attention to the details, so you see things more clearly.” I had never considered that before, but she is right.

screen-shot-2016-12-21-at-11-06-04-amGuy and Pernie are both Panhandlers; Guy’s from Amarillo, Pernie from Pampa, though they did not meet there. They met in McKinney. Pernie has taught art at several schools around DFW and creates vibrant flowers in pastel and oils. At present, she teaches in the affluent community of Frisco. “When I taught on the west side of Dallas, the kids hadn’t travelled more than a three block radius, and neither had their parents. But I thought they were more creative, more open, than the kids I teach now.”

 

screen-shot-2016-12-21-at-11-05-29-amGuy moved here after a mid-life career change led to an architecture degree from Texas Tech and becoming McKinney’s first preservation officer where he has been instrumental in transforming McKinney’s downtown square, similar to so many Texas County seats, into a lively place day and night. “I see architecture as the embodiment of the human spirit. I am distressed by these abandoned downtowns that lose that.”

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In the past fifteen years McKinney has capitalized on its extensive historic district designations, sound buildings and DFW’s expansion to create a destination for lively pedestrian activity within The Metroplex. When Guy arrived there were only a handful of businesses around the courthouse. Now, all the storefronts are full and viable retail extends along several side streets. Vehicle traffic is limited to one lane, sidewalks are wide and well landscaped. True, McKinney’s population has tripled from 50,000 to 150,000 in that time, but if the city had not focused on its core, it would have suffered more outlying strip development.

Guy believes that further preservation will flourish if McKinney can create an identity beyond a bedroom community. “How can McKinney attract young adults who want to live and work here?”

How will we live tomorrow?

161027-pernie-and-guy“I always go with pursuit of beauty.” – Pernie

“Just be joyous. I am reminded of the Navaho Blessing.” – Guy

 

Walking In Beauty (Blessing)

Today I will walk out, today everything unnecessary will leave me,
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me.

My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.

With beauty before me may I walk.
With beauty behind me may I walk.
With beauty below me may I walk.
With beauty above me may I walk.
With beauty all around me may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
My words will be beautiful.

 

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Profile Response: Jarad Singh, Dallas TX

Posted on January 5, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellow“Immigration in this country is a net positive, but I think it’s very important to regulate and control. A steady rate of immigration is key for stability and expectations.” Jarad Singh’s views on immigration may be conservative for an Indian national residing in the U.S. on an H1 B work visa, but they reflect his balanced view of his position in our world. Jarad lived all over India before coming to Georgia Tech for a Master’s Degree in Transportation and Environmental Engineering. He went to work for Oklahoma Environmental Consultancy and lived in Norman OK for six years. “They were very efficient about initiating my green card application. I actually lived in Norman longer than anywhere else in my life.”

After a job shift, falling energy prices led to layoffs. Jarad’s second employer gave him six week’s notice instead of severance, so he could line up another job: an H1B visa requires continuous work experience. He landed a job in Abscom and moved to Dallas immediately.

imgresIn theory, it takes six to twelve months to process a green card application, but INS approval times vary greatly from country to country. “It might be six months if you’re coming from a small country in Africa, but if you are from China or India it takes much longer, eight to twelve years. Jarad’s initial application was filed in 2012; he is hoping to receive a green card by 2020.

The thirty year old football fanatic with a Professional Engineer license and good employment history thinks its a matter of when, not if, he can live in the U.S permanently. In the interim the biggest drawback are the travel restrictions on H1B visas. “I can travel anywhere in the U.S. but if I leave the country I have to get my passport stamped in India before I can return.” He recently passed up a trip to Iceland because it would cost too much money and time to include India on that itinerary.

How will we live tomorrow?

img_8128“I can tell you I would like the cities to be denser and more accessible. I would like our footprints to be smaller. I would like to examine our assumptions, in particular whether eating meat is necessary, and I would like our population to get smaller. Not sure I’m following my own advice since we’re eating pizza with sausage on it.”

Note: Jarad’s name and Abscom are changed at his request.

 

 

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Profile Response: Steve Culver, Fort Worth TX

Posted on January 4, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellow“I decided that pulling triggers wasn’t a way to live.” When ISIS entered the area of Iraq where Steve was a military contractor, the former Marine quit his job, moved to Texas, his official residence during his years as an ex-pat, and enrolled in Texas Christian University to study mechanical engineering.

Steve has nothing but praise for TCU; the work is interesting and challenging, the classes small, the professors knowledgeable and approachable. Steve understands that at age 28 he is more focused than his fellow students, a majority of whom are involved in TCU’s extensive Greek system. “All my peers are ten years younger. There’s a disconnect when we do group work, but I work around it. I treat college as preparation for work.” TCU is also affordable because the school participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, where the university and VA make up the difference between private school tuition and Steve’s service benefits.

img_8083During R&R’s Steve traveled the world. Over two summers he motor biked through Southeast Asia, exploring hinterlands of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. When he returned to the states and college, Steve’s focus took a decidedly inward direction. A chronic knee injury led him to explore alternative therapies, which led to bodywork, a regular yoga practice, and daily meditation. “Meditation allows me to monotask much better.” Steve believes the American passion for multitasking is not only misdirected, but also incorrect. “Studies have shown that when we perform tasks in sequence we complete them faster and quality is higher.”

These days Steve’s adventures are squeezed into school breaks. Most weekends he rides his motorcycle around the dirt paths of Lake Worth. On longer breaks he ventures further afield on adventures central to his individualism and identity. “We are hardwired to conform. It’s important to have something that differentiates.”

Steve anticipates that as virtual reality becomes more ‘real’ individuals in the same physical place and time will experience vastly different realities. “When I was young I played video games to go on adventures. Then real adventures took the place of games. Now, you can play a game on your phone that alters the reality around you. It’s crude, but it will improve in time.” Although Steve thinks this is cool, he understands the downside of blurring physical and virtual realities. “We love distractions, like TV and our Phones We have to be pulled out of them. The TV shows we watch appeal to our subconscious; part of us doesn’t accept that it’s fake.”

img_8089Steve’s adventures are still decidedly real. Two weeks ago, on a motorcycle ride up through Oklahoma and Arkansas, Steve took a turn too fast, reflexively stuck his foot to the ground and broke his toe. “I’m lucky nothing more serious happened. Actually, it turned out to be a good injury. I rode 45 minutes to the ED. While I was there I checked out local couchsurfers. I met good people. They were in a band and took me to their gig. We had a great time.”

The night I stayed with Steve, he and a bunch of his Marine buddies took me banana pedaling. “We used to run patrols with rifles in Iraq. Now we ride around downtown in banana suits.” I call that progress.

How will we live tomorrow?

img_8103“As an engineering student in bio-mechanics I am interested in exoskeletons. The answer to many physical disabilities is to augment our bodies with robotics. Some are powered; others are not. If I am injured in the future, I can augment my body and still be outside and go on adventures. I see a lot more augmentation happening. Technology is going to explode. One company I am trying to intern with is developing robotic legs for paraplegics that are less expensive than electronic wheelchairs. There are economic incentives. Studies show that prosthetics add ten times their cost in economic activity.”

 

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Profile Response: Mayor Betsy Price, Fort Worth TX

Posted on January 3, 2017 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowMayor Betsy Price has been named America’s Most Bike-Crazy Mayor. I cannot dispute that title. When her child was small, Betsy pedaled him around in a trailer. She has ridden RAGBRAI twice, and the Wichita Falls August center ride, Hotter’N Hell, a sizzling seven times. The popular three-term Republican mayor, who ran unopposed in her last election, has brought her love of cycling to the Mayor’s office. She holds rolling town meetings every Wednesday evening, and spearheads the ‘Tour de Fort Worth’: 21 days of cycling that runs concurrent with the Tour de France.

imgresHer cycling interest is just one component of a governing strategy that prioritizes health as the key to a successful community. Her initiatives for Fit Worth, Walk Worth and Bike Worth are all centered on getting people to move. Mayor Price is is a vivacious, engaging woman with a Texas-size smile and personality. We met at a Bluebonnet neighborhood gathering to promote Fort Worth’s Blue Zone Project. She arrived in tight jeans, cowboy boots, a bright red blouse and dangling silver chains and told the small but enthusiastic gathering, “It’s not about being thin; it’s about being healthy. This is not a nanny state program; this is a way to make it easier for us all to be healthy.”

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After she spoke, Mayor Price threaded through the crowd. She returned to ask me more details of my trip. I wished I lived in Fort Worth, so I could vote for her. But I’m pretty sure she’s got the job as long as she wants it.

How will we live tomorrow?

images-1“Much better than we do now. We are moving to be the healthiest, best educated, most economically sound city in our nation. Healthy people are outside. They know their neighbors; they’re more involved in their community’ they promote security.”

 

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Recommended Books, Music, and Films for How will we live tomorrow?

Posted on December 29, 2016 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowThrough 397 days of cycling I kept a list of books, blogs, films, and CD’s people recommended to me. I also wrote profiles of many authors of prose and song. I plan to tackle many of them in 2017. Perhaps you will enjoy some as well:

 

Internet:

Russell Brand monologues – recommended by Tom Black, San Luis Obispo CA

Cycling the 6 blog, recommended by Kerry, Santa Barbara CA

Kirstin Dirksen Videos on Alternative Living – recommended by Jesse Tillotson, Uvalde TX

The American Experience, ‘The Clintons,’ recommended by Jesse Tillotson, Uvalde, TX

Mitch Albion, ‘Magic Strings of Frankie Preuss’ – recommended by Judy Meladondri, Summerville SC

June Hardin, ‘Obtaining Hope’ – profile 2/9/17, Bryant AR

Film:

Bitter Lake – BBC documentary on Middle East – recommended by Tom Black, San Luis Obispo CA

Alone Across Australia – recommended by Kerry, Santa Barbara CA 

10 Cloverfield Lane – recommended by Andy Fallon, Cambridge MA

Idiocracy – recommended by Tony Molloy, Mansfield, CT

Lorenzo’s Oil – recommended by Sara Haltunnen, Dover DE

The Bully Project – recommended by Sara Haltunnen, Dover DE

Moving Midway –recommended by Kathy Ellis, Rixeyville VA

War, Inc. recommended by Heath Ray, Bowling Green KY

Sugar Man – recommended Wesley Bell, Ferguson, MO

Shawshank Redemption – referred by Kyle and Lilly, Colorado Springs CO

Guardians of the Galaxies – recommended by Robin and Jane Carretto, Pueblo CO

The Insider – recommended Samarth Mehta, Dallas TX

13 – HBO movie recommended by y Marion Paden, Oklahoma City OK

The Men who Built America – documentary recommended by Terrie Turner, Little Rock AR 

Music:

Susan Ruth, All I Ever Wanted Was Everything – profile 10/14/16, Nashville TN

Dana Cooper, Building a Human Being – profile 10/19/16, Nashville TN

Andy Wilkerson, The Road is Still the Road – profile 12/21/16, Lubbock TX

Mary Reynolds & Louise Goldberg, The Fayetteville Session – profile 1/13/17, Oklahoma City OK

Books:

Jim Merkel, Radical Simplicity – profile 5/23/15, Belfast ME

Josh Trought, The Community Scale Permaculture Farm – profile 5/28/15, Dartmouth NH

Primo Levi, The Periodic Table – recommended by Pandora Brewer, Mount Pleasant IL

Charles Belfore, The Paris Architect – recommended by Pat Bringenberg, Denver CO

Thomas Campbell, The China Study – recommended by George Osborn, Seattle, WA

Michael Gregor, How Not to Die – recommended by George Osborn, Seattle, WA

Kevin Kelly, 12 Tech Forces that will Shape our Future – recommended by John Abrams, Seattle WA

Craig Childs The Secret Knowledge of Water – recommended by Sherri McCutcheon, Eugene OR

Christopher McDonall, Born to Run – recommended by Steve Miner, Ashland OR

John Javna, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader – profile 11/21/15

Daniel Quinn, The Story of B – recommended by Michael Sojka, Mt. Shasta CA

Daniel Quinn, Ismael, My Ishmael – recommended by Michael Sojka, Mt. Shasta CA

Rabindranath Tagore, The Burden of Things – recommended by Samosh in Merced, CA

John McPhee, Control of Nature– recommended by Ed Curtis, Pleasant Hill CA

William McDonough, The Upcycle – recommended by Kathy Schaefer, Pleasant Hill CA

Piaw Na, An Engineer’s Guide to Silicon Valley Startups –profile 12/29/15, Sunnyvale CA

Mark Helprin, A Winter’s Tale – recommended by Tom Black, San Luis Obispo CA

Jarrett Diamond, Collapse – recommended by Kathy and Reuben Basil, Los Osos, CA

Anything by Tim Cope, adventure writer – recommended by Kerry in Santa Barbara CA

Ta-Nahisi Coates, Between the World and Me – recommended by Caroline Bringenberg, Los Angeles CA 

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow – recommended by Caroline Bringenberg, Los Angeles CA

Eric Hoffer, The True Believer – recommended by Kevin Lee, Fullerton CA

Ellen Silvergelb, Chickening, Farming, and Food – recommended d by Lainie Luc, Benson, AZ

Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Athlete – recommended by Trudy Bryson, Sun City AZ

Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior – recommended by Trudy Bryson, Sun City AZ

Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself – recommended by Eulee Yang, Tucson, AZ

Robert Caro, The Power Broker – recommended by Jesse Tillotson, Uvalde TX

Robert Caro, LBJ Biographies – recommended by Jesse Tillotson, Uvalde TX

Lawrence Lesing, The Public Lost – recommended by Jesse Tillotson, Uvalde, TX

Charles S. Mann, 1491 and 1493 – recommended by Jesse Tillotson, Uvalde, TX

Diane K Osborn, A Joseph Campbell Companion – recommended by Joseph Dial, San Antonio TX

David Lanham, Poems Written on a Thursday Night – profile 3/25/16, Austin TX

Gail Vitorri, Sustainable Healthcare Architecture – profile 4/7/16, Austin TX

Valerie Hudson, Sex and World Peace – profile 4/12/16, College Station TX

Charles Izenstein – Sacred Economics & The Ascent of Humanity – recommended by Megan Parks, Houston TX

Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart – recommended by Perry Carrison, Boston MA

Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat, recommended by Andy Fallon, Cambridge MA

Marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert, recommended by Andy Fallon, Cambridge MA

Cathy O’Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction, recommended by Abby Dobberteen, Cambridge MA

Elly Blue, Bikenomics, recommended by Abby Dobberteen, Cambridge MA

Helen MacDonald, H is for Hawk – recommended by Richard Ortner, Boston MA

Colin Woodward, American Nations – recommended by Carl Seglum Boston MA

Carl Sagan, Science is a Candle in the Dark – recommended by Tony Malloy, Mansfield, CT

Hillary Brown, Next Generation Infrastructure – profile 8/8/16, New York, NY

William B. Helmreich, The New York Nobody Knows – profile 8/9/16, New York NY

Vishen Lakhianai, Code of the Extraordinary Mind – recommended by Taylor Rowand, Toms River NJ

Richard Brodie, Virus of the Mind – Taylor Rowand, Toms River NJ

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer: A Novel – recommended by Cathleen Snow, Boyce VA

Paul Theroux, Deep South – recommended by Kathy Ellis, Rixeyville VA

Curtiss Hoffmann, People of the Fresh Water Lake – profile 9/15/16, Charlottesville VA

Bradley Kadel, Drink and Culture in Nineteenth Century Ireland – profile 9/21/16, Fayetteville NC

Jen Hatmaker, Seven – recommended by Cleo Gorman, Mountain Brook AL

Vince Flynn, The Third Option or American Assassin – recommended by Randy Gorman, Mountain Brook AL

Andy Andrews, The Traveler’s Gift – recommended by Randy Gorman, Mountain Brook AL

Jim Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable – profile 10/7/16, Birmingham AL

Lily Hansen, Word of Mouth: Nashville Conversations – profile 10/17/16, Nashville TN

Alan Blume, The Closing of the American Mind – recommended by Tatiana Fallon, Louisville KY

Robert Putnam, Our Kids – recommended by Tatiana Fallon, Louisville KY

Dominique Lapierre, Freedom at Midnight – recommended by Katie Bloom, Corydon IN

Mabel Dodge Luhan, Winter in Taos – recommended by Docey Lewis, New Harmony IN

David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest – recommended by Ashton Lambdie, Lawrence KS

Benjamin Lorr, Hell Bent – recommended by Kerry Regen, Manhattan KS

Frank Bouchard, Last Child in the Wood – recommended by, Manhattan KS

George Samuel Clason, Richest Man in Babylon – recommended by Buddy Lee, La Veda CO

Brian Goldstein, The Roots of Urban Renaissance – profile 12/15/16, Albuquerque NM

Mark Steyn, America Alone – recommended by Bill Fallon, Vaughn NM

Ferenc Morton Szasz, The Day the Sun Rose Twice – recommended by Jan Bradburn, Clovis NM

Elizabeth Warren, The Two Income Paradox – recommended by Karen Bone, Lubbock TX

Barry Schwatrz, The Paradox of Choice – recommended by Karen Bone, Lubbock TX

Daniel Goldman, Emotional Intelligence – recommended by Karen Bone, Lubbock TX

Jennifer Finney Brown, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders – recommended by Karen Bone, Lubbock TX

Alan Alda – Never Have Your Dog Stuffed – recommended by Karen Bone, Lubbock TX

Rosey Gordon, Some Things I Did – recommended by Andy Wilkinson, Lubbock TX

Jaren Lamer Who will own the Future? – recommended by Andy Wilkinson, Lubbock TX

Amu Auker, Rightful Place – recommended by Andy Wilkinson, Lubbock TX

Kina Lesky, Storm of Creativity – recommended by Andy Wilkinson, Southwest Archives, Lubbock TX

Michael Ventura, If I Was a Highway – recommended by Andy Wilkinson, Lubbock TX

Spencer Johnson, Who Moved my Cheese? – recommended by Kimberly Hardick, Weatherford TX

Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August – recommended by Sameth Mehta, Dallas TX

Sebastian Marroquin, Sins of My Father – recommended by Guy Giersch, McKinney TX

Brett Hume, Maddening Magnificent World of Transportation – recommended by Keith Reed Perkins OK

Jeffery Archer, A Twist in the Tale – recommended by Hamza Farooq, Bentonville AR

Alain de Botten, The Architecture of Happiness – recommended by Chris Cochran, Bentonville AR

E.F. Scuhmacher, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Matter – recommended by Chris Cochran, Bentonville AR

Michael Pollen, Botany of Desire – recommended by Chris Cochran, Bentonville AR

Mason Currey, Daily Rituals – recommended by Kurt Templeton, Bentonville AR

Thomas Sugrue, There is a River: The Story of Edgar Cayce – recommended by Shawna Remy, Russellville AR

Starla Gresham, Creative Problem Solving – profile 1/26/17, Conway AR

Andy Andrews, The Traveler’s Gift – recommended by Terrie Turner, Little Rock AR

David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years – recommended by Alex at Auburn Rural Studio, Newbern AL

Nate Silver, Signal and the Noise – recommended by Amre, Tallahassee FL

Rupert Isaacson, Horse Boy – recommended by Julie McBride, Tallahassee FL

Kate Grossman, Forgiving my Daughter’s Killer – profile 2/28/17, Tallahassee FL

Paul E. Fallon, Architecture by Moonlight – profile 3/6/17, Cambridge, MA

 

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