O'Neal Books

This incomparable memoir is a straight-forward retrospective overview of the nuances and highlights comprising the long and successful life of José Reynold (J.R.) O'Neal, a true native son of the Caribbean, a notable citizen, a dedicated family leader, and a successful entrepreneur and conservationist in the Eastern Caribbean Territory of the British Virgin Islands.

His memoir, subtitled "reflections", is a charming blend of history and au courant observations touching a wide spectrum of the author's affairs that reach beyond the world of business and family life in Tortola to the broader dimensions of domestic politics, public service, community health, and national parks.

J. R. O'Neal was educated at the secondary level off-island in Antigua, after which he earned certification as a pharmacist. His return to Tortola as a young man was followed by a parental tutorial first on cattle raising and later on the merchandising of food stuffs and dry goods. This knowledge he expanded into development of a combined pharmacy, dental service, and photo shop and ultimately a hardware import and export trade, inter-island shipping firm, and larger scale general merchandising enterprise.

Itemizing the components of Mr. O'Neal's successful entrepreneurship would generate a long list as his basic business strategy was both opportunistic and experimental.

With both humility and generosity, J.R. O'Neal manages to build into his narrative (which spans most of the century just past) very human, sometimes wry profiles of family members, politicians, neighbors, staff, community leaders, and, of course, assorted governors, ministers, jailers and the even the "receiver of wrecks" who sometimes stood in the way of timely transactions in marginal contraband. Fortunately, this somewhat nostalgic memoir includes a good index which lists, among other things, over 50 boat names, mostly vessels he had built or bought or chartered or had occasion to use over the years in his numerous businesses. No wonder he refers to British Virgin Islanders as a "people whose heritage was the sea" (see pages 34-35).

How singularly apt is the comment on this book by The Honorable Elton Georges, who employs the shimmering metaphor of "pure gold" to suggest that the memoir offers a greater reward to the reader as a consequence of subtle historical nuggets, which add a new dimension to the narrative to come.

In fact, in this regard, O'Neal's nicely packaged snippet of West Indian island history is not quite what it seems at first glance, although the title is nonetheless accurate. Let me provide two examples of "buried treasure".

First, J.R.'s modesty is excessive when it comes to his almost casual and brief reportage on his 30 consecutive years of unpaid, volunteer service as chairman of the board of the BVI National Parks Trust. This important local institution presumably met several times each year and thus consumed perhaps a thousand donated hours of J.R.'s busy and productive life. It was an extraordinarily valuable service to the community. The Trust's example-and, by extension, J.R.'s-has been a model for other conservation organizations throughout the Eastern Caribbean.

Additionally, on occasion, Mr. O'Neal served as a nominated member of the Legislative Council and on various other statutory boards and a dozen or so ad hoc committees and civic groups. For many years he supervised the Trust-sponsored mahogany reforestation project funded by Laurance S. Rockefeller at Sage Mountain and Virgin Gorda Peak.

But there is more! It was an astute geographer, I believe, who warned about the risk of standing too close to an area-or object or island or person or set of events-under study. One cannot, for example, see or appreciate the full dimensions of a given field while standing in it or even too close to it. Content, substance and history are not easily separated from contextual surroundings, e.g., the larger settings "next door" including, in the case of this memoir, neighboring islands, territories and oceanic reaches.

It is for these reasons that this unusual story of one branch of the O'Neal family of the British Virgin Islands shares a much larger landscape (in fact, a seascape) that extends over 900 miles along the northeasterly Caribbean archipelago from Antigua, St. Kitts and Anguilla in the east to the U.S. Virgins, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba in the west. The author was at home in all these places-he had lived in virtually all of them!

The reader is asked to remember that J.R. O' Neal's maritime world encompassed more than the British Virgins. His was a far more spacious and diverse trading/shipping "insular system", with safe harbours, products and markets on a much grander geographical, geopolitical, and multicultural scale, which-in turn-was not without its own influence on the course of BVI historical development.

It is clear in these "Life Notes" that over the past six or seven decades J.R.'s family, colleagues and business associates were not unresponsive to the principles which made this extended maritime trading system work so well. O'Neal's success was in part driven by his understanding and appreciation of the dynamic cultural and economic forces at work within the region. His response, for example, to the advent of WW II or to the USVI as a competitor was classic Harvard Business School dogma.

There is further evidence of his important role as a Caribbean maritime trader and venture capitalist. O'Neal not only carefully designed a shipping, pharmacological and hardware business; with equal care, he began investing in the construction of trading vessels, first in wood and sail, then in wood and diesel, and eventually larger steel and diesel construction . Even later he purchased ready-built, finished vessels on the open market. He also pioneered a hydrofoil service linking Road Town and St. Thomas and San Juan.

Much of what he moved in his ships kept his wholesale and retail stores stocked and competitive. He moved (and sometimes sold) pharmaceuticals, cement, generators, Land Rovers, lumber, household goods, rock crushers, spirits, gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, compressors, anchors, marine gear, paints, varnish, and construction tools while also serving as the resident agent in Tortola for larger shipping lines that linked the Territory with New York, New Jersey, Miami and the United Kingdom.

On a more personal note, J.R. had a deep and abiding interest in traditionally built boats, including vessel design, wooden boat construction techniques and boat building as a livelihood. He considered himself well grounded in the proportionate design length ratios for all the principal longitudinal timbers and the key athwart ship beams used in the standard Tortola sloop. He employed a number of local shipwrights to keep himself supplied with freight boats. All of this suggests a firm foundation in maritime lore and marine operational practices. He also was both patient and sensitive in his working relationships with boat builders (carpenters) and numerous ship captains.

All in all, it is fair to say that this fascinating story opens up a new, under-appreciated maritime dimension to the economic, social and artisanal history of the British Virgin Islands. J.R. can indeed be proud of his effort.

THE LOBSTERMAN AND THE U.F.O.
Author -Neal Evan Parker
Illustrator - Jim Sollars
Annabel Books
Review from The Camden Herald - August 2, 2007

Tall tale of lobsterman is eccentric fun...
The prospect of holding the Maine Lobster Festival at a time when there are no lobsters to be cooked, and holding a giant yard sale instead, is surely enough to send a chill up the collective spine of the festival committee.
Mercifully this nightmare scenario is but a plot twist in a fascinatingly odd little book by Neal Parker, a former windjammer owner and skipper from Rockland who has lately turned his hand to the fine art of juvenile fiction.
In Parker's "The Lobsterman and the U.F.O," the Maine Lobster Festival is lightly disguised as the Soft Shell Bay Annual Lobster Jamboree. The self-serving real-world publicity hounds called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals appear in the book as Stop Eating Living Things Okay?
To a certain extent the book uses this sort of undisguised satire as scenery dressing for an outlandish tale about an alien visitor who lands his saucer in the ocean next to the main character's lobster boat.
This lobsterman, by the name of Ralf Winslow, is himself a pastiche, fabricated from just about every eccentricity that might ever have been loosely applied to a man in Maine.
For example, his shortsighted cussedness leads him to immediately conclude that the pilot of the ditched flying saucer is a Canadian, simply because he obviously isn't an American. The fact that the newcomer has two pairs of eyes and arms merely makes him suitable to be hired on the spot as Ralf's sternman. Gosh, how practical.
I won't go into details of the plot. Normally a reviewer would say this as some form of courtesy, so readers will not have their fun spoiled, and I could pretend to be operating on that high moral plane. But the truth is that the plot is something of a four-armed sternman itself, which is to say it's a little bit out of alignment with ordinary expectations, and is perhaps best unscrambled by the reader without my help.
All in all, the characterizations and the story go together in what can best be described as a slightly zany and oddly pleasing fashion. Particularly pleasing are Jim Sollers' illustrations, which remind me of the pictures we found in storybooks when we were children. Their homage to Robert McCloskey is evident.
What is really happening in this book is that Parker is playing the same game as the producers of the many movies made in recent years, based upon popular children's shows from the 1960s -- "The Flintstones," Rocky & Bullwinkle," "George of the Jungle," "Dudley Do-Right," etc. He is turning his adult sensibilities toward something that would have looked merely straightforward and entertaining when he was but a lad, and is making it all come out in a playfully knowing and post-modern sort of way.
It's a hoot, of course, and fits firmly in the tradition of outlandishly tall tales, but I wonder what children with their more literal way of reading things will make of it. If it's any help to you, the book is endorsed by comedian Tim Sample.
More traditional in the line of children's fiction are Parker's two previous books about Captain Annabel, a young girl born 100 years ago and raised beside the ocean, who grows up to work on big ships.
There isn't a hint of post-modernism in these books, for they touch on a subject truly close and dear to the author's heart, his own daughter.
"The Lobsterman and the U.F.O," a 54-page illustrated tale, retails for $14.95. For more information about Parker and his books, not all of which are written for youngsters, [...].

Part of Katherine Pebley O'Neal's "Family" series, "The Loud Family" is an excellent reminder that God has a special plan for **everyone**.

The book introduces us to a family that's nothing if not LOUD. They speak in booming tones, they slam doors, the baby howls, they bellow out hymns in church, they unwittingly distract other church-goers with cracking knuckles and shuffling feet, and generally make themselves annoying to those around them.

But one day at church, the pastor's microphone gives out. Nobody can hear him, no matter how loud he tries to speak. So Papa Loud hops up. "I can help!" he says. Putting his loud voice to good use, he helps the pastor finish his sermon. "Nobody said, 'Sssshhhhh!' Everybody just smiled and thanked Papa for helping with the service.

'Your voice is quite a gift,' said the minister. 'I hope you'll speak during our Christmas play.'

'Thanks! I would love to!' Papa answered."

What I Like: Everything. The story is fun, makes its point without preaching or being too subtle, and easily applies to people we already know. (And perhaps even ourselves!) The illustrations by Laura Huliska-Beith are bright, funny, and creative. It's not often I can say the illustrations are a perfect match for a book's text, but that's definitely the case here.

What I Dislike: Nothing.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Kristina Seleshanko
Managing Editor
Christian Children's Book Review

Ihis is an excellent review for professional use in sterile maggott therapy. Such sterile maggotts are available for debridement and regrowth of granulation tissues aiding healing of infected and dead tissue. It gives historical and current treatment information. Very good for all medical personnel treating dead / infected ulcers and other tissues.

This book, although focused on a narrow slice of Phi Kappa Phi chronology, is very well-written and covers, in quite a comprehensive manner, a significant portion of the history of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

I highly recommend this publication, but I also adamantly recommend the following books as companions to the latter:

"In Pursuit of Excellence- The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi 1897-1971"

*and*

"A Century of Scholarship- A One Hundred Year History of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi"

(Phi Kappa Phi books can be purchased from Amazon, or, if not immediately available from Amazon, from the PKP website www.phikappaphi.org/index.shtml)

And, to obtain a proper perspective on US collegiate honor societies, I definitely recommend:

"Phi Beta Kappa in American Life- The First Two Hundred Years" (available from Amazon!).

(Phi Beta Kappa, yet still restricted to a rather limited "liberal arts" 18th century criteria, is the progenitor of all US Greek-letter college honor societies)

Debbie O'Neal has taken a subject on which many books have been written, and has given her readers a real how-to, hands-on companion to our work as mentors to children in their Christian formation. Not only does she provide excellent background on the learning styles and interests of children at a variety of ages, but she also goes into classroom management, teaching techniques, and encourages each of us called to this ministry to remember that "every child id a Child of God". She even provides information for teaching children with special needs, as well as involving entire families in this process. Finally, she gives great ideas for storytelling and hands-on learning activities. We have enjoyed her books, Before and After Christmas and Before and After Easter. I look forward to years of help being provided by this book as well.

This book is beautiful in its simplicity. The story and art is warm and charming and will capture a young imagination during the holiday season. I gave this to a young nephew this year and his eyes lit up with delight. Looking through the book with him, I saw the wonder of Christmas reflecting in his eyes and I remembered...remembered what it felt like to be a child around home and hearth, drinking hot chocolate, singing carols, lying under an enormous tree, smelling the pine sap, staring up at hundreds of colored lights and ornaments and daydreaming.

Debbie Trafton O'Neal's story is basically the search for and enjoyment of that tree, told behind the well-known and loved Christmas carol. Ande Cook's paintings are sweet and her sense of color remarkable. You only need look at the cover of animals surrounding a tree under a star filled sky to see the magic that awaits within. As I watched my nephew pouring over it and beginning his own Christmas memories, I was lost in memories of my own "Christmases long, long ago". And this, to me, is what it's all about.

OK Forever is an authentic page turner. I could not put it down. Helen Neal -Ali shines in such a way, that the reader is compelled to face themselves. Her candor is cathartic and this book is an intervention on several levels.

People of the Wolf (The First North Americans series, Book 1)

This is the first of many fact filled historical novels. I am hooked. Just like I was hooked on the Clan of the Cave Bear series. You'll love it and have to get all the other books in the series.

This book is very well-arranged. Informations about herbs are presented on the basis of modern studies. Very useful book for home and practical use. Price of the book is pleasant.