If you look at all of Debbe Kennedy's writing, there is at least one thread connecting all her thoughts: talk is nice, but action -- making something really happen -- is the only path to achievement.

What's great, then, about this "Strategic Action Series" is that, page after page, Kennedy suggests, profiles, highlights, or lists things you can do to move diversity from the discussion table to the office suite or plant floor.

The series is a perfect blend of philosophy, reporting, and move-on-it-now lists. Thus, when completed, the series not only helps you see diversity in a new light; these books also help you think about your own potential for converting diversity into actions with both a personal and organizational payoff.

An easy read-not too daunting-compact in size and condensed information which doesn't allow the reader any excuse for procrastination. Encourages everyone to follow their dream and take 'Action' as the title suggests. Loved the quote from Mother Theresa...."Don't wait for leaders. Do it alone-person to person"

AFTER GREAT PAIN : The Inner life of Emily Dickinson. By John Cody. 538 pp. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971. SBN 674-00878-2 (hbk.)

This book is a fascinating psychoanalytic reading of ED's tortured life, by a professional psychiatrist who devoted seven years to it, and is unsparing of the falsifications indulged in by most of her biographers and critics. ED cultists, in particular, loathe the book (always a good sign) because it gives us a very human and very tormented Emily Dickinson, a woman starved for love who had serious psychological problems which retarded her emotional development, and who almost certainly suffered a nervous breakdown as a result.

Why any of this should disturb the open-minded I have no idea. The Dickinson household was certainly a very strange and abnormal place, and the Dickinson children had a far from normal upbringing. The aloofness of the father, his inability to show love or warmth and relate in a normal fashion to his children, would have a devastating effect on any child.

The arguments I have seen against Cody have been very weak, though proof of the rightness of his thesis is very strong. It runs all through the poems and has been analyzed in great detail by Camille Paglia in Chapter 24 of her _Sexual Personae_ 'Amherst's Madame de Sade : Emily Dickinson' (pp.623-74).

The poems Paglia quotes are authentic Dickinson poems. No matter how much worshippers at the shrine of their 'Saint Emily' would like to wish them away, they will not go away. Also, they have meaning.

My advice would be to read both Cody and Paglia. They're both fascinating writers, they both know what they're talking about, and I think that what they say helps us to understand aspects of both Dickinson and many of the poems she wrote.

Emily Dickinson was a very complex figure, and everyone tries to claim her for their camp - Cultists, Christians, Psychiatrists, Sadeians, etc., - but I guess the truth is that, although there's a certain amount of truth in all these positions, Emily Dickinson is just too big to be contained. She bursts free of all categories. Like her poems she explodes into a multiplicity of meanings, perhaps because, like them she wasn't about something, but about everything.

When Arcady Mystikos comes to town, everyone is bowled over by his psychic powers -- except for 6th grader Alexander Fox.

Fox asks legitimate questions and looks for a more practical explanation of Arcady's feats.

This book is an outstanding introduction to using one's brain.

I am buying additional copies to send to my friends who follow and believe in the popular "psychics" of our day. Mr. Mystikos's name could very easily be replaced with any of those psychic's names.

The cover alone is worth the price! Each stone in this photograph of 46 specimens of turquoise is identified at the start of the book. High quality natural stones from the most important mines of the Southwest are pictured side by side with treated and plastic versions.

The book is a collection of 10 articles written for New Mexico Magazine. Titles include "Turquoise and the Native American", "Buyer Beware: Hidden Facets of Turquoise", Young Native Jewelers Signal Change of Guard" and "The Plight of Old Pawn". High quality photographs of famous mines, artisans and jewelry, both historic and current, will whet the appetite of would-be collectors but also leave an impression of love and respect for the land and its native inhabitants.

Read this book under a strong light to catch the full depth of color!

In this age of technological superiority, when so many people seek a spiritual connection, reading AMEN is truly a religious experience. This collection of prayers is stunningly put together, using vivid colors, vintage photographs, and creative layout. The collection includes prayers from a variety of religions, and the prayers range from celebrations of birth to services for the dead. Of course, it also honors those beautiful moments that happen in between, such as marriage and birth. It does so in a highly original fashion, surrounding each prayer with loving photographs that really make one understand the value of prayer and faith throughout time. AMEN celebrates prayer while honoring the sacredness of it. In addition to being a lovely book to read through, it is a quite useful reference book for those wishing to explore this powerful literary form, and those wishing to strengthen their faith through the written and spoken word.

Compiled and edited by Emily Foster, American Grit: A Woman's Letters From The Ohio Frontier is an inherently fascinating collection of correspondence from the first half of the nineteenth century, written by Anna Briggs Bentley, a devout Quaker wife determined not to lose contact with her mother and sister. Filled with emotion, a willingness to work, love for her family and her many children, and a great deal more, American Grit provides contemporary readers with a compelling and enjoyable look through a kind of "window of time" at daily life in rugged terrain. A fine work enhanced with brief annotations for clarity, American Grit is very highly recommended for Women's Studies and American History Studies collections and reading lists.

In writing the story of her family heritage Emily Stowell tells the story of this growing nation. Our local historical society has found a great interest from readers in this northern NJ area through its telling of the life along the Delaware of the Jacob Luyerson VanKuykendal family.It amazes me how Emily Stowell brings together real lives,characters, names as well as historical events.She follows the journeys of her ancestors across this country and tells a wonderful adventure more true history than fiction. A true descendant, Emily Stowell is also a true dectective as she puts the pieces of history together to tell "her"story. And that story is ours as well! I can easily see this as an excellent tv mini-series.

A detail from Frieseke's "Lady with a Parasol" wraps around the cover of this beautiful quality paperback. The book is aptly titled, as the authors include many works that show the bredth and depth of American painters best known for their Impressionist works, and of contemporaries such as Winslow Homer, Chase, Sargent, Maurice Prendergast, and others. Works by F. C. Frieseke include "Girl Reading" c. 1900, o/c 107.6 x 90.8 cm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston;"Lady in Rose" c. 1910-1915, o/c, 82.2 x 82.2 cm, William Hill Land & Cattle Co.;"Sewing in the Garden" c. 1915, o/c 74.6 x 93 cm, Ann Gordon Trammel; "Sunbath" c. 1910, o/c 73.4 x 92.7 cm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and "Lady with a Parasol" c. 1908, o/c 64.8 x 81.3, Private Collection.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the 3 title poets. Wendy Martin does an excellent job in her analysis of these great female poets. She provides necessary backgound information along with correlative interpretation and history of the authors' works. This book is not only a informative and helpful tool, but it is an interesting read.