Blake Books

I needed this book quickly and they provided, and it was less expensive then buying it at school.

This book is perfect for any war buff, espeacially those interested in the Canadian role in WWII. Specifically, the role of secrent agents and the infamous spy camp, Camp X. Immigrating from Hungary to Canada, Gelleny tells his story of becoming a Secret Agent and his struggles to stay alive after being captured in Hungary. His story is wonderfully written and supremely interesting. This is the most fascinating book in the Camp X series thus far.

Ray is a man on a mission. He wants to make people more aware of the way that people suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia are currently treated and the difference that, rather than medicating them, simply treating them with understanding, dignity and respect can make.

Ray's story, which is told in his book "Amazing Grace: Enjoying Alzheimer's", is a very personal one - a true love story of dedication and determination but one that has potential significance to many millions of people whose families may be devastated by the effect that Alzheimer's could have on one of their loved ones.

The following statistics show just how many people could be affected by Alzheimer's:
* 4.5 million cases in America (Alzheimer's Association, 2004)
* Prevalence of Alzheimer's expected to increase to 11.3-16 million cases in America by 2050 (Alzheimer's Association, 2004)
* 19 million people had a family member with Alzheimer's in the US (ADEAR)
* 1 in 10 over 65 years in the US have Alzheimer's (ADEAR)
* Nearly 50% of those over 85 years in the US have Alzheimer's (ADEAR)
* Alzheimer's disease, or senile dementia, is one of those maladies that society finds unacceptable and therefore it is not widely discussed - public awareness needs to be raised, so that possible warning signs can be spotted at the earliest stage and the best treatment strategies implemented as soon as possible.

Finally, I should mention that Ray is my father and it was my mother, Grace, who Ray cared for with such devotion during the last 11-12 year's of her life during which she suffered from Alzheimer's.


Amazing Grace: Enjoying Alzheimer's by Ray Smith

Ray Smith has never been what you could describe as a conventional man. He trained as a nurse at a time when male nurses were something of a rare phenomenon and established a travelling art gallery touring the lowlands and highlands of Scotland, selling old masters and contemporary art from the back of his van.

So when Ray's wife, Grace, first started showing signs of Alzheimer's disease (sometimes referred to as dementia) one of his first acts was to take her to the Princeton Brain Bio Centre in New Jersey where Grace was prescribed high powered vitamins, minerals and Omega 3. Ray firmly believes that these nutritional supplements allowed him to continue as Grace's devoted sole carer until her death nearly 12 years later.

You may think caring for a patient with progressive dementia would be hard enough in the familiarity and comfort of your own home, but early on Ray decided that he wanted to give Grace the very best quality of life he could and for him that meant ensuring that she continued to benefit from stimulation and enjoyment, even if her pleasure could only ever be transitory. To this end Ray sold their Scottish home and used the money to take Grace travelling on a shoe string.

With determination and devotion, Ray ensured that Grace continued to enjoy new experiences for as long as possible and the many pictures of them on their travels are a testament to the fact that Grace clearly did get a sense of pleasure from these expeditions to Europe, Asia, China and South America.

Although people suffering from Alzheimer's disease frequently display difficult behaviours and may become aggressive, frequently resulting in their being treated with sedatives or mood altering drugs, Ray insists that Grace rarely exhibited any such symptoms and that any slight disruption could be managed by adjusting the nutritional supplements with which Grace was treated in preference to more traditional medicine.

When Grace eventually became too frail to continue her travels with Ray, the couple returned to the UK where Ray cared for her until her death. Ray has since filled his time with writing a book about their life and adventures "Amazing Grace: Enjoying Alzheimer's" and travelling promoting his views on the treatment of patients suffering from Alzheimer's.

As you might expect, Ray is a passionate advocate of the rights of all Alzheimer's patients to be treated as individuals, with care and dignity. He is also pretty scathing of the medical professions' approach to treating dementia sufferers, citing articles in publications such as the newsletter of the National Alzheimer's Society1 and The British Medical Journal2 along with other studies widely reported in the media3 that conclude the prevalent treatment of Alzheimer's patients with tranquilizers and neuroleptic drugs may result in premature death and that person-centred care and good-practice in the management of patients with dementia with behavioural symptoms provides an effective alternative to neuroleptics. Ray, in his typically quietly forthright manner, describes Alzheimer's patients who are being treated by conventional medicine as having joined death row.

You may not feel that any of this has direct bearing on your life, but with people living longer and therefore an ageing population, more and more of us are likely to be coming into contact with someone with Alzheimer's disease and should that be a loved one or even you yourself, you would want to be sure that you were treated with the care and dignity that you - that everyone - deserves. We need people like Ray Smith to promote the interest of those who perhaps otherwise wouldn't have a voice.

1 Newsletter of the National Alzheimer's Society - "Picking a Winner"
2 British Medical Journal, 16 March 2006 - "Effect of Enhanced Psychosocial Care on Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Home Residents with Severe Dementia: Cluster Randomised Trial"
3 A randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled trial in dementia patients continuing or stopping neuroleptics

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I was introducted to this guide by a collegue of mine and have to say I have been really impressed. Finding guides that have good photos of tadpoles has been a problem until I bought this guide. The photos are great and very helpful. I would recommend having other guides to accompany this one such as petersons which is more complete. This guide is definetly worth the money, it is a good pocket reference to have especially for iding tadpoles.

Merry old christmas is often not so merry, what with family arguments over trivial pursuit and those truly awful cracker jokes. So was very pleasantly surprised when I found this genuinely amusing limerick book in my christmas stocking. Limericks are not usually my cup of tea but I hold my hands up as a convert and recommend this to anyone with a sense of humour.

The Anita Blake series is an action-filled on the edge of your seat read!!! You never know what is going to happen next!!

An excellent reference book for collectors of shaving mugs. This reference book, the first and only one of its kind contains extensive detailed data on the history of the world's early century barber/surgeon bleeding basins. It contains a comprehensive list and pictorial review of every category of shaving mug used in the United states.

Antiworlds & The Fifth Ace, in addition to being the most complete collection of Voznesensky's poems available and offering the reader the Russian originals on facing pages, gives us access to this remarkable poet through equally remarkable translations by well-known American poets.
--- from book's back cover

This book is a must read for the modern day Ekklesia (Church). Every leader should have this book in their library.

Vernon Blake has provided an in depth analysis of all you could possibly want to know about drawing and consequently, making art. He is from the "old school" of figurative/plastic art practitioners. Once you get past his old fashioned use of english you will be amazed at the scope of his knowledge and his balanced point of view. The information and analysis he provides is just about lost to the art world these days. I studied/majored in drawing at university and he coveres the curriculum and goes further. His analysis and comparison of Asian and Western drawing traditions is facinating.