Edith Warner's own words exceed in beauty and simpicity anyone else's account of what her experiences were like in Northern New Mexico during the era of the making of the atomic bomb. Captured for the reader are the feelings of an anglo woman being accepted by Native Americans, the difficult life a woman making it on her own, and her intense feelings about how the war affected pueblo people.
Editor, Patrick Burns, has done a fine job of editing and staying true to the spirit of these wonderful writings!

Edith Warner came to New Mexico from the East in 1922, seeking a place to regain her failing physical health. Rather, she found a place ideal for her spiritual health, an ancient land where she felt at peace. She settled into a little house beside the Rio Grande at a lonely railroad siding called Otowi, where she supervised the off loading of freight. Ironically, in that out-of-the-way location, fate placed her at a crossroads in time, to live between the pastoral life of the neighboring Pueblo Indians and the frenzied pace of nearby scientists ushering in the atomic age at Los Alamos. In the midst of these different worlds, Edith completed her personal journey and touched the lives of everyone who passed her way, from sheepherders and potters to world-renowned physicists. Her story has been presented in two previous books, THE HOUSE AT OTOWI BRIDGE, a memoir and southwestern classic by Peggy Pond Church, and THE WOMAN AT OTOWI CROSSING, a fictionalized and altered version of Edith's life by Frank Waters. Now, IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS offers the story through Edith's own writing, with a preface to set the stage.

As a reviewer, I am suppose to tell you whether or not you will enjoy this book, but such a prediction would be based solely on opinion. What I can tell you is that Patrick Burns, the book's editor, was passionately dedicated to his project on Edith Warner and that his admiration of Edith, despite never having met her, shows through in his work. Burns pursued lost documents in dusty archives, salvaged old letters that were about to be destroyed, and talked with Edith's friends and relatives from around the country to gather and preserve this record of her writing, which includes published and unpublished articles, letters, and surviving portions of her journal. IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS is the result of years of in-depth research into a remarkable woman and a place in time. Edith's story leads the reader to wonder what might have become of her had she stayed in Pennsylvania, never having found her little house by the river, but we will never know because Edith recognized that she was right where she was suppose to be. She pursued her destiny. Through this book, she continues to inspire others to do the same. My opinion? You will more than enjoy IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS.

An excellent astrological system! After having a Mayan horoscope cast for me a few years ago, I looked for this book in vain until finding it on Amazon. All information is included for casting Mayan horoscopes, with a treasure trove of information included on the signs and the stellar cycles. Note that the author puts the myth of an end time ( 2012 ) into perspective. There is also much detail on the spiritual practices of Mesoamerican adepts. Any one interested in central American culture and occultism should pick this one up.

This book is laid out in a great referance format and can be used immediately. In-depth study will lead to to many levels of understanding the Mayan Sacred Calander. There are layers of information that are discovered with subsequent readings, always something new and interesting that adds depth to a book that appears somewhat superficial on the surface. It's a wonderful, information book that will lead you to greater study of the Sacred Calander using the traditional long count.

This is another one of the American Girls Short Stories series about Josefina Montoya, a nine-year-old girl living in the New Mexico of 1824. In this book, when Josefina and her father journey up to the mountains to visit one of the rancho's shepherds and his grandson, they discover a recent illness has left him blind. In spite of Josefina's pleading, her father decides to retire the shepherd. But, on their way home, Josefina and her father are caught in a sudden storm, and he is injured. Can Josefina save the day?

The final chapter of this book looks at shepherding in 1824, and gives directions for making a mini rug (it looks quite fun and easy, and my daughter and I are going to make one). As always, Jean-Paul Tibbles has produced some excellent illustrations that add a great deal to this already excellent book. My daughter and I both highly enjoyed this book, and we recommend it to you.

"Josefina's Song" is the third Josefina short story that was published, but it is set just before the book "Josefina Saves the Day". In "Josefina's Song", Josefina is allowed to join her Papa on a trip to the local mountains. They are going to visit the shepherd and his son who spend most of the year with the herd of sheep on the more abundant grazing land found in the mountains. When they arrive at their camp, they realize that the shepherd has become blind from a fever, and his nine year old son watches the sheep. Even though the shepherd proves himself capable around the camp, Papa is still worried for his safety. Papa offers to house them comfortably in town, but Josefina boldly speaks up for them, jeopardizing her own trip to Santa Fe that same summer. On their way home, a summer storm hits and Papa is injured when his frightened horse rears at lightning and bolts. Brave Josefina leads her Papa on her own horse back to the shepards camp, until men from home discover the runaway horse and rescue them in the morning. During the night, Josefina sings in her beautiful voice to the shepherd's flute playing. When she runs out of songs she knows, she sings her feelings about her journey, her outspokenness, the storm, Papa's accident and about the care the shepherd gives them. The next day, the abilities of the shepherd and his son are re-evaluated.

These essays flow rhythmically one into the other; they move softly, yet each human contact takes the reader to its poignant crescendo. They are works of a man who embodies the characteristic that unites all religions: compassion,understanding and humanity.

JOURNAL OF AN ITINERANT ARTIST, Drew Bacigalupa's 1977 essays that first appeared in a local Sunday newspaper, are just as fresh in 2000 as when they were written a quarter century ago. That's the way with good literature.

Bacigalupa's vision of the arts and humanities and how they affect our thoughts and our lives stimulates the reader to new heights of understanding the people around us. He touches our lives by sharing a compelling sense of family.

The title, incorporating the word "itinerant," may be misleading. A Jack Kerouac road trip with drugs, this is not. Home-based in Santa Fe, Bacigalupa draws from his travels and brings a global relevance to the diverse culture of the American Southwest.

This is another well written, intense and interesting novel by Kate Horsley. She pulls readers into her stories and keeps them there. You may not always agree with what she has to say but you must agree that it keeps you thinking. I am buying the other Kate Horley's that I haven't read yet, today!

Horsley's revisisionistic view of the period provides historical insight into a period of rampant exploitation. Beyond that it is one woman's story of redemption. The story centering around a woman searching for her children who have been taken on a "nature trip" in the mountains soon comes to realize that no matter how horrible the acts of man, if the powers that be support the actions the perpetrators either individually or collectively can get away with the most heinous of crimes.

A LAND SO REMOTE

Prior to the holidays, I received a great gift, a copy of the beautifully produced three-volume study A Land So Remote, authored by Larry Frank and Skip Miller, and published by Marianne and Michael O'Shaughnessy of Red Crane Books, Publishers, Santa Fe.
Creation of a successful publication of this magnitude can only be accomplished by many who work in concert, in this case scholar, editor, publisher and, of course, those who are willing to share their treasures with anyone wishing to turn the pages in this landmark study. Frank and Miller have devoted a large percentage of their lives carefully studying and painstakingly handling objects-some of religious importance, powerful images that were the subject of daily devotion, while other objects that served a useful function in the lives of hundreds of thousands attempting to make their lives easier. To the Hispanic, Native American, and the Anglo, these objects were an integral part of daily life-whether as an expression of their spirituality, their intense religious devotion-- or to enable them to perform certain physical tasks-- cutting wood or baking bread.
The authors, in concert with photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy, have treated each object sympathetically, whether it be a santo or bulto, or packsaddle or carreta wheels, with the same level of care, even reverence. The real joy is in seeing so many diverse objects fashioned out of wood and other materials in significant numbers. How often have we had the opportunity of examining page after page of images beautifully organized and described. The authors, of course, treat us to a display of work by lesser known santeros, as well as the most celebrated, notably José Rafael Aragon. Volume two devotes pages 288 to 377 to some of the most powerful religious images by Aragon and his followers that the reader will ever experience.
Since 1974, I have been a frequent visitor to New Mexico and have written a few books on the Anglo painters. After reading Miller's and Frank's essays, I said to myself, "I wish I had written these words. Both scholars write with conviction and authority. They also write in a style I have labeled "an easy read." They have organized their material so that it makes sense. You understand why the objects were created, who created them and importantly, how they were created. Happily, these objects, some still in the churches in Ranchos de Taos, Chimayo, Taos, and chapels throughout the Southwest, others in museums and private collections, have been "gathered" and presented to the reader and viewer in a beautiful and effective manner (I was tempted to use the phrase elegant but refrained).
All reviews of the publication praise A Land So Remote for its visual appeal, handsome photographs," fascinating account of the history and culture of Hispanic New Mexico," scholarship, a major contribution to Hispanic studies. One critic even suggested that, before being placed in a glass case [with other rare books], it might serve as a coffee table book. Never! If anything, it will be a banquet table book, and will be the scene of great feasts-visual and literary. But their words, like mine, fail to express the impact this handsome three-volume study will have on you-the participant. This study will, like the objects that it treats, transcends time. Secure your copy. I can assure you that it will never gather dust (although it will go out-of-print).

Dean A. Porter, Ph. D.
Director Emeritus, The Snite Museum of Art
Professor of Art History
University of Notre Dame

Published by the vaunted Red Crane Books of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this three volume set on religious art and wooden artifacts of New Mexico is a rare, rich visual and intellectual repast. It would be a treasured gift, one to which collectors and aficionados will return time and again.

Larry Frank is remembered for "The New Kingdom of the Saints" (1997), while Skip Miller is curator and director, Taos Historic Museums.

With 842 stunning color photographs and 848 pages A Land so Remote surely holds the most comprehensive and accessible information on this subject. Many of the photos included are of rare objects gleaned from nine museums and a number of private collections. Carefully selected for the part each plays in this artistic corpus, photos are accompanied by concise essays that enhance knowledge while still piquing an interest to know more.

Volumes I and II beautifully present the growth of religious art during a period of over 125 years. It was a time when in order to undergird their faith Spanish settlers turned to santos, visual representations of saints. Thus was born an art form unique to America which once was of great import in churches, communities and homes.. Santos were, if you will, incarnations of the hopes and dreams of these immigrants.

"Rightly understood," author Frank remarks, "santos are a kind of 'liberation theology' written in the language of wood, plaster, and paint, an understanding of Christianity that empowers the poor to free themselves from unjust socioeconomic and cultural structures in the larger world and within themselves.

Volume III centers on wooden objects, such as tools, furniture, toys, and domestic utensils. These objects testify to the influence of the Spanish on the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants of this region.

Photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy described his task as a "...wonderful, often awesome, experience of having such close contact with material that radiates the love and importance that their makers brought to their creation."

Such is the case with readers as they leaf through the pages of these landmark volumes.

- Gail Cooke

John Nichols is always a joy to read. He is the John Stenbeck of our time. No one combines art and social views so beautifully as he does.

My grandmother gave this beautiful book to me for Christmas the year it was published. (I believe it was 1980 or 1981). I feel madly in love and am still madly in love today. I re-read this book every year in October, it has become a most beloved ritual. I took a chance in early 1992 and wrote to John Nichols and was I ever surprised! He wrote me back. I have two copies and now that they have a new edition, I plan on buying it too! I have a hard back signed copy that I treasure and I know it is authentic because the signature is exactly the way he signed his letter to me. Read this book and plan to be thoroughly enchanted. I was and still am after almost 20 years.

Davis Ford has compiled a labor of love, this by capturing the thoughts, ideas and personas of an era that is quickly leaving us. Just as Tom Brokow has referred to those who participated in WWII as members of a great generation, so are those whom Dr. Ford memoralizes in his book. You can almost hear the campfire crackle as the cowboys discuss their lives in a time soon to be remembered only by the false pictures generated by Hollywood of men who are truely of the ages. Everyone who has even sat astride of a horse, or watched John Wayne in action, needs to read this book to hear the true story of the American west and the men who made history, and won a country, in their own quiet way. This book will be read 100 years from now by those who want to know the true story of the American west and those that left their own personal brand on our country.

In his excellent book, The Last Cowboy, Davis Ford creates a colorful mosaic not only of Leroy Webb but also of many other authentic cowboys - as well as the development of an entire region. The format of the book enhances the story with quotes encased in barbed wire, action pictures, regional maps and appropriate quotations interspersed in the text. The Last Cowboy is an outstanding chronology of an era told through ancestral history, geographical details and economic facts woven into telling the life story of Webb. It is a pleasure to read this well-researched and well-crafted history, augmented by humorous anecdotes and the personal observations of the author.

From Rosemary Boyd, Editor, Laurel Press: "Renate Horney is one of the most vibrant and energetic, yet 'mellow,' people I've ever met. An octogenarian who radiates youthful enthusiasm, she is constantly on the go. One could read her memoir simply to absorb the attitudes suitable for enjoying a gratifying and fruitful older age if the book weren't so much more. The following excerpted comments from some of her readers express how much more."

From Sara Reimer, writer for the NY Times: "Once I started reading "Lazarus, What's Next?" I couldn't put it down. I wish it had been twice as long--I wanted more. You've had the most extraordinary life and I loved the warm, funny, and honest voice you found to tell your tale. It was happy and sad and profound all at once. I laughed out loud..."

From Jeanne W. Frank, writer: "The book is wonderful. It has all the elements of a page-turner: spontaneity, thoughtfulness, honesty, and the joy of life."

From Laurie Linda: "I've read countless biographies and memoirs, but I found yours to be absolutely spellbinding. I literally could not put it down, enjoying every moment."

It's is a great book that transports you to a world full of adventures some happy and others hard, but always finding the bright side of life and of things. It made me feel the same things Renate felt and made me laugh when she enjoyed life. I think this is a superb book but also the story of her life is an example for everybody, to learn that there is only one life and one must live it to the fullest.

This a great book for two reasons. First, the stories are interesting and well-written. Second, if you are learning Spanish, as I am, the dual language is very helpful. Read Spanish on one side and check yourself on the other. The author has written another book or two which are very good too!

Contemporary bilingual stories collected from the day-to-day life by a master storyteller