John Wayne Books

In the 1974 title,' Pastoral Counseling,' the late Wayne E. Oates, has stated what he considered the eight paradoxes of what it means to do pastoral counseling. The book in essence is the detailed development of these paradoxes of pastoral ministry. The reading of the book was very enhancing to my own professional development as a Pastoral Counselor. Having met the man who wrote this book, before his demise a couple or so years ago, I can attest to the worth of reading this great Classical text on the art and science of Pastoral Counseling. I would recommend this book, as a required read for Theological students in the area of care. It is a shame however that, such books as this, are neglected in today's circles of Academia. Reading this book will suffice a lay person of any strata of society, in his/her better understanding of pastoral ministry, as one cares for the created souls of people.

Dr. Oates writes material that is very pertinent to the profession of ministers. In "Pastoral Counseling" he specifically deals with the "unescapable priveldge" of pastoral counseling. He offers theorectical and practical helps to the reader by discussing the tensions that consistently are a part of pastoral counseling (such as, involving a theological or scientific approach to counseling, the private versus public ministry, being aggresive versus passive in counseling). These tensions are what ministers face everyday and they effect counseling just as much as they do any other part of a pastor's ministry. Dr. Oates helps the reader consider these tensions and then work towards a considered approach to pastoral counseling. That's why this book is a valuable resource for any minister or lay-pastor.

David Dodd has assembled a wide variety of stories to inspire and encourage addicted people to get clean. I was impressed that Twelve Step groups were NOT the focus of every tale, and that the one constant was that each individual made a PERSONAL CHOICE to forego their addiction and live sober. For all the help some people get from 12-Step groups, there are many who don't "relate" to the religiousity. But this book shows that recovery is still possible and worthwhile. The fact that most of these tales are told by celebrities and artists we KNOW only increases their value. Plus, it's nice to know that my gut feeling about Steven Tyler is "on the money" - he truly IS a mensch!!

I was attracted to the many well-known names listed on the cover, but once I began reading the book, I was overwhelmed with its passion and solutions. David Dodd has done a remarkable job which is reflected in this collection of interviews. My favorite part, however, is the introduction to the book, where the author tells his personal story on how he became sober with the help of Steven Tyler. His vivid description of the events were astonishing to me, they were absolutely incredible. This is a wonderful book!

In the years since President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, many conspiracy theorists have latched onto the completely-unsupportable notion that the motorcade route was changed at the eleventh hour just prior to President Kennedy's drive through downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963.

The "Motorcade Route Was Changed" allegation is pure malarkey....and provably so. (Unless the conspiracists who continually tout such an unsupportable theory actually believe, and can prove, that the Warren Commission somehow "faked" Commission Exhibits 1362 and 1363, which consist of photographs of two Dallas newspapers, both from Tuesday, November 19, 1963, which verify the finalized motorcade route, including the turn from Houston Street onto Elm Street, which is a turn that took JFK's car directly in front of the Texas School Book Depository Building, from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President Kennedy.)

CE1362 and CE1363 were utilized as official exhibits by the Warren Commission to demonstrate the fact that JFK's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, could very easily have had ample foreknowledge as to the precise motorcade route through Dallas that JFK would travel on November 22nd.

Do conspiracy theorists think that both of those WC newspaper exhibits were "fabricated" in some fashion (with the references to "Elm Street" somehow added into the text of the two newspaper editions at a later time by cover-up agents)?

Obviously, such crazy fakery and skullduggery never happened, which means that the whole idea of the motorcade route being "altered" at the last minute (in order to conveniently take the President close to the building where the supposed "Patsy" was located) is a specious idea to begin with.

The motorcade route was never "changed" from its original configuration. To begin with, the route wasn't even finalized until November 18th, just four days prior to Kennedy's visit to Dallas. The route was then published in BOTH Dallas papers on November 19th.

On November 20 and November 22, the Dallas papers then mentioned the general routing of the motorcade (but lacking specific street details). But this lack of "Elm Street" detail in the two later papers on the 20th and the 22nd can't possibly be used by conspiracy buffs to promote a "Route Was Changed" theory, unless these buffs actually want to believe that the route was changed TWICE -- with the last "change" mirroring the exact Houston-to-Elm route that was already published in the November 19 papers, which is the EARLIEST of the Dallas newspaper examples I mentioned above.

And, as an aside here, Oswald didn't even obtain his job at the Book Depository until the middle of October '63, a full month prior to the finalized motorcade route being decided upon. The timing of these events, therefore, illustrates how utterly ridiculous the largely-accepted theory of "Oswald Was An Innocent Patsy" really is.

Here's a direct passage from the Warren Commission Report (an outstanding document, regardless of what any CTers believe):

"On November 19, the Times-Herald afternoon paper detailed the precise route: 'From the airport, the President's party will proceed to Mockingbird Lane to Lemmon and then to Turtle Creek, turning south to Cedar Springs. The motorcade will then pass through downtown on Harwood and then west on Main, turning back to Elm at Houston and then out Stemmons Freeway to the Trade Mart'." -- WCR; Page 40*

* = Footnote attached, "54", which, per the Warren Report's footnotes index, leads us to "CE1362", which is a WC exhibit showing the exact newspaper from which the above text was culled, which positively PROVES that the "Elm St. turn" was being planned as of the date of that paper (11/19/63).

Page 40 of the Warren Report also tells us that the Dallas morning paper on November 19th also mentions the specific turn onto Elm Street -- "Main to Houston, Houston to Elm". With a footnote ("55"), taking us to "CE1363", which shows a portion of the November 19th edition of The Dallas Morning News, with the "Houston to Elm" notation clearly readable.

Moreover, the turn onto Elm Street was essential in order to avoid the concrete divider in the middle of Main Street that would have caused even greater violation of standard Secret Service practice with respect to the slowing down of the President's limousine.

Sans the Elm St. turn, JFK's car (as well as the three bulky press busses at the rear of the motorcade) would have had to either negotiate (i.e., climb over) a concrete obstruction on Main Street or make a very difficult hairpin turn to the right beyond the obstruction....a turn that would have been literally impossible for the trio of busses that made up a part of the motorcade, if those busses had elected to attempt to gain access to Stemmons Freeway directly from Main Street.

There are also these additional pertinent facts re. the motorcade routing (taken directly from the Warren Report):

"To reach the Trade Mart {President Kennedy's destination on 11/22/63} from Main Street the {Secret Service} agents decided to use the Stemmons Freeway (Route No. 77), the most direct route. The only practical way for westbound traffic on Main Street to reach the northbound lanes of the Stemmons Freeway is via Elm Street, which Route No. 77 traffic is instructed to follow in this part of the city." -- WCR; Page 32

"The Elm Street approach to the Stemmons Freeway is necessary in order to avoid the traffic hazards which would otherwise exist if right turns were permitted from both Main and Elm into the freeway. .... Traffic proceeding west on Main is directed to turn right at Houston in order to reach the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, which has the same access road from Elm Street as does the Stemmons Freeway." -- WCR; Page 39

The above section of WCR text from page 39 is followed by footnote number "46", which takes the reader to a reference to "CE2967", which is a photo showing a sign on Main Street (just east of Houston Street) that specifically instructs traffic to turn right on Houston in order to gain access to the Turnpike (and, hence, to the Stemmons Freeway ramp as well).

As can be easily seen from these WC exhibits, the motorcade needed the Houston-to-Elm turn to gain access to Stemmons Freeway. And as the exhibits further show, Oswald had ample time to read about the motorcade route (including the specifics re. the Elm St. turn) prior to his November 21 trip to Ruth Paine's home in Irving to retrieve his rifle.

Given these facts about the published motorcade route, Lee Harvey Oswald could (and obviously did) know about the President's planned parade route through Dealey Plaza when he took his "package" to work with him (and told a lie about its contents) on the morning of the assassination on Friday, November 22nd, 1963.

Plus -- It's always been my opinion that Oswald would probably have attempted the assassination even if JFK's car didn't proceed down Elm Street. If the car had gone straight down Main Street, Oswald could still have attempted the shooting. It would have been a longer, and more difficult shot, true. But IMO he still probably would have attempted it. Sadly, he had an even better chance to kill the President via the much-easier "On Elm Street" target.

The people who continue to spout the crackpot "Motorcade Route Was Changed" balderdash should not even be discussing any aspect of the John F. Kennedy murder case in the first place...for it's obvious that such a person has no idea what he/she is talking about in so discussing.

David Von Pein
November 2006

(used and noted throughout Richard Trask's "Pictures Of The Pain")
I recommend this very useful research tool by Todd Wayne Vaughan, researcher extraordinaire. I am thanked on a page, as well.:)
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)

Professional Cooking Canadian Chefs Version w/CD-RM, 5th Edition comprend 3 morceaux: Le livre, le CD-RM et le guide de l'étudiant. L'emballage est faite par le frabriquant.

Au collège algonquin que je suis mon cours de cuisine, les trois morceaux sont au même prix que les deux.

Si c'est une eurreur de votre part, vous m'envoyez le guide de l'étudiant. Si non je vous retourne les deux morceaux pour pouvoir acheter l'ensemble avec l'établissement que je prends mes cours.

Merci de votre attention.

Richard HOUNKPE

The Cookbook is a book for experts in the making. This is actually the textbook I am using in the chef's course that I am taking as part of a hotel management program. There are absolute beginners and experts in our course and we are all finding the book and AMAZING source and reference.
It is chock-full of terms, photos and guides --- I wish I had been given this book as a gift or bought it when it was first available --- it is without a doubt the BEST cooking guide on the market (for Canadians or Americans alike!)
Any cook would be a fool to NOT have this book on their shelves.
The recipes are AMAZING and the guidelines and instructions are invaluable for any business or individual who loves to cook.
The CD-ROM included is a valuable tool and a lot of fun to work with a play with ... better than any time-wasting video game on the market!
I cannot wait to buy his Baking Book and work through it from front to back ... I imagine it is as good as this one ... from what I have seen of Mr. Gisslen's books and writing method's I cannot imagine it is nothing but STELLAR!

Wayne Oates was one of the most gifted therapists in pastoral care and counseling for decades in the United States, and you could think of this as his letter of consolation to grieving Christians. There are few reviews here because the book has been in print so long. Despite this, Dr. Oates' kind and caring spirit comes through, along with wisdom from many years of helping people through the difficulty of losing loved ones.

I read this book and it helped me out on my grief of a loved one. He shows me how to deal with my grief and would tell others to read it too.

I can really feel Hawaii and maybe my life is not so bad since I am not a 19th century leper.

"The Colony" was greeted with rave reviews on the U.S. Mainland. Yet, it is not even sold in the National Park Service's bookstore at the settlement site on Molokai. Indeed, the book so upset one of its leading characters, storyteller Makia Malo, that he will not even utter the author's name.

The Amazon reviews hint at the range and breadth of opinion this book has generated; I recommend browsing both the glowing reviews and some of the less favorable 3-star and 1-star reviews. For the New York Times article on the controversy, you can Google this search term: "Book on Leprosy Settlement Draws Fire."

For what it's worth, here is my own brief take:

This is an amazing history, told in impressive detail. In chronicling the story of leprosy on the Hawaiian islands, Tayman even-handedly presents the good and the bad: Both grotesque medical experimentation and heroic service, devastating tragedy and human resilience. The scientific information was interspersed throughout the personal and political stories, making it more easily digestible.

The history of leprosy is not only fascinating in its own right, but it has important parallels today. Tayman briefly mentions the parallel with AIDS, especially in the early years of AIDS when exile was being proposed. I also found it relevant to the current treatment of another shunned group - sex offenders. As with lepers back in the day, policy makers attempt to banish all sex offenders as pariahs despite the fact that, like lepers, only a small minority are dangerous.

The negatives: As other Amazon reviewers have pointed out, the narration is choppy. We learn a lot of facts about a lot of people, but it is hard to keep the characters straight. And the editing is quite poor, something I am seeing a lot of these days. As for Tayman's apparent disrespect or arrogance toward the very people he was trying to honor - you decide.

If you are interested in this topic, Jeff Talarigo's haunting debut novel, The Pearl Diver, provides a good contrast. Although it is fiction, it seems historically accurate and you can contrast the treatment of lepers in Japan, where there seems to have been even more shame and prejudice, with that in Hawaii, where nearly every family had a member who was afflicted.

in 1866, 12 men, one woman and a child were exiled to Molokai where they were branded lepers and their lives were destroyed. Evenutally, this number grew to over 1,144. They were tortured, abused and used as guinea pigs by an ignorant government system that thought they were being kind in allowing them to live at all. With all of this there are many remarkable stories and humans that fought to make the best out of a horrible situation. This is a long story to read, the book drags on in parts and glosses over others. Very text-bookie in sections and repetative in others. I recommend the story and the historical significance.

I found the writing of this book mediocre and the editing poor. There are many unclear passages where the author will say something like "10 people were diagnosed... all eight died..." Or "Four men were killed...the three bodies were buried..." Very annoying. And don't get me started on his requent use of word SNUCK, which makes my blood run cold. I found the latter chapters of the book to be full of minutiae of the lives of a few older residents, that was of little interest or poinancy. Seemed like filler. Overall, the topic is very interesting, and parts are well-rendered, but the writing is somewhat jerky and overwrought.

Overall I liked this book. I think the author largely achieved what he set out to, which was to tell the story of the lepers of Molokai and tell it in a way that could hold your attention throughout the book.

This book was not however perfect. My main criticism was the constant flow of characters coming in/out of the story, especially all the outsiders (IE members of the board of health). I was often left with questions such as "who was this person again?". I must admit I read this somewhat sporadically over a months time, so that could have had some to do with it, but I did find the sheer number of people presented a bit over the top. This criticism aside, I still found it to be an enjoyable read and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this kind of story.

Killer Clown is an intense, well- written true-crime story. Filled with shocking details of the John Wayne Gacy murders, it was difficult to put this book down. The book starts with the abduction and murder of his final victim and the discovery of some 29 bodies in Gacy's crawl space, and then works backwards to look in detail at how such an atrocity could have happened.

This book would have been very well written, if it were a work of fiction. I really didn't sense that the events depicted in this book actually occurred.

But I will say that the author went into great detail in all aspects, including the investigation leading up to the arrest of John Gacy, the search of his property (the most shocking and vividly described part of the book), right down to the nitty-gritty details of the jury selection, defense, and prosecution.

I have read Killer Clown and some other books on the John Wayne Gacy serial murders, and can unequivocally tell you that the book by Terry Sullivan is the most accurate. I should know. I was the Assistant State's Attorney to whom John Wayne Gacy made several confessions, and I testified for the State of Illinois in the trial. Additionally, I spent several hours with the authors as the book was being prepared. If you are looking for a true chronicle of the events leading up to the arrest, trial and conviction of that animal, this book is what you want.

I read (and still have!) the very first paperback version of this book way back in the autumn of 1985. I am old enough to have watched the initial TV news broadcasts of this case from back in December of 1978! This book is a very interesting and entertaining read about the subtle (and sometimes NOT so subtle)surveillance,tracking, taunting and eventual arrest of this man who had been raping,murdering (and sodomizing AFTER they were dead) boys throughout the seventies. While the book does NOT go into very much detail at all about Gacy's private life (other than a few brief glimpses into his marriage and some scattered observations from a neighbor, co-worker, employee and such)it is still a very good book on Gacy, the man and the monster. I am an AVID collector of all things Gacy and will be putting some of my very valuable collection on display up on YOUTUBE very soon.

Very informative, thorough, factual, and fast-paced. Covers the period from Gacy's last victim through his trial, written from the law enforcement perspective in engrossing detail.

Nearly universally, the inquisitive mind is better served to delve deeply into a subject matter through literature rather than taking the quick, easy, and intellectually dishonest route of cinema.

I had high hopes to get some further insight into the trials and tribulations of the Father of The Abolitionist Movement through Piper and Atkins work.

Unfortunately, a similar book (if it exists) by Marvel Comics would have relayed as much information and in doubtless a more entertaining fashion.

Go get the DVD of Amazing Grace, and if that doesn't satisfy your curiosity, find another book to relieve your inquisitive nature on this topic.

I am not a history buff by any means, so it was safe to know that I had no clue who William Wilberforce was. I picked up the book because I am sucker for both John Piper and biographies.

This book was intriguing being it is so small and wasn't in one of Piper's "Swan Biographies," and was on someone that I wasn't familiar with. I didn't know what to expect from a small biography, and to be honest, wasn't expecting much.

The biography really is just a mere introduction to the life of Wilberforce and his convictions. He was a young rich man in British Parliament that ended up, through a close friend, surrendering to Christ. After his conversion he was wondering whether politics was a calling or curse from God and was thinking of leaving his post in parliament. That all changed when he met with another pillar of the faith in John Newton on December 7th, 1785. Newton challenged him to stay within the confines of parliament to change it for the glory of God and Wilberforce did just that. He not only was the sole reason for the abolition of slave trade in Britain but he was also the reason behind the complete abolition of the practice of having slaves as well.

This small biography gives insight to the man and his mission to do all things to the glory of God. It is well intentioned and a great introduction to "tease the mind" to want to learn more of this man's convictions.

For this reason I would recommend the reading to anyone, but don't expect this to be a very deep biography or one that will give you all the ins and outs of the circumstances of the life of this defender of glory and righteousness. But, I also don't think that was Piper's intention, but his attention was to get the reader to be introduced to another dead man that stood for Christ, another man that we can imitate, as he imitated Christ.

This sounds like it was a speech, transcribed, and then read by someone else to cheesy music. The book was repetitious. It did way too much hinting at what was coming next. In Piper's sermons it works fairly well, but in such a short book, it was a little annoying.

The book was a short attempt of explaining how Wilberforce's theology made Wilberforce so successful and increased his endurance for doing good. This was interesting, but it seemed pretty light weight to me. I'm sure there are better biographies out there. I know Piper does a magnificient job of explaining the concepts written in this book elsewhere.

All that being said. It was an interesting look at Wilberforce's life and work.

William Wilberforce, for those of you who are as clueless as I was when I started reading this book, was the British parliamentarian who spearheaded the campaign to abolish the slave trade, and then slavery itself, in the British Empire. This book is the story of this man who fought persistently, even when he suffered defeat after defeat, for a cause he knew was right.

But this little book (76 pages) isn't so much about the historical facts of Wilberforce's life, although it includes many of them, as it is about the faith (or the religious affections, to use Wilberforce's own quaint language) that made him the force that he was. What changed him from the lackadaisical parliamentarian that he was as a young man first elected to parliament at twenty-one? How did Wilberforce's faith influence the causes he chose to pursue? How did it help him persevere in despite defeat? How did it make him a man about whom it was said, "His joy was quite penetrating?" What was the content of his faith? What set him apart from the Religionists (another of Wilberforce's own words) of his day? These are the questions John Piper is seeking to answer in this book.

When I first saw the size of the book, I was disappointed that it wasn't thicker, since I really love reading a thorough biography; but after finishing, I've decided that it's better as a short book with a narrow focus. For one thing, that makes it accessible to those who don't have the time or inclination to tackle a longer biography. For another, its focus sets it apart from the other biographies of Wilberforce, and there are many. In addition, in a longer and more detailed biography, the lesson of this bookthat sound doctrine is necessary in order to persist in fighting for social justice because good fruit over the long haul comes from a healthy rootmight have been lost.

As you can probably guess by now, Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce is a book I recommend. I enjoyed it; I learned from it. What more could I ask from a book? It prodded me to consider some things I hadn't considered previously, and I'm still thinking about the lessons in it.

If you want a brief biography of Wilberforce this is the one to read. It is short and easy to read and tells you what motivated the great reformer. It was his evangelical Christian faith which he evidenced in a joyful personality despite his long struggle to abolish the slave trade, his personal infirmities and problems with his errant eldest son. This was a man who was transformed by his Christian faith. He could probably have been prime minister, but he eschewed personal advancement. If I have one small criticism it is that Piper has produced something of an hagiography with no really critical evaluation of Wilberforce. For this one should read Tomkins. For the answers to Wilberforce's critics, read Hague.

If you don't have the included cd (you bought it used like I did) you will have a very difficult time following along. When I typed in the example code in chapter 1 I had to do very little to get the code to run on a modern version of java. However in chapter 2 I discovered that there is way too much code missing to in order to get the program to work. While I find that the book will still be somewhat usefull without the cd, I won't be able to get as much out of it as I wanted.

Overall an excellent book.Most of the code is stepped through piece by piece,though in a couple of places the explanations are elliptical,but the code on the CD is fairly easy to figure out,even if you are a Java novice,which I am.I found a lot of mistakes in the equations in Chapter 4,which created great confusion because they were in one of the most difficult parts of the book. I assume they were editing mistakes because the applet runs okay.If you are an editor or author of this book you may want to contact me.Someone mentioned that they couldn't find the bonus chapters;they are on the CD.If it weren't for the mistakes I would give this book five stars.

I bought this book without a high degree of expectation. Just to get me into the basics. I think the overall strategy of the book is sound. Wayne and Bell take you from the mundane to some interesting stuff. Basic explanations are used which is ok and only the "significant" code is explained. But the authors just lump the code out into the book without giving you alot of orientation about where it belongs in their respective programs. I felt that there is still a whole lot more out there to learn but the authors don't give you any scope about it and where you are in the technology. (Maybe they don't have to but some indication would have been helpful, such as naming the other classes you should read up about)

You have to have your computer on and trawl through the book with it and carefully. You will probably get confused if you try and use the book by itself. There are numerous typograhical errors in the source that fortunately are not on the CD. Also using later versions of your jdk may result in trying to use deprecated methods/classes. The CD has 1.1.5. Overall I really had to concentrate and follow the CD very closely to not get confused about where each code segment belongs. This book's audience is designed for "dummies". But the authors may end up confusing you unless you have your thinking caps on tight. Only read this book if you know at least the basics.

(One thing i would like to see in any "educational" material is some exercices at the end of each chapter. There are none in this one.)

I was very eager to learn how to program games, so I started looking into Java books, and I found this. I was a complete programming novice at the time, so when I started looking on the CD, I had no idea what to do. I had to search the CD and Internet for hours before I fanally discovered it was to be done on Notepad not an auto-matic compiler. I was able to successfully program the bouncy ball application, but I had no idea how I did it. I read the explanations of the code, but it didn't help me because it wasn't enough in detail. Get Learning Java 2 in 21 days, Java in a nutshell, or Sams Teach Yourself: Begginning Programming before you get this book if you're a Java novice. Otherwise, it is a good book for those programming veterans looking to make games.

This book doesnt teach you java.However if you know some java but not how to create a game, you will find this book usefull. Thou the games described are simple, they do teach you the basics of 2D (and some 3D) game programming.If you remember some mathematics it helps but is not needed.Most of the formulas used are well explained.This makes it easy to write the same games in other languages like C,C++,basic.... I am a litle disapointed since the book didn't show how to create a scrolling game, like Super Mario Brothers or Sonic , but if you understand the other games in the book writing such a game yourself should be possible I give this book a 5 star rank because it was usefull to me who didn't know very much about game programming. However you will not learn java from this. Try Teach yourself java in 21 days instead.

This book is a total dissappointment. It should have been titled "Aissa the daughter of John Wayne" as it is more about her than her father.

This book gives a very frank and personal view of John Wayne as a father and regular guy. I found it very moving at times and it brought Duke into perspective as a human being and not just the giant Hollywood icon. Like many others, I admired him from the time I saw my first John Wayne movie and I still watch them today. I had one opportunity to meet him which I regret did not work out. I'm glad Aissa Wayne shared her memories with us.

Aissa Wayne (the author of this book and daughter of John Wanye)wines and complains thoughout the whole book. Making this very disappointing if you were hoping to read some good stories of John Wayne behind the camera.

I have to admit I haven't finished this book but am enjoying it so much. It is a totally different view of John Wayne. Much is revealed about his first two marriages. The view through the eyes of a small child is different indeed. You will see a side of John Wayne that was never publicized. It's a good read that's getting better everyday.

I am close to the same age as Aissa and from the time I was 10, while other pre-teen girls were obsessing over Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy, I was crazy about John Wayne -50 years my senior. This adoration carried over throughout high school and was so well known that one boy, trying to secure a date, only succeeded by impersonating John Wayne's familiar drawl and naming his jeep "The Duke." In Tucson, the whole town loved John Wayne and affectionately dubbed a Saturday Night midnight viewing of his earliest 1930's westerns - "The Worst of John Wayne." All my dates knew that I had to be home by 11:45 PM because this weekly event couldn't be missed. When he passed away, my friends sent sympathy cards to me and I truly mourned him.

For years, I avoided this book because I thought it would read like "Daddy Dearest." After reading it, I am only sorry that it took me so long to order it.

Aissa presents a candid and honest view of her famous father - through a daughter's eyes. She speaks with love and pride of her father and yet also addresses the downside of being a child of such a famous icon as well. Some of the ways that her father showed his love toward her were so incredibly sweet that I actually envied her childhood. And some of his strictness - especially towards his sons, was so indicative of how men in that era believed that "real men don't cry" and that it was their duty to instruct their sons to be "strong and silent."

In reading the book, it is so clear that John Wayne deeply loved his children - but Aissa was probably his favorite. I believe that her father showed his love the most by not always being the "nice guy," but by often being pretty strict. Parents can't always be friends with their kids during the teenage years because authority is questioned and undermined so much during those years, but it is obvious that John Wayne was strong and responsible and wanted to prepare Aissa with qualities that would carry her over to adulthood. The fact that Aissa became an attorney speaks volumes in that her father would be so immensely proud of her as this was an ambition of his as well.

In many ways, I identified with Aissa because my father was also "larger than life" as a commanding officer of the Green Berets. Ironically, he passed away from lung cancer 5 years before John Wayne. Although not famous, as children of an officer, we were required to present a façade and behave in a manner that would enhance my father's career so I understood to some degree the resentment that Aissa felt growing up. Likewise, I think that we all were somewhat mortified to be around our parents in the 70's. I also know what it is like to have such a vibrant force depart and how angry I felt because he had died and how lost our whole family felt for so many years afterwards. So this book was like reading part of my life. Aissa states that for so many years she was attracted to men like her father and I can see now why I idolized John Wayne.

The one area of the book that I questioned was John Wayne's relationship to his personal secretary, Pat Stacy. I remember the Barbara Walters interview and I am almost sure that he actually wiped a tear away during the interview and then stated that he had found a woman that he really loved. Also, Maureen O'Hara - one of the Duke's best friends, mentions in her book that John Wayne and Pat were in love and that she was glad that he could share his last years with a woman he loved. Likewise, he bought Pat a house right across the street from him as I think in his own mind John Wayne would not want to openly "live with" Pat during that era. It is understandable that Aissa did not want to see that her father was in love with another woman other than her mother. But I believe that John Wayne would want Aissa and Pat now to be friends because he loved them both so much. Personally, I believe that both Aissa and Pat wrote books about John Wayne, not to financially benefit from it, but rather because they felt they owed it to his fans, to themselves, and to John Wayne, himself.

Two things that I wish had been included in this book: Aissa did not mention that her father had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, with the words " John Wayne - American." I think that this award must have meant so much to her father - almost more than all his other awards. Also, one of my favorite memories of her father was when he appeared on the hugely popular "Laugh-In." He wore this huge bunny suit and had a deadpanned expression and only John Wayne could have gotten away with this. It was hilarious and it just made me think so much more of him that he could be so vulnerable and confident enough to do this.

I have a great amount of respect for Aissa for writing this intimate and honest account of her father through her eyes. We all felt that the Duke "belonged" to us and I am sure that it wasn't easy to share her famous father with the world.