A cancer diagnosis changes everything: work, relationships with family and friends, one’s perspective on what makes a good or bad day. Jim Higley didn’t expect the summer after his own diagnosis and subsequent surgery to be the best... Read More

Sukree Boodram was born into a large and prosperous farming family in Guyana, West Indies. She was a happy and academically gifted child who enjoyed an uneventful early life in Guyana’s sylvan countryside. In "Breakout"’s opening... Read More

Post-traumatic stress disorder is commonly assumed to be an unwelcome souvenir of battle, but PTSD also affects people who have never heard a bomb explode or a rifle shot fired in anger. Margaret J. Scott enjoyed most of her duties as a... Read More

Most people are familiar with Helen Keller’s story: She was blind, deaf, and, until the age of ten unable to speak at all. With the guidance of her teacher, Ann Sullivan, she became one of the most remarkable writers and social... Read More

Look at your surroundings through the eyes of another for a short while, and your perspective on life may change significantly. William Steven Ford grew up in St. Louis under difficult circumstances. "Pretty Boy" is his story. Told with... Read More

Richard Thomas Gall’s memoir, General Motors: Life Inside The Factory, is about an hourly employee working at the Flint, Michigan, General Motors plant in the 1970s. As the author says in his introduction, it is “the story of a... Read More

Every book and blog dedicated to the craft of writing repeats the same mantra: show, don’t tell. Sharon Wallace, author of "A House Full of Whispers", got the message. She impales the reader with descriptions of the abuse she and her... Read More

From 1652 to 1994, South Africa was ruled by a succession of white regimes notorious for exploiting the non-white population. Apartheid, imposed on the non-whites beginning in 1948, made life for blacks a living hell, and for Indians... Read More