Lawrence Books

Finally someone has written a book we can all understand! The real value of this book is that it makes you realize other fathers have gone through the same process of getting old, getting fat and getting lost in the search for our former selves. Fat Daddy has given me some fresh ideas for improving on the progress I have already made and compiled a list of references to expand my knowledge base. I recommend this book to any father looking to get healthy, single guys who need to know what awaits them ( stop the Fat Daddy process before it starts) and women who want to understand and help their husbands with serious weight problems.

I finished the book over the weekend - it's a really good book -probably the best fitness book that I've read (and I've read Atkins, Zone, South Beach and that Blood Type Diet book). What's amazing is that I dropped about 70 pounds after divorce number 1 (only to gain it back after divorce #2) - and the diet that I followed back then is pretty much the "reality diet" you describe in your book. I was also walking running 3 miles every other day as well (I'm sure that had nothing to do with the weight loss;-). Anyway - your book inspired me to get serious about getting back into shape - for the sake of my son. I'll keep ya posted on progress!

I loved Fat Daddy/Fit Daddy. Funny, easy to read, and easy to remember. It's about time that someone other than a fitness freak can write a fitness book that speaks to the common man. I highly recommend Schwartz's book.

Finally someone has developed a lifestyle guide for the "real man," the father, husband and busy professional. Schwartz' book focuses on the three keys to the "game": food, fitness, and family. And it works. The book starts by describing, in entertaining detail, the situation that most men find themselves in once they begin life as a husband and father. It then takes "fat daddies" step-by-step through the process of becoming "fit daddies" using a football metaphor. The use of sports anologies makes the core concepts easy to understand and, more importantly, easy to remember on a day-to-day basis. And his Reality Diet is a perfect match for busy fathers. It's a practical approach that blends the science of nutrition with the reality of fatherhood, making it fairly easy to integrate within a father's fast-paced lifestyle. This is definitely a males-only book that will make you laugh outloud at times but will also leave a lasting impression on fathers who strive to be "fit daddies" for their families.

Highly recommend this book great to use if one is renovating a period house or likes period decorations.

The book is well illustrated and true to the topic. I thought a little too much time was spent on the dimensions of the illustrated work in how the book need to be adjusted for the size of the book and not any time spent explaining how the woodworkers of the time accomplished the work, Example how was a flute cut with the top end round and the bottom end flat. How are tongues added to a fluted column? There are no explanations of the wonderfully illustrated woodworking just where the work is located and how to measure the work.

"Federal Style Patterns 1780-1820" is the culmination of an astounding research project. The detailed drawings are based on design elements from homes built during the Federal Era in the New England region, and include detailed images of cornices, door and window casings, chair rails, baseboards and more.

All drawings are captured in a variety of formats on a CD-ROM that comes with the book, which is a helpful tool for modern day designers hoping to faithfully reproduce the elegance of Federal Style architecture.

For some time now, I have been fascinated with the Federal Style, so much so that I decided to decorate and furnish my new office as if it were a page from history, circa 1815. I was a bit confused how to adapt a door arch to my particular circumstance, so I e-mailed the authors of this book, MaryBeth Mudrick and Lawrence D. Smith, for advice. I was most pleased with the prompt and professional reply I received from them. Throughout the duration of my project, which stretched out for many months, MaryBeth and Lawrence provided invaluable guidance at many critical junctures, always with patience and a friendly touch. With my copy of their text close by at all times, these pros led me toward a Federal Style look that far exceeded my original expectations. Thomas Jefferson would have felt right at home!

Oh, this is an elegant book, with highly detailed drawings of every molding, mantels, doors, room designs, etc. that you can imagine, all in the beautiful American Federal Style. In this book, you can 'invade' historic homes and 'walk out' with measured detailed drawings of all of the best features -- without anyone catching you in the act.

This book is a cruel masterpiece of cynical and nasty slapstick humor. The protagonists, the Bullards and the Beelers, are both families of barely sentient wit who behave in ways that are competely understandable, completely human, and completely stupid. Berger's writing and plotting, though, are first-rate-- I laughed out loud throughout this thing, and I've read it three times over the last 25 years (time to read it again). You've met people like this before in the works of Flannery O'Connor, Faulkner, Charles Portis, and Erskine Caldwell, but Berger's light touch makes "The Feud" a real find.

Memorable characters, a fun story, and insidiously amusing throughout. I can't believe someone hasn't made a movie of this great book.

I picked this book up in the bargain rack at a mall bookstore in South Carolina while on a road trip in college. It is still one of my favorite books of all time. I read everything else Berger ever wrote because of this novel. It will make you laugh out loud. The characters are great and the plot is hilarious. As for the previous reviewer- it was made into a movie- a low buget comedy filmed in North Carolina in the late 80's. It went straight to video. Berger is a wicked writer.

A great book. Hilarious. Offensive. Subversive. It is like "Mayberry on Acid". Coincedences and misunderstandings abound in Berger's best.

This is an excellent and entertaining book but upon re-reading after a space of several months, I am puzzled by the introduction that states "More importantly, the Empress should be remembered for having a higher fatality of passengers (840) in one calamity than either Titanic (832) or Lusitania (791)". At least one other source (Wikipedia) indicates that the Empress of Ireland claimed 1,012 lives, the Titanic 1,517 and the Lusitania 1,198. Perhaps someone else can explain whether I am missing something here. Do the words "in one calamity" have a special meaning that I am overlooking?

This book covers the subject well. The ship and the accident are covered in detail and it has some great photos as well as some blueprints.

It doesn't matter how you view history...this is one of the greatest books written on a little known disaster. I read it and was completely overwhelmed by the well-written text. The depth of the story came alive to me. I could picture myself being among those trying to survive the wreck. I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in great liners and survivor stories.

THE LOSS OF THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN OVERLOOKED. IT WAS NEVER THE MOST FASHIONABLE SHIP, BUT IT WAS A FASHIONABLE SHIP. IT DID NOT CARRY " THE " ELITE, BUT IT CARRIED SOME ELITE. THE HORROR OF THE SINKING CAN ONCE AGAIN BE SEEN THROUGH THE PASSENGERS EYES. AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR SHIPWRECK LOVERS.

Mr. Zeni has somehow reached into the murky depths of the St. Lawrence River and retrieved the details of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. Bringing out many small details that were never mentioned in earlier works, David Zeni does so with a style that keeps one reading on page after page. A truly delightful book to read, on a subject seldom written about. If you collect works on shipwrecks or great ocean liners, this is a must for your collection.

"Foundation and Endowment Investing" by Larry Kochard (himself a top Chief Investment Officer) and Cathleen Rittereiser is a very well written and valuable book. While providing an excellent general overview of how the investment landscape has changed for some of the most innovative investors today, I found the most interesting and valuable section to be the profiles of 12 of the top endowment and foundation CIOs. The authors obviously spent hours interviewing and gaining insights from these titans of the investing world, resulting in a very readable and valuable book.

Clearly Kochard and Rittereiser know how to ask CIOs important questions as they themselves are insiders in the foundation/endowment field. Their years of industry experience and network with these accomplished CIOs has made reading their book an eye-opening experience. The interviews are conducted with highest quality that are conducive to bringing out sharpest, practical and candid observations by these industry-recognized CIOs. I also think that the writing is sharp and clear-cut that help to drive home key takeaways for readers . Many investment professionals, whether or not working in the endowment/foundation field will benefit from reading the book to have a grasp of today's fast-changing and more complexed global investing. I do hope to see sequels from the two authors as they have proven to work together so well.

Authors Larry Kochard and Cathleen Rittereiser have published an instructive and rare look behind the scenes of a collection of elite endowments and foundations. Their important text enhances and expands the good work of David Swensen in "Pioneering Portfolio Management" by revealing the thoughts and investment processes of a dozen accomplished Chief Investment Officers. "Foundation & Investment Investing" will be valuable for a broad universe of readers including CIOs, board members, investment staff professionals, portfolio managers and analysts, fund marketing professionals, business professors and their students, and individual investors. As foundation and endowment investment offices can be challenging to understand, I have bought additional copies for my colleagues in our equity hedge fund. I have also bought copies for a few individual investors who have asked for my guidance on managing their retirement portfolios in this increasingly volatile and complex investment environment. The final chapter observes that the CIOs interviewed are "all likable people". I agree, and enjoyed the sharp and candid insights of each of the CIOs. The interviews with Mark Yusko and Alice Handy were particularly enjoyable and instructive.

As CIO of Georgetown University and investment management executive of Alternative Asset Managers, respectively, the authors' historical perspectives and informed commentary are interesting, and their organizations are lucky to have them.

I hope Kochard and Rittereiser are interviewing another dozen CIOs for a sequel to this excellent and important investment management book!

Starting with the thorough introduction, this book taught me volumes about foundation investing. I sit on a foundation board, and I feel much more comfortable with investment policy discussions now! I recommend this book and have loaned my copy out to our executive director.

This is a very expert guide in a very accessible form. It has great information in a friendly easy to access format that is very helpful for clarifying complex issues. I think this is a good tool for anyone who owns their own business or is a marketing professional who deals with intellectual property issues.

This makes it easy to understand the difference between trademarks, registered trademarks, copyrights, and various patent types.

When does a great idea turn into a personal fortune? How about when you hit the "send" button? Whether you're a novelist, inventor, a blogger or someone with the best chili in your town, today's technology makes it possible for the innovator toiling away in a kitchen or a garage to become an international marketer. It's also the perfect opportunity for your idea to become someone else's fortune. And that's where Mostert and Apolzon come in. They are two of the world's top intellectual property lawyers and, without a sentence of legalese, they define the major forms of intellectual property, dispel myths and tell you what you can do to register and keep your idea your own. The book is also colorfully illustrated with case histories of how products from Coca-Cola to Velcro became household words and how they stay that way. If you're thinking maybe your recipe or poem or song should be shared with the world, save yourself a lot of aggravation and put this book on your shelf.

This was a really great read. The book doesn't lay out a step-by-step method for filing patents or trademarks, but I think it is a lot more useful than a book like that.

The book gives a great detailed look at what each creative protection (patent, trademark, and copyright) can do for you. It does a really good job of explaining the protections, the requirements, and when each is appropriate. It also has a lot of great pointers on how to maximize your benefits and what to do when your rights have been infringed upon. I highly recommend it to somebody who does not know much about these areas and would like to know more. It is a great start into the world of idea protection. A quick read and really easy to understand.

I really love this book! It explains in plain English how to protect your creations, whether they are artistic or useful. I sent it to a friend, whose brother invents all sorts of handy little gadgets, and he uses it. I sent it to my mother, who is a painter, and she uses it. I also sent it to a friend who writes how-to manuals, and he uses it! The book is easy to understand, and it's full of wonderful photographs and entertaining examples of the use of trademarks, copyrights, and patents. I never thought learning how to protect my work could be so interesting!

Lawrence Marsden does a great job of recalling emotions, anecdotes, and observations from the holds to the gun turrets to the bridge of the U.S.S Doyen throughout WWII in the Pacific. What better way to get the feel of what it was like off Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima, and a hundred other landings during those dark years. This one is a must for WWII history buffs and for serious students of the Pacific Theater. Attack Transports such as the Doyen often got in close and often stayed in close to the beaches where their crews could observe the initial phases of the battle taking place on shore. Their observations can add much to the historical accuracy of these events.

Unless you are an avid viewer of the "History Channel", the average person would think that World War Two, was Pearl Harbor,
Normandy, Gasoline Rationing, the Atom Bomb and it was over.
For America, the war started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Then there were grueling days that turned into months. There were invasions in the cold and the snow. Invasions of islands, that if you were not paying attention, you could sail right by. Invasions involving thousands of men, thousands of pieces of equipment, mountains of munitions. The list of invasions in World War Two, numbers in the thousands.
But we are familiar with only a few. What we get in reading
"Gemini Ship" is a chance to experience, every invasion
involved "Real Guys". Guys that bitched about everything, were
anxious about getting the job done and doing a good job, wishing the days would go by faster, hoping the mail would keep up with them. Hoping the entire War would be over the next time they heard Revellie. They were the "Greatest Generation" earning their stripes on the Pacific Ocean. In the 3 years and 10 months
America was fighting, we have been told 40 percent of the stories
about the prosecution of the war. This book tells us about the men who were there. You will enjoy yourself reading this book.

I was a member of the Massachesetts Maritme Academy that took the USS Doyen APA-1 out of the moth ball fleet to prepare it for a training ship. Reading Larry Marsden's book made the ship and its accomplishments in WW11 a real person. It truly had a dual purpose in life. The men that served during the war and the cadets that trained in later years joined spiritual forces and lived in those passageways and on those decks in a strange symbietic way. A great tribute to the Amphibious Fleet and a great linkage to a nautical educational experience.

Board the U.S.S. Doyen with the author. Sail into the cool, misty waters off Kiska. Carouse with your shipmates during the journey of a lifetime. Engage the enemy at Iwo Jima. Reflect on how it all affected you. A must read for WWII scholars, all Armed Servicemen, and anyone interested in the human side of the last great war.

This is a wonderful book for cooperative group work on math strategy and logical thinking. Each problem has six different clues. Students usually work in groups of four. Each student reads his/her clue(s), and the group tries to find the answer together. There are problems for different grade levels and for different math strands. There is an index that helps you find a concept quickly, such as geometry or number sense. Each of the six clues are coded so that you can easily tell if groups have accidentally mixed them. The only thing that might make you uneasy is that there is no answer key. The point is for the group to agree on an answer, and this ensures that the teacher doesn't "spill the beans" too soon. It encourages the kids to justify and explain their reasoning to the teacher before they move on to the next problem, which is a good thing. This book makes a great addition to your regular curriculum.

I have been using Get it Together since it was new, both as a middle level mathematics teacher and now in my work in professional development. The range of math strands that are addressed are wide and the choices almost limitless. Even though the book says grades 4 - 12, there are a few problems that would work with grades 2 and 3. Buy this now and put it to use as YOUR kids "get it together". One caviat: there are no answers in my edition (1989), something I found to be unfortunate. So, give the cards to your students, and, when they get the solutions, ask them to show you how the solution fits each clue. You will know right away if it is correct. Congratulate them on a job well done...and then RIGHT THE ANSWER DOWN!!!!

I think of myself a traditional teacher. As a sixth-grade teacher of math, I believe that students need a strong foundation in the basics of mathematics. However, with Get It Together by Mr. Erikson, I found myself motivated by activities that go beyond the trendy 'math games.' There are many acitivites that have real learning value. Also, the students enjoy working together in small groups to find the answer. At least once a week, I find myself using an activity or two out of this book. It has been an excellent resource in the classroom.

Erickson's book (as well as "United We Solve") is a fabulous tool for teachers of math (as well as some social sciences). The activities are for small groups and the "rules" for solving the problems make it a good basis for evaluating both individual and group work.

I use these activities with my third and fourth graders, but the activities are also good for much older students. The topics are varied, including geometry, equations, logic, and even some social studies topics. My students love working on these, and I love watching them as they work to solve the creative problems.

I highly, highly, highly recommend this book AND "United We Solve".

Gods and Generals: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler rivals its previous companion book to Gettysburg. Kunstler tells the story leading up to the battle of Gettysburg using his masterful brush to translate history into color paintings. The text and the paintings weave the tale of how America eventually tore itself asunder in the Civil War. Its an excellent collector's piece and great introduction into the Civil War.
I also found Kunstler did not paint as many movie scenes in this book, instead capturing the actual historical looks of these "Gods and Generals" of the Civil War. Any lover of history or military art will appreciate his attention to detail and riviting scenes. Enjoy!

Never have I seen half as much life breathed into the Civil War as in the paintings in this book. It is a visual feast, and I savor every page every time I look at it. The appearances of the soldiers and civilians alike portrayed in this book are accurate, and the colors and poses and emotional expressions are captivating and hauntingly beautiful. This would make a great coffee-table book or a guide for an artist, Civil War buff, or student.

This book is worth 5 stars!! My 8 year old son is just beginning to discover what it means to be born in the south. I want him to have an accurate picture of what the civil war was all about. It is hard to find civil war books with enough pictures to keep him interested. This book has plenty of high quality art for him to see and includes text that we can read together! I highly reccomend it based on those gorgeous paintings.

Mr. Kunstler has provided us with another book of his arrestingly beautiful paintings. Art, of course, is largely a matter of taste and proverbially in the eye of the beholder. Mr. Kunstler, however, even from as objective a standpoint as possible, has no peer as a chronicler of the Civil War. I have been interested in that period of history for about half a century, but it has been Mr. Kunstler's paintings over the past dozen or more years that have brought that war to life for me, and, I am sure, for many others. Although he is a prolific artist, he never compromises with quality, and the quality of his work is unsurpassed.

The subjects of Mr. Kunstler's paintings are invariably interesting, and he does not like to paint scenes or events that have been done previously by other artists. This book is the companion to, and illustrative of, the events and people of the novel "Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara, soon to be made into a motion picture of the same name. It follows four exceptional soldiers through the first two years of the war: Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Winfield S. Hancock, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

In this book, there are many new paintings not yet published elsewhere, but whether you are an old Kunstler aficionado or newly introduced to his work, you will find this book unequaled. The reproductions of the paintings are eye-catching, displaying each painting in vibrant, striking colors, true to Mr. Kunstler's originals. I say above that his paintings are educational, and so they are. I urge you to look closely at every work of art. If you do, you will not only see an astonishing amount of detail, but also learn much about the people, the times, the objects people used, and the war. Again, we have Mr. Kunstler's constant striving for perfection to thank for paintings which are correct in every detail. He is the quintessential perfectionist, who painstakingly researches every detail, no matter how small, to provide his audience with true, as well as beautiful, depictions of people, places, and things. He consults with knowledgeable historians, such as Professor Robertson, who wrote the text for this book, on even such matters as the weather on the particular day that he wants to depict in a painting. All of the accouterments are true, as well as the animals, the uniforms, the weapons, the landscapes, the battlefield situations, the lighting -- everything. Rarely does one find, in one individual such as Mr. Kunstler, artistry to the point of genius coupled with an unceasing demand for perfection in all of the details of his art.

I admit that I am no connoisseur of art and that I can claim no expertise or experience in art. Even someone such as I, however, can at least partially appreciate the artistic techniques used by Mr. Kunstler. His positioning of people, animals, buildings, and other objects to lead the observer's eye to the main subject of the painting, his extraordinary use of light to play on this or that subject in the picture in greater or lesser brilliance in order to accentuate or subordinate that subject, and his use of color, always precise, to delineate bright sunshine or dark shadow, or to emphasize or minimize, are all techniques that even such as I can note and admire. His paintings are so life-like as to defy the observer to differentiate them from photographs. But no photographs could depict such wonderful color and the precise instants in time which Mr. Kunstler so deftly chooses to picture.

Mr. Kunstler has, with every book he has introduced, been able to obtain the very best in historians/commentators to draft the texts. He has obtained the services of, for example, Henry Steele Commager (for the book "The American Spirit: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler"), James I. Robertson, Jr. (for "Jackson and Lee: Legends in Gray," "The Confederate Spirit: Valor, Sacrifice and Honor," and the current work), James M. McPherson (for "Gettysburg"), and Dee Brown (for "Images of the Old West"). Dr. Robertson's text in "Gods and Generals: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler" is, as always, the perfect complement to the paintings. As with Mr. Kunstler's art, so also with Dr. Robertson's narrative, one can learn much, whether one is a novice or an experienced hand.

Thus, whether you are a "Civil War buff" or simply interested in exceptional art and edifying prose, you will enjoy this book (and you would do well to consider obtaining Mr. Kunstler's previous books, named parenthetically above). You cannot go wrong with the team of Kunstler and Robertson.

GOBO rocks. It's that simple. Baines' approach to learning hasn't waivered since I sat in a classroom listening to his varied theories all those years ago at Berry. The lessons and activities found within GOBO will keep students excited about learning and will push them further than ever before. Baines is the best. Pure and simple.

Gobo won the Best Book in Education Award this year from Independent Publisher.

I am not a neutral reviewer. I am Lawrence Baines' brother. I am also not a teacher, though education has long been an intense passion of mine. For ten years now I have been a member and officer of SEAL (Society for Effective and Affective Learning). I have always admired Lawrence's many creative pursuits in music and art, and have long wondered just why he had decided to lend his great passion and enthusiasm to traditional education. The answer is that the field of education in which he works is a long way from traditional education. He is a revolutionary who continually seeks to bring that, perhaps, childish delight and joy of learning back into the classroom. Going Bohemian is a delightful collaboration of a group of very competent and passionate people who are all committed to empowering education and to making it more efficient, effective and fun for all concerned. There is no dry education theory in this book. It is a collection of very compelling ideas to fire and hold the attention of student and teacher alike. As I read it, I got excited as I turned page after page which I could vividly see transforming the boring thing which I have long considered traditional education to be. You can't go wrong. Buy, read, and use this book. Robert Baines

Going Bohemian is an excellent resource for the classroom teacher. Its innovative suggestions for enhancing the writing assignments in English class are state-of-the-art and will excite both students and teachers. I have tried several of the writing projects with my students, and I enjoy the enthusiasm with which they have been met. The variety, freshness, and appeal to adolescent interests of Bohemian's writing assignments should make it a staple in language arts classrooms.