Conventions Books

Wow, thanks Mark, I got the CD so fast, and this is such a great one! FUNNY! Have a great day!!

Lucy Hoskins is one of the pioneers of church secretary training; her valuable guidance, insight, and experience make this guide (written in 1977) still enlightening and encouraging. Though some of the techniques are dated, the good sense and pride of the profession are not. A little piece of history worthy of desk space.

This 1973 book informed and inspired thousands of church secretaries. One of the first books directed at this audience, it remains a classic. No church secretary can read Lucy Hoskins' writing without feeling great about herself (99% of church secretaries are female) the work she does.

Stirring account of what every day people can do. Miriam and Sam Levering worked from their small Virginia apple farm for a comprehensive Law of the Sea treaty.

This is the book I use almost entirely to determine Dewey numbers. It is clear, simple, and easy to use. If I happened to lose or misplace my copy, I would not hesitate to order another immediately. I do find it essential. I have a copy of Sears List of Subject Headings, but I rarely use it because I much prefer this little book.

Admiral Billard's speech is an excellent primary source on the Coast Guard's role in enforcing Prohibition. I am currently writing a book that will include excerpts from this publication. In 1925, Billard, under the direction of Assistant Treasury Secretary Andrews, launched an all-out offensive against rum runners at sea. To hear his version of the results, you should read this 1925 publication both for information and a good laugh. To read the most recent book on this subject, go to:
Alcohol, Boat Chases, and Shootouts! How the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs Fought Rum Smugglers and Pirates (Part I: 1919-1924)

This is a very good book, easy to read and very helpful to understand the article 3.1 of the UN Convention on the rights of children.

No family should be without this book! With all the new medications available today it is almost critical to check for side effects, interactions, proper dosages, usages, etc. I get this book every year, and every year it is so expanded! I take quite a few meds and most of them aren't in the older books, even last years edition! This book is the "Bible" of prescription drugs! It lists brand names, generics, U.S. and Canadian names of all prescription medications, proper dosages, proper storage, and even recommends foods to avoid while taking certain medications. This book may very well save your life one day!

Conference planners will benefit from this comprehensive guide that covers everything from conference design to conducting the conference. The book includes helpful examples and a checklist for every area. Then the chapters go into detail, answering each question on the checklist. Chapters include site selection, food functions, exhibitions, marketing, transportation, and others.

This is one of my favorite political books of all time. Basically, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, fifty or so delegates agreed to keep in-depth journals that would detail the day-to-day events at New York's Madison Square Garden. Reeves then used these journals to write this informative, at times very humorous and even poignant, book about the plots and sub-plots that accompanied the 1976 nomination of Jimmy Carter.

The book details everything from the Carter Campaign's bizarrely paranoid attempt to bug the Convention Hall to the strongarm tactics used by Chairman Robert Struass to control the convention to 18 year-old delegate Clare Smith's valient attempts to track down Hunter S. Thompson. As well, we read about future Ohio Governor Richard Celeste's endless attempts to promote his own future viability as a presidential candidate and George Wallace's agony at fading into the background. Perhaps the most amusing sections for me were the ones dealing with joyful convention crashed Joe Kaselask and is attempts to sneak his way onto national television.

At times while reading this book, I had to remind myself that the events detailed within took place a quarter of a century ago. Many of the most fascinating characters (like Hubert Humphrey, Pat Brown, Mo Udall, and Wallace)are no long with us, while other leading characters (Celeste, Fritz Efaw) have sunk into relative obscurity. I find myself wondering what happened to some of the non-politicians in the book. Has Clare Smith ever attended another Democratic Convention? Did Joe Kaselask go onto crash the 1980 Convention?

Another added pleasure came from occasionally running across minor characters who would later go on to achieve a prominence apart from their actions at the '76 Convention. A good example of this would be wheelchair-bound, anti-war activist Ron Kovic, later to become better known as Tom Cruise but here presented as somewhat of a blowhard. Even a pre-anchorman Tom Brokaw shows up, long enough to get into a brawl while yelling at his antagonist, "I won't forget you, creep!"

Appropriately enough, the only character who seems to have been exactly the same in '76 as he is now would have to be then-Governor, now-Mayor Jerry Brown. Brown, with his enigmatic presence and refusal to take anything at the convetion too seriously, actually emerges as one of the few pure characters in the book. In fact, Brown turns out to be more Carter-like than Jimmy Carter himself.

In the end, imagine Robert Altman directing a political convention and that's what you have with Richard Reeves' wonderful book. Its non-fiction that reads like a brilliantly satirical novel. Last time I looked, there were 27 used copies of this book available so take a chance and order one. You won't be sorry.