North Carolina Books

As an upper elementary teacher, I am constantly looking for books that will encourage my students to make a transition from "picture books" to "chapter books" and that will nurture a desire to read. Spencer Hurley and the Aliens provides both of these.
Terry Locke doesn't just entertain with his words, but draws the reader in with his comical illustrations. I read this story aloud to my third graders and they were crowding in to see if there was an illustration as they were introduced to each new character.
With characters that we befriended in our imaginations, we are anxious to find out what happens to them in Book Two of this series. As a teacher, I can rest assured that I have found a book for boys and girls to read for the best reason of all- for enjoyment!

Spencer Hurley and The Aliens Book One "The Abduction" is such a great story. This book is one of a few books that I have encountered that I could not sit down. This book grasped my attention from the first chapter to the very last. The book causes you to think about the story and opens up your imagination to the fullest. Like the good old days of having a story that keeps your imagination going without a pause!! My daughter that is 9, also enjoyed this book, and we are looking forward to the next Adventure...

As an adult, I never stopped being an avid childrens-book reader (e.g. Harry Potter et al) and have found yet another series to keep me entertained and hooked, awaiting for the next adventure. Book One in the Spencer Hurley series is just the beginning of what I expect to be a continuous and exciting journey, with lovable kids, adults, and aliens, and of course, the not-so-lovable.
Book One captures its readers early on, inviting us into the lives of its three main characters. As we embrace these youngsters and cheer them on, the author takes his readers on unexpected twists and turns, unsure where we, and Spencer, will end up next. The author's vivid and colorful imagination, as well as the use of illustrations, enriches his storytelling. A must-read for any kid at heart.

Prepare to be beamed aboard an alien vessel that's full of strange creatures and goopy cuisine. From the first page to the last, Spencer Hurley and the Aliens is a fun and exciting tale that I couldn't put down. Spencer may be the lead character but, his bumbling friend, Ryan definitely steals the spotlight. With this being Book 1 of a series, I can't wait to see what mess they get into next.

I love it! I used my Mom's and now have my own copy to share with my 2 little girls as we bake up a storm! This cookbook is very eary to follow with simple, yet tasty recipes. Thank you, Karen Barker, for sharing such wonderful recipes and your personal touch to each of them!

I've been a cookbook fan and user of Karen and her husband having enjoyed cooking from their cookbook, but now to have one devoted to Karen's outstanding talents and love for desserts is neat.

She has a philosophy here that should comfort and inspire: to get us back cooking our own desserts using great recipes. That's how she and previous generations learned, at the side of someone who had a great recipe. Her styling of this collection of desserts is with the home chef in mind. So, ingredients, techniques and equipment are with us in mind, and she tells us her preferences and what she used to make these. Also, she provides info as one proceeds with the recipe on what to expect, adjust, etc.

Most of the recipes are not complex, nor simple, but all delicious and most very unique and creative. But none of them are of that category of being "over the top" that would scare most of us home dessert makers to ignore trying them, except in those unique times when we would torture ourselves and our patience to take days to make a special one. None of that here! Just great desserts!

I've tried several of the following with great results and look forward to more of the same: Lime Meringue Tart; Blackberry Slump with Sweet Potato Dumplings; Bourbon Creme Caramel with Bruleed Bananas; Summer Cherry Berry Pudding; Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cake; Banana Upside Down Cakes; Pumpkin Cognac Cheesecake Brulee; Ruby Port Ice Cream; Purple Plum Rum Sorbet; Cornmeal Vanilla Bean Shortbreads; Raised Cocoa Waffles a la Mode.

There is much useful sections as well: Baker's Bookshelf; Sources; Equivalent Pan Sizes (this I find extremely useful);

All in all a most delightful and substantial dessert guide for just us home bakers. And great color photos of so many!

`sweet stuff' is subtitled `Karen Barker's American Desserts', that is, probably coincidentally, almost exactly the title of Wayne Harley Brachman's new book published a few months ago. In summary, both books are great treatments of American desserts, covering very much the same territory. Brachman's book is funnier and it may explain some basic techniques a bit more thoroughly. Ms. Barker's book is a bit longer, covers some topics in somewhat greater depth. Karen's recipes are centered in Southern desserts while Wayne's center of gravity is somewhere between Brooklyn, New York and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I suggest you get both if you are a big dessert maker. Brachman covers doughnuts and does a better job on teaching piecrusts. Brachman's volume may be better for the novice. Barker's book has more recipes overall.

I recently reviewed Gale Gand's new book `short + sweet' on fast desserts and it is quite a good book for working with kids. Karen has definitely done desserts for grown-up tastes, in spite of the large number of peanut and peanut butter recipes. The presence of rum, bourbon, and Jack Daniels as ingredients is just one indication of how this book is aimed at adult tastes.

The reciped chapters in this book are named:

The Basics: A Baker's Building Blocks
A Pie Primer
Fruit Somethings
Custards & Puddings: Low and Slow is the Way to Go
Let Them Eat Cake
We All Scream for Ice Cream
The Joy of Cookies
Pancakes, Waffles, Fritters, and other Breakfast-Like Desserts

As cheesecake is actually a type of custard pie, you may be puzzled to find it discussed in the chapter on cakes. That aside, I found the Ms. Brown's recipe, techniques, and explanations for how and why a cheesecake can go wrong is quite the best I have seen. It agreed with and went far beyond Alton Brown's `Good Eats' cheesecake episode in achieving a primo cheesecake.

As with Brachman's book, the true subject of this volume is not as centered on historical American recipes as it is on recipes which are currently popular in the United States, whether they originated on these shores or are imports from England, France, or Italy. The book gives you a fair share of Crème Broulee, Panna Cotta, and Sabayon. It balances that with lots of true American classics like apple pie, `Sally Lunn' brioche like bread, Sumps, Crumbles, Cobblers, and Shortcakes.

The most distinctive strength of the book is it's very concentration on reusable techniques and preparations. It can very much be seen as an application of Ming Tsai's `Master Recipe' technique in the book `Simply Ming'. The approach starts in the chapter entitled `The Basics', but it permeates the book. The chapter `Fruit Somethings' in particular has several techniques for compotes, shortcakes, and syrups that may be used together with ice creams, cakes, and other pastries.

Please be careful to note that this book is not a general book on baking and does not cover a lot of baking topics. Conversely, it includes ice creams, sherbets, sorbets, and granitas, which may be a classic province of the pastry chef, but it is not baking. The book contains a great little bibliography with references to important modern works on baking.

My only disappointment was that the author chose to present only `New York' style ice cream, which is a frozen custard. A truer `American' dessert may be the `Philadelphia' style, which includes cream, but no eggs.

Highly recommended if you need only one book on desserts. Not easy, but the results are more than worth the effort.

Award-winning pastry chef Barker admonishes the reader (gently) not to skip the opening primer on techniques, tools and ingredients, and, along with the usual baking do's and don'ts, you will find useful information on the equipment and ingredients used in these American dessert recipes.

Her Basics chapter offers various pastry doughs as well as dessert sauces of all kinds, from classic chocolate to Concord Grape Syrup and Marshmallow Fluff.

All the classics are here, many with a twist (Apple Rhubarb Cardamom Crumb Pie, Goat Cheese Cheesecake in a Hazelnut Crust) and Barker offers homey tips as well as variations and serving suggestions. Notes throughout explain how to choose or handle specific ingredients, and recipes are very clearly organized and written.

Not just for bakers, there are ice creams; custards and puddings; pancakes, waffles and fritters; and numerous fruit desserts, baked and not.

With gorgeous photographs, lots of variety and clear, thorough instructions for success, this is a well-rounded book for beginners as well as experienced cooks.

Collins not only does a superior job of telling the tales, but also characterizing the people who lived them. At Wake Forest it is not so much the story as the people. The university is one built upon relationships. This is a book for any generation of Wake Forest or ACC fan because one can open it and connect to the players and coaches with whom they are familiar. Collins offers an accurate and unbiased account. He has witnessed many of the events he described in this book first-hand as a veteran journalist and Wake Forest beat reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal, Wake Forest's hometown newspaper. Open to any page and enjoy!

It's been almost a century since basketball started at Wake Forest (1906). And from that beginning, not long after basketball was invented, there has been time to develop a lot of history. A history of events, certainly, but especially a history of people: the team, the players, the coaches.

Dan Collins has covered Wake Forest for the Winston-Salem Journal since 1978. He's collected a century worth of stories into this small book. It's clearly aimed at the Wake Forest fan. This is not basketball in general, this is Wake Forest basketball. Well maybe a little bit about North Carolina basketball, but not much.

Beyond that, the writing is excellent, it flows quickly and is absolutely filled with amusing anecdotes. If you're a fan....

This book is an excellent read, not just for Wake Forest fans, but for all sports fans. I recommend it highly!

Collins effectively presents interesting and informative anecdotes on Wake Basketball, its players and coaches. A pleasant read for any Deacon fan.

Hans L. Trefousse wrote a definitive biography on this great Republican that helped initiated the Reconstruction period after the post-Civil War period. The sub-titled: 19th Century Egalitarian proves to be an aptly named since Stevens proves to be one of the foremost egalitarians of his century. The book clears up the myths and misconceptions that Stevens were often regarded in and set the records straight. Well written, nicely researched and with superbly insights, I can only wished that the book went even deeper into Stevens' life.

The book also goes into Stevens' strengths, weaknesses and his troubles. I thought it was a honest effort on the part of the author to showed the reader the complete man and the account of Stevens' life proves to be balance and fair.

One of the more interesting aspects of this book lies within the struggled between Stevens and Andrew Johnson. The fight between "reconstruction of the south" to the "restoration of the south". This struggle had far reaching consequences in our nation's politics as well as racial relationship. Although product of his time and era, Stevens proves to be far ahead of himself in terms of race relations. It was interesting to learned that his concerns lies not only with the blacks but also toward Indians and Orientals. The book reflects accurately in the end that Stevens was a true egalitarian in the truest form.

Hans Trefousse has done a magnificent job in portraying the "Great Commoner" and his effect on the United States. In fact, the book inspired myself and some other people in Gettysburg to start the Thaddeus Stevens Society to promote his memory. For information about the society, write The Thaddeus Stevens Society, 65 W. Middle Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 or email me at rhetrick@gettysburg.edu.

I want to thank Hans L Tredousse for a remarkable job on the unfolding of the character of one of the most complex individuals I have ever studied. Trefousse does a great job of showing us as much of what is humanly possible to know about Thaddeus Stevens.

By far, Stevens comes alive in the preface of Trefousse'account. The reader is pulled gently into the life of this individal because of the hardships he experienced as a child and because of his determination to see justice prevailed.

As I progressed into the book, I marvelled at both the strengths and weaknesses of this complex man called Thaddeus Stevens. Personally, I think he was a man before his times. It is unfortunate that he considered himself a failure. We have had many presidents in recent years who could not or would not acknowledge that they had achieved anything of "real tangible worth". Stevens comes to the end of life feeling that he had achieved very little of lasting value. It is truly worth lamenting! If Stevens could come back to this century, I think he would be astonished to see what legacy he left the United States and particular minorities who have benefitted much from his efforts to support emancipation and a true Reconstruction for those who had suffered because of slavery.

I was first introduced to Thaddeus Stevens in Lerone Bennett's BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER. I found Stevens to be the underdog, but an all powerful hero for the rights of equality. I think the second best thing to having enjoyed Trefousse' outling the work of Stevens would be to see the book made into historical fiction. Somewhere out there in "fantasy land" is an actor who could bring more to "life" this complex man called Thaddeus Stevens

Thaddeus Stevens casts a long shadow in American History; a shadow that continues to bedevil the likes of Robert Bork, Anton Scalia and the so-called "original intent" crowd.

Stevens, the tactical leader of the "radical Republicans" through the Civil War and Reconstruction era stands probably second to only James Madison in Constitutional history.

Considering his historical role a thorough biography has been long overdue. Trefousse has gone a long way toward supplying a fresh biography of the man. In its pages he has applied the extensive depth of modern scholarship now available on the reconstruction era.

Only Fawne Brodie has attempted a biography in recent times and that book, Thaddeus Stevens: Scourge of the South has slid thankfully out of print.

The Trefousse biography will likely be the standard source on the life of "the old Commoner" for some decades to come.

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, an essay in architecture, takes readers on a historical tour of the third U.S. president's cherished home near Charlottesville, Virginia, through well-written text and gorgeous, full-color photography. The book includes floor plans and photographs of Jefferson's original architectual elevations, as well as drawings of the finished building that we are most familiar with today. It describes Jefferson as art collector and plantation life on Monticello's farms, and it explores the four seasons in Monticello's gardens. Published in 2002 by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc.

One of the clichés about Monticello is that few houses do so good a job revealing the personality of its builder. But clichés get to be such generally because there's truth to them, and that's definitely the case here. If Thomas Jefferson was one of the most interesting figures in American history (and I think that's unquestionably true), then Monticello may well be one of America's most interesting houses. And for this colorful book produced by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, we are guided through the house and grounds by people who know their stuff.

Specifically, the chapters of this title are written by Monticello's director of restoration, the curator, the director of gardens and grounds, and other experts associated with the Foundation. Large, colorful photos are accompanied by informed commentary and all the requisite history, as well as documentation of the decades of restoration work it has taken to get the house and grounds to its current condition. A book doesn't make up for a visit in person -- if anything, I wished for more photos of the interior, especially of the book room and "cabinet." But for a general overview of the house, grounds, and collection, and an insight into the man himself, this book is hard to beat. I recommend it as a souvenir, as well as a nice companion to a Jefferson biography.

This work successfully links the many unique qualities of Thomas Jefferson's personality to the unique qualities of the home that he designed and spent most of his life building and rebuilding. All of the intriguing features of this home are covered.
Anyone interested in this remarkable man and his home who is unable to visit Monticello in person should strongly consider this work.

This is a highly informative, well documented book covering all aspects of the design and building of Thomas Jefferson's home, plus insights into why things were done the way they were done, through Jefferson's own notes, sketches and correspondence. Plus,the photographs are exquisite.

I really enjoyed reading Johnson's book about the important yet often overlooked events in the Carolinas during the Civil War, specifically the following:

1. Fort Fisher - the largest sea fort in the war that protected the vital town of Wilmington NC and the blockade runners so important for supplying Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
2. Charleston - where the whole shootin' match started.
3. Bentonville - the last large scale battle of the war.
4. Outer Banks - early Union victories here were vital to capturing many parts of Eastern North Carolina from which the Union could launch several offensives.
5. Sherman's March - the destruction of certain towns in both Carolinas (particularly South Carolina) further weakened the South's will to continue the struggle.

I also enjoyed reading about the locations of various gravesites of Confederate generals and their Civil War service.

Indeed, if not for this book, this native North Carolinian and long-time Civil War buff may never have learned of and visited the sites of some of the lesser-known sites other than those mentioned above.

Johnson's writing style is smooth without being overly simplistic and contains several anecdotes (some humorous ones too)of the interesting events which took place during the Civil War years.

Highly recommended!

Touring The Carolinas' Civil War Sites is an ideal and essential travel guide for Civil War buffs wishing to visit the numerous North Carolina and South Carolina Civil War memorial sites and battlefields. A life-long Civil War buff, Clint Johnson draws upon his considerable expertise to presents the meticulous results of exhaustive research in an articulate, "reader friendly" text that is augmented throughout with area photography. Touring The Carolinas' Civil War Sites is a highly recommended addition to personal and regional Civil War studies and reference book collections.

Simply put the book is well organized, well written and I have just about worn out my copy on my trips through the carolinas.

This book is invaluable to the Civil War enthusiast when touring the battlefields and sites of the Carolina's. The tours are filled with surprises that are off the beaten path and the directions are life savers. Without this book I'd have missed some priceless sidetrips. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone taking a Civil War tour of the Carolinas and look forward to more such books from Clint Johnson in the future.

This will lead you to interesting places that are mostly not well known. The views are stunning. A hiker on the Appalachian Trail said the view from Wayah Bald is the best on the trail. The only problem we had is that road numbers have been changed to names, but most of the numbers were still in fine print on the signs.

This guidebook, unlike most, is so encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything I know about Western North Carolina from this book alone and it is my primary reference. I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark, the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. The author, who must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile, of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can follow leisurely without getting lost. The author is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book, as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives, like me, who didn't know how much they didn't know.

I was introduced to this book by a friend and ended up buying the whole series! If you want to know more about western NC and spend your days enjoying a well written dialog that accurately directs you to place the other guides don't even mention, Buy this book. If you want a restaurant guide look elsewhere. I can wholeheartedly recommend the entire series from this publisher. Similar to the "off the beaten path" series only better, written by life long residents that obviously love their home state!

Since I recently moved to North Carolina, spending my free time towards the mountains became a must. Carolyn has saved me countless hours of researching where to go and what to do. I am glad to find such an informative book.

Dr. Ben Wofford is truly great author. This story keeps you on the edge of your seat with this book. Everyone needs a copy of his book on their shelf.
Everyone should get the opportunity to meet Dr. Wofford. he is truly an amazing man. I have had the pleasure of working with him.

This is a wonderful book, It is a book you would read over and over again. I give it 5 stars
Everyone should own a copy of his books. Also everyone should have the opportunity to meet Dr. Ben Wofford, he is truly one of a kind. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to have worked with him.

If you like Mark Twain, you will love this book! Of course, I am a bit biased since I am Ben Wofford's son.

A World War II veteran, Ben Wofford grew up during the Great Depression. He served in the Navy and was able to earn his way through Medical School. He practiced medicine for forty years as a family practitioner. His avocations include farming, flying, and sailing. He sounds like my dad.

Set in 1933 in the rural outreaches of Catawba County, North Carolina, Wofford's Uncle Henry's Ghost is a whimsical narrative of country life through the eyes of a boy growing up on a farm. There's been a murder, or what looks like a murder. A school house has been burned down. Close by is an old roadhouse called "The Moon Palace," and some say it is haunted. Certainly there are stories about a cache of money being hidden in the old place:

"It was commonly believed that Sheriff Canter-. That was his name, Canter. It was commonly believed that Sheriff Canter was getting rich off the Moon Palace, paid by the owners to look the other way. That may or may not have been so, but when it came time to read his will, there wasn't much left for his widow and she had to take in boarders to make ends meet. Some people maintain that he got rich all right, but lost it all in the Stock Market."

Uncle Henry's Ghost is a tale that makes the reader feel like they are sitting on their grandfather's knee. Wofford's background as a general practitioner gives him a special compassion for what medicine represented back in the first half of the Nineteenth Century...when there was a standard system of ethics in all things. Growing up during those times meant that one understood what the rules were...and how everyone helped out their neighbor without the necessity of a lot of money changing hands. For us as readers it represents a simpler time...a time of family, church, and working hard.

Wofford spins a fairly lively yard, even as he shows us what life was like before the advent of computers, video games, and plastic food. We need more of these types of tales to show us the way during the present state of confusion in our world. Wofford gives us a nice, safe place to hide...a place where a boy can still take his dog out for a swim and stick frogs in his teacher's desk. An excellent tale from a man who was probably one heck of a doctor. Thanks.

Shelley Glodowsky
Reviewer

Upon seeing the title of Sarah Hill's Book, "Weaving New Worlds: Southeastern Cherokee Women and Their Basketry," one might think this is a book only about Indian baskets or a how-to manual for making baskets. Both of these assumptions would be far from the truth. "Weaving New Worlds" is a broad, masterful compilation of research and expression of ideas on Cherokee culture. Put simply and without hyperbole, it is one of the best books one will find on Cherokee History.

The book focuses on what has become the Eastern Band of Cherokees in western North Carolina. Though Hill writes an excellent history of the Cherokees prior to their forced removal by the federal government in the late 1830s, she does not attempt to tell any aspect of the story of the Cherokees who settled in Oklahoma. The strength of her work is in the creative chronology she provides and in her description of the environment of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Hill divides her work into four chapters: Rivercane, White Oak, Honeysuckle, and Red Maple. These chapter names derive from the material Cherokee women used to weave their baskets. The author cleverly interweaves the shifts in Cherokee history with the shift in basket making and the materials from which the baskets were made.

The Prologue is a stand alone, worthy essay in itself. It describes with tremendous knowledge the plants and animals of the southern Appalachians and how the Cherokees used these resources. In reading Hills's Prologue, one feels they are diving into the nuts and bolts of history. There are parts of the Prologue and in Hill's writing on specific plants that are as good as historical writing gets.

It is rare to find a book this focused and replete with encyclopedic information. It is highly recommended for those interested in the history of the southern Appalachians, western North Carolina, or the Cherokees. Also, this book should be read by anyone vacationing to the Great Smoky Mountains. It will vastly increase one's understanding and appreciation of just what they are seeing when they cross into the nation's most visited national park.

This book is fantastic. Hill covers an array of subjects about Cherokee life, family, politics, beliefs, oral traditions, aesthetics - all relating to the central theme of basket-making. Well-researched and documented. While maintaining excellent scholarship, Hill write in a natural, understandable manner free of academic jargon. Essential to anyone studying Cherokee culture.

Using baskets, the oldest mother-to-daughter tradition still surviving among Cherokee women, Hill traces changes among Southeastern Cherokees and their environments over a 300-year period. Weaving New Worlds has just been awarded the Julia Cherry Spruill prize for the best book in Southern women's history published in 1997, and was described in the award as "beautifully written and brilliantly organized."

A reviewer in The Atlanta History Journal says this book is "destined to become a classic reference text to which future scholars of Native American material culture will always return." It is, the review continues, "keenly attuned to how basketry figures in the spiritual and material lives of the Southeastern Cherokee." I agree with the reviewer, but this book is more than a study of material culture, it is a history of women told by looking at their beautiful, enduring work with baskets. There is nothing like it for learning Southeastern Cherokee history.

As an African American CPA since 1980, this book is very comprehensive in describing the trials and tribulations of our entry into the accounting profession. My father was born in 1927 and had wanted to become a CPA after hearing about Jesse Blayton. Due to the limitations described in this book, he never realized his dream. Because of his interest in accounting, I studied bookkeeping in high school and became hooked.

In 1974, I got very lucky and was admitted to the accounting program at North Carolina A&T State University. There I studied under Dr. Quiester Craig who is chronicled on page 111 on the book. Just as Craig said in his story, at that time, all our students were naive; however Dr. Craig established that the program at NC A&T would be geared toward preparing every accounting graduate to pass the CPA exam.

This book is a must read for every African American CPA and potential CPA and should be textbook material in every HBCU accounting program in the country. Again, against all odds, we have achieved remarkable things.

Hammond chronicles the stories of the remarkable individuals who blazed the trail for African-Americans in the accounting profession. Or I should say, began blazing the trail, because as Hammond points out it is still by far the most segregated profession. When most people hear "accounting" they think of something very dry and technical. But this book is far from that. You learn about the profession and how institutional racism operates, but always as a context for the amazing stories, struggles, and personalities that Hammond conveys. She obviously spent many hours interviewing these pioneers and she tells their stories with academic rigor, but also with compassion, respect, and a sense of humor.

From my vantage point as a black CPA, this book is at once inspiring and uplifting yet heartrending and depressing. After having read about the trials and tribulations of the pioneers of my profession and of my race(who were/are heroic in some sense), I feel compelled to take advantage of today's opportunity out of respect for what they've done to pave the way for those who have followed.

The author does a fantastic job of taking an erstwhile research paper and making it extremely enjoyable to read. This book is must reading for CPAs in general and black CPAs in particular.

Ok, so maybe I haven't read the book, but since I doubt this is going to break best seller records, I figured I could give some information about the author.

She was my accounting professor last semester in a class called Accounting Information Systems. Theresa is funny, engaging and most importantly a very passionate individual, especially about the struggle for racial equality.

She is undoubtedly the first person to do any research on the subject, and in her powerpoint presentation of the book she unravels an interesting tale of the business world's most caucasian profession. The African americans which are the subject of her narrative show themselves are driven by their interest in this niche profession long after all hope has vanished. The quirky personalities of her story tell a story that sheds light upon the grit of the human spirit.