Gray Books

Ms. Gray's first book of poetry is, like all great prose, on the subject of life, with all its' trials and tribulations, victories and defeats. She speaks of elation and love, but also of jealousy and contempt. The collection is honest, and masterfully written; her penetrating insight and careful word choice is exemplory. She writes with truth and candor, which is refreshing given all the ridiculous symbolism inherent of the genre of poetry. I highly recommend, and hope for more collections to be published soon.

The woodcuts are wonderful, but it's the easy-going memories of Willard Clark that make this book so worthwhile. Remembering Santa Fe is about a time before electronics ruled our lives, before clock and car and superhighway of one kind or another crowded out the figurative and literal open spaces in our lives. But Clark's firsthand graphic and verbal depictions of a bygone era are never sentimental; he obviously loved the life he led in pre-WWII Santa Fe, and we can see why. It was a sweet, authentic life, lived close to nature, close to the people around him, and with art. Generations passing along the secrets of their arts and crafts; fishing in a nearby stream; preparing simple but flavorful food; playing guitar with a friend in the moonlight; working in a field; going visiting; building adobes; all are part of the Santa Fe life that Clark's so lovingly and convincingly recorded. It makes me want to find a time machine and join him there.

I served with Robert Gray in Kuwait and I was mentioned in the Book. I did enjoy it because of the fact that at the time, when we were over there, we went through some hard and difficult times. But when I read about it in the book, I can now laugh about some of the things. Robert did a great job at describing all of us in the book.

Sixteen-year-old Dovella is a promising engineering apprentice, with a surprising gift for healing. Torn between being an engineering apprentice or a healing apprentice, Dovella chooses engineering partly because the Master Healer doesn't believe that women should be healers, and she would never be fully accepted as long as he were in charge. So, now she is an apprentice to her mother, the Master Engineer, and helps with her father's healing work in her free time.

Engineering work is a precise ritual. Dovella has almost a sixth sense for the machine. Not that she gets any special treatment for it. It often seems as if the Master Engineer is particularly hard on her daughter. Perhaps she doesn't want to seem to be babying her daughter, or perhaps this is her way of encouraging the talent she sees in her. Either way, Dovella has an impressive ability, and a genuine appreciation for the work. It doesn't hurt that one of the other apprentices, Jael, is nice to look at. Dovella has acquired a bit of a crush on him.

Dovella has a true and amazing gift as a healer as well. Her father has never seen anyone heal quite the way she does. It's instinctual, and something she has always done. It's almost too good. Given the Master Healer's feelings about women, it's safer if Dovella keep her true gift a secret. She can still practice, but only in the presence of her father and the few other people who know. It's almost time for Dovella to take the Rites of the Healer. Thankfully being an apprentice healer is not a requirement. She's not sure how she will be able to simultaneously hide her ability as well as use it, but she'll figure that out when the time comes.

Now, more than ever, it is important that Dovella be well-trained in both her chosen fields. For many years the village has relied on the machine to provide water. For the first time in anyone's memory it hasn't been working properly. Soon the village will run out of water and food if the problem can't be solved. As if that weren't bad enough, the village is being torn in half over beliefs. A new group is gaining followers, many in high places. Their beliefs challenge the right to knowledge by all people. If this group were to gain power, they would determine who was allowed to know what, as well as dictate how that knowledge is interpreted and used. And they are using the breakdown of the machine as evidence of the current systems failure. Dovella's parents, and some of their friends, find the timing of these two events a little bit too coincidental. But no one seems to know what to do. The source of the water and the machine is unknown. Even if someone could find it, it would be an incredibly dangerous trip -- the odds that they could locate the problem, much less fix it, are very slim. It's becoming obvious that it's a chance that must be taken. And it seems like Dovella is the only one who can do it.

Dovella has very little time to accomplish the impossible, while being in mortal danger. It also means that she will miss the Rites, and there's no way the Master Healer will make an exception for her. She doesn't really seem to have much of a choice, though.

As the violence in the village escalates, Dovella begins her journey. It's a journey that will make Dovella question everything she's been taught, and everything she believes. It will test her strength, her willpower, and both of her gifts. Maybe, just maybe, she'll save the village, and make it home alive. If the village doesn't destroy itself while she's gone.

I loved this book! It is a good storyline that is beautifully drawn out. Suspenseful and adventurous, as well as empowering, Dovella is a fantastic heroine. She's scared at times, often unsure and somewhat unwilling. She has long-held, strong beliefs about some things, and is slowly discovering that some of those might be wrong. I like that there is no easy answer, and no simple change in beliefs. The story takes its time with the events and characters, so that they are both allowed to grow and progress naturally. Their is no easy answer in life, and we aren't forced one in this story. Dovella is flawed, and that makes her more real. The whole book has an underlying feeling of realism, which often gets missed in a lot of fantasy novels. It also makes you question your beliefs, and gives an outside look at prejudice, without being preachy.

This book was such a pleasant surprise, I can only hope there are more like this on the way.

Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

Great background on the experiences of companies implementing S&OP. Technology agnostic describing the process, challenges and benefits of S&OP. Highly recommended for anyone considering or going thru the challenges and (ultimate) rewards of an S&OP process.

Those are the immortal words spoken by 21-year-old Sam Davis, the Confederate scout (often mislabled as a spy) who was about to be hanged on Nov. 27, 1863. His Union captors, under the command of Gen. G.M. Dodge, pleaded with Davis to reveal the name of the leader of "Coleman's Scouts", which was a select group of Confederate scouts (of which Davis belonged) that went behind Union lines in Middle Tennessee to gather information on Union forces gathered there. The leader of this group was Capt. H.B. Shaw, who went by the name of E. Coleman to mislead the Yankees who were always searching for him and his men.

Later Sam Davis was asked to tell who gave him the secret documents that were found on him when he was captured. Davis refused to reveal ANY information to Gen. Dodge, saying,"I know, general, that I will have to die, but I will not tell where I got the information, and there is no power on earth that can make me tell. I am doing my duty as a soldier, and if I have to die I shall be doing my duty to God and my country."

This book, first published in 1947, provides a great summary of his life, as well as a section on monuments and tributes to Davis following the war. And it also has a detailed genealogy of Davis' family. There are also several great photos showing the interior and exterior of the Sam Davis home, which has thankfully been restored and remains open to the public to this day. I've visited and toured his home many times, and I highly recommend that any tourists traveling nearby (it's located in Smyrna, TN) take time to see that beautiful place.

Unfortunately, this book is out-of-print and has become quite rare. I myself have only seen two copies for sale, one for $27.00 (-the one I bought) and one for $75.00. However, this book is defintely worth searching for, as it is one of the few Sam Davis biographies that I know of. I also recommend "The story of Sam Davis" by W.B. Romine, "Lest we forget: Sam Davis" by William F. Currotto, and "Sam: the Civil War experiences of Private Samuel Davis" by Beverly A. Rude. This book is highly recommended for all history buffs.

William G. Gray expounds clearly the most important ritual of the Sangreal Sodality in this book. It is similar to a Christian mass, but it is not. The concepts of what the san-greal (royal blood), qabalah, and other elements of this tradition including the meaning of the symbol used by the Sangreal Sodality are explained. I think this book is good because it is meant to allow people, such as myself or you, to create a Sangreal Sodality with others. This is what William Gray mentions in the book in it's later chapters. He associates his writing this book with the work of others in the 1600's who allowed for the formation of the Rosicrucian Movement. They wrote books/pamphlets with a set of ideals that would eventually be crystalized by the people who read the documents written for that tradition.

An almost unclassifiable work, Sartor Resartus is at once inaccessible and irresitable. Repeated readings always bring new illumination and unearth previously hidden lessons. Carlyle wrote this book to instruct, entertain and, most importantly, to challenge. Its message appears more timely now than ever. Sic vos non vobis!

This is an amazing book. I love the storyline. I love that the storyline is true to history. When you look at the back of the book there is an explanation of how the characters in the book fit into the storyline of the historical perspective.

I've used this book for lesson plans in a third grade classroom. It works really well and the students love learning history and hearing a story at the same time. Best book I've seen for the Liberty Bell.

Written presciently in 1999, this rather more technical book
blows the dust off vague phrases like "post-Cold War era", as well
as the, shall we say, sappy hopes that arms control, deterrence and
luck shall get us through an era of WMDS and NBC weapons. And there
is talk of asymmetric attack, too. But there ARE guidelines, which
begin with clear thinking.
With a foreword by the usually excellent Keith Payne, the chapters
are as follows:

1. Nuclear Problem, Nuclear Condition

2. The Second Nuclear Age: The Hunt for
Political Context

3. Beyond the Fuel Cycle: Strategy and
and the Proliferation Puzzle

4. To Confuse Ourselves: Nuclear Fallacies

5. Nuclear Strategy

6. Coping with a Nuclear Future


I wish that I could do justice to such superior thinking in this
and in my other reviews of Colin Gray, instead of the jejeune cheerleading
that hits the page. Ah, well.