Willis Books

Nationally recognized ARA author and animal
rights activist is nailed for theft.

This person was hailed by the NCVAW as a
wonderful person and a part of their crowd.
Goes to show you what they are made of. Goes
to show you what these fanatics will do....


***NEWS: Author of the book "PIECES OF MY
HEART" and
essay "HOW COULD YOU", JIM WILLIS, INDICTED
ON TWO
FELONY COUNTS OF LARCENY OF DOG by Pender
County
Grand Jury***



The Pender County, NC Grand Jury returned two

true
bills to indict Jim Willis for Larceny of
Dogs on July
23, 2007.


Case No. 07-CRS-51009, State of North
Carolina vs.

James Charles Willis states:

"The jurors for the State upon their oath
present
that on or about the date of offense shown
and in the
county named above the Defendant named above
unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did
steal, take
and carry away a dog, a female white lab
sheep dog mix
with black spots with solid black right ear
and black
and white left ear, named 'Krissy', . . ."


Sources say this dog has not been recovered.
If you
have seen this dog or know of it's
whereabouts, please
contact the Pender County Sheriff's
Department at
(910)259-1212.


Some animal lovers have suggested boycotting
the sale
of Jim's book, 'Pieces of My Heart' and
removing his
poetry from their web sites until such time
as the dog
is recovered.


Case No. 07-CRS-051399, State of North
Carolina vs.

James Charles Willis states:

"The jurors for the State upon their oath
present that on or about the date of offense
shown and
in the county named above the Defendant named

above
unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did
steal, take
and carry away a dog, a male Dalmatian dog,
white in
color with black spots, named 'Damon', . . ."

Sources say this dog was recovered at the
home of
Robert Hoggard, of Wilmington, NC, where Mr.
Willis
has been a house guest since April.

In a separate action, Jim Willis was found
GUILTY of
HARASSING PHONE CALLS in the Pender County
Court on
July 26, 2007. Despite pleading not guilty,
Mr.
Willis was found GUILTY and was sentenced to
30 days
in jail (suspended), 24 months of
unsupervised
probation, was assessed $115.00 in court
costs and
received a fine of $570.00 in restitution. He

was
also ordered to have no contact with the
person he was
harassing and was ordered not to go on her
premises.

Deep, heartfelt and inspiring. This book will touch you deeply if you care at all about animals. A very special author with a very special voice.

I'm only half way thru the book, as it lost my interest, I purchased it thinking that it was a story of a guy rescueing dogs, but as of yet, nothing, just poems, and short stories. not satisfied.

The spiritual nature of these "beasts" comes through in each poem and story and essay. I found them each and every one to be powerful. They encourage me when I feel too run down to continue my little rescue efforts. This is from a man who practices what he preaches. Not only does he advocate on behalf of all homeless and abused pets,he also takes care of many of the ones no one else wants. Animals ask only for a safe place to rest, some clean water and decent food. Jim Willis reminds us that each of us can make the world a brighter, kinder place.

First of all I would like to say that I love this book. It is so heart touching. Second of all in reponse to Kat Lady. I am a former resident of Pender county. Pender County NC is a rural area and the mentality that many, many people in this area have towards animals is heartbreaking and unforgivable. I would be wiling to bet that those dogs that Mr. Willis took were probably being neglected and/or mistreated. The laws of this area often fail the animals and many die waiting for reports of animal abuse/neglect to be investigated or resolved. And not enough people in the area care enough to do any thing about it. Mr Willis taking those dogs may have the best thing that had ever or would ever happen to those dogs. I admittedly don't know the whole story, but I do know how many dogs in that area are treated-- kept chained their entire lives in the humid and severe NC heat without adequate provisions. So why not hold your judgement?

This is a great book for a transplanted southerner, who grew up in the South, but has lived in the Boston area for 40 years! The writing and photographs are perfect. I was somewhat disappointed to discover that a perfect, sugar-free cornbread recipe with white cornmeal was not included, but I typed and pasted in my own time-proven recipe for this delicacy baked in a seasoned iron skillet or seasoned iron cornbread stick pans. The South has, indeed, risen again with this great treasure trove of recipes!

After being a fan of Virgina Willis, I by chance got to meet her in person at the American Royal Bar B Que competition at which she was a speaker in their guest chef segment. She prepared Coca Cola Ribs, Finglering Potato Salad and a fantastic light Black eye pea salad with a light vinegerette. I had to hand it to her to prepare Ribs with so many Rib pros on the show ground. I didn't want to tell my husband and his team that they were better than theirs, but the truth is they were! I was also fortunate enough to win a book & speak with her. She was as warm and friendly as your neighbor next door. As we parted I felt I had to give a big thank you hug.
On the flight back to California I read the entire cookbook. The stories were charming as Virgina, straight from the heart, the recipes as filled with love as the flavor of food sounded.
I have made many some light and some rich, my California friends all ask me how I found old time recipes that are the comfort food we all crave in our busy California lives, yearning for the memories via food of Grandma. It also has tips for some of the more difficult techniques such as how to keep a souffle from falling, slicing herb techniques to name a few. I hope ya'll enjoy the book as

Bon Appetit, Ya'll is the best Southern Cookbook on the market. It is the perfect blend of your grandma's southern dishes and gourmet sophistication. The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are readily available. I would recommend it to everyone, Southern or not!

This book is fantastic. Lovely, personal and full of recipes I actually make and want to make.

Last night I had the opportunity to experience Virginia Willis making some of her delicious recipes from her new book, Bon Appetite, Y'All. Not only was she charmingly delightful, her Southern style, mixed with French cuisine,was refreshing to me. My daughter and I were entertained with stories and recipes from her mother and grandmother. As she read the introduction to her book, I was flooded with emotion, relating to the same Southern heritage, recipes written on scrapes of paper taped to cabinet doors, and the smell of fresh baked cake coming out of the oven. Virginia Willis is able to take complicated techniques and explain in terms everyone can understand. You will love her stories as she introduces her recipes. This is a beautiful cookbook to display in your kitchen or keep on your coffee table. I love Bon Appetit, Y'all and getting to meet Ms. Willis in person was a treat. What a wonderful evening to experience with my daughter.

This story centers on Tamara, a young woman living in rural Mayville, NY in the 1950's. By the age of 15, she's moved more times than she can count. Well, she can count them, but she's not happy about the loose ends she always feels upon relocation. Once she realizes that the other kids in school have histories with their classmates and roots, she feels cheated and wants to settle down.

Her family is somewhat dysfunctional but very loving - her father, a landscape artist and the traveling nature of his job is the reason behind their frequent relocations. Her mother is beautiful and a little wild, but she has a strong bond with Tamara's father and allows his lifestyle to effect their family. Tamara has a younger brother and sister who have their own difficulties leading such a nomadic life and at times, Tamara takes out her frustrations on them and even on herself.

Sarah Willis adds the concept of atheism to the story, as both Tamara's parents practice it. The neighbors across the street are devout Christians and manage to get their permission to take Tamara & her siblings to church, which opens up a whole new world for Tamara and she starts to question her beliefs and make bargains with God to keep her in one place.

Tamara's life gets even more stressful when she learns that her mother has an illness that takes her away from the family, perhaps permanently and Tamara is forced to fill her shoes around the house. This is where Tamara begins to rely more heavily on God and asks him to help heal her mother. She also discovers that her complex feelings for her mother are a foil for the love she feels in her heart and through letters, they grow to understand each other better.

Tamara also finds the stirrings of her first love when she connects with Rusty who also lives next door. Sarah Willis portrays the feelings of wonder, fear and joy that we all feel when we find what we think is love and the other person feels it too. Willis does a fine job of providing excellent, solid characterization, and precisely detailing their neurosis so precisely that we can relate to them and their shifting, complicated connections to each other.

I loved the way she uses words to create pictures in the mind of the reader. I enjoyed the section where she uses colors to stress the importance of the situation comparing them to the colors her father uses in his artwork - a unique way to show the similarities between father and daughter when neither feels they have anything to share - masterful! I thought about this book and its characters for a while after I finished reading it and that is always a sign of an excellent story - I have found a new favorite author in Sarah Willis and look forward to reading more of her novels.

I bought this book because of the price and it looked interesting but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. It was one of those cannot put down type of books and I actually finished it in one day. It was a captivating coming-of-age story and Sarah Willis did a beautiful job of bringing her characters to life. This would be an excellent book club book as there is so much meaty stuff to discuss. I loaned my copy to a friend just so we could talk about it. I highly recommend this book!

This is a really touching coming of age story in the 50's. The mother has to go to a sanitarium with Tuburculosis. The father is stuck in his own world of painting. There are 2 siblings, Robert and Megan, that are coping in their own ways with the abandoment issues that arise from not only the mother's illness, but the father's inability to handle the situation. Tamara is left basically in charge of everyone. Besides the obvious issues that are going on, there is the storyline of the number of moves the family has endured and how much they are wanting a permanent home.

I enjoyed reading this book very much, but it didn't touch me as much as some of the other coming of age stories like, Whistling in the Dark, The Book of Bright Ideas and Cold Rock River. Those stayed with me after I was done and while I really enjoyed this coming of age story, it's not one that will stay with me like some other ones.

Still it is well worth reading and I highly recommend it.

This is a story you were waiting to read, full of life-size characters... the type of book you don't want to finish.

And a first novel? ... wow. I can't wait to read her next one!!!!

I just love Sarah Willis' writing style and felt this book was equally as wonderful as her book: THE SOUND OF US. It didn't take too long for me to be totally drawn into this story of Tamara and I felt myself rather sad at where the story ended. I just wanted to keep knowing about her and her family and how their lives turned out. I highly recommend this book and hope anyone who reads it becomes a Sarah Willis fan. If you haven't yet read THE SOUND OF US, do yourself a favor and read it! It's real good reading. There isn't a single downside to SOME THINGS THAT STAY. I loved Tamara and her view of her world. The characters seemed utterly real and engrossing. The last sentence of the book was the perfect uplifting end to Tamara's story.

My copy of the Dune Encyclopedia is from 1985 and I remember seeing it on the shelf at the bookstore and purchasing it without even looking at it first!

It gives excellent detail about the technology written about in the series and insight that really adds to the Dune experience.

If you can find a copy of this book it is well worth the read. I am just amazed it is selling for $50.00+ (I paid $10 for mine in 1985) It would be nice to see this come back into print so more people can enjoy an in depth exploration into this wonderful series.

An overview of the places, people and technology in the Dune universe. This explains a lot of the detail of things that Herbert just mentions in passing, such as the scientists that invented shields, or space travel, or things like that.

It is very useful to gain a better understanding of all those finer points.

The first time I ran into the Dune Encyclopedia was purely by accident. I was on Morpheus (a P2P downloading site) and I typed down "DUNE" on the search bar, on the generated list was "The Dune Encyclopedia".

It took days for it to download because only one person was sharing it... meaning that not many people knew it existed and not many people have a digital ebook copy of this book.

Once it was finally on my computer I read as much as I could -- sadly my computer was experiencing many problems and crashed.

Sinse then, I've never been able to find another digital copy. I've resorted to purchasing a $30 one here on good ol' Amazon, however, sinse it's out of print and no publishing house is making any money off of it anymore, I say we as fans should force it back into print as an ebook.

This, and the six Dune books by Frank Herbert are the true books of the Dune universe. Period.

Ignore the tripe by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. Disregard their works as fanfiction, and badly written at that. If you want to know more about Dune, this is the book for you.

Just recently I found a good condition copy of The Dune Encyclopedia at a local used book dealer. I was completely shocked to have found it on the "recent arrivals" shelf in the Sci-Fi section. I grabbed it up and leafed through it to verify its existence. It was real alright. The fact that I bought it for only $4.50 is more extraordinary. Yes, $4.50 !!! They must not have realized what a treasure they had.
So keep looking everyone, there are still hidden treasures out there to be found.

I have been gaming for over 15 years, ond only recently picked this up and played at a con. I love it. It's simple, easy to learn and play, and has an inherent flexibilty that makes it easy for Keeper's to make a judgement call on events not covered in the rules. (When in doubt, the Luck roll is a good bet).

If you want real horror, ignore the WoD and make it Cthulhu!

The Call of Cthulhu system, as written in the 5.5 and 6.0 versions, is one of the most complete systems I've ever found.

That is amazing, considering exactly how LITE the rules system is. There are very few hard and fast rules, with almost everything being handled by percentile dice. The system is very organic, with characters increasing in skill by performing them.

The characters in a Call of Cthulhu game are more 'real' than some similar games from other companies. They have a great sense of depth due to the occupation system used. Also, considering how lethal combat is in the game, you are greatly encouraged to think your way out of problems.

One other area that has been found by my group to be important is the ease of transfer from one 'style' of play to another. Whenever we are wanting to run any type of realistic game set in any era, we always look to the Call of Cthulhu rulebook for ideas. So far, we have run a wild west game and several other genres using the rules in this book.

The works of master horror writer H.P. Lovecraft of the 1920s have influenced almost every single good horror writer to date, from Ann Rice to Stephen King. COC is likely the best RPG ever put to print, and the publisher Chaosium just makes things easier for players by adding content from their various supplements with each new edition. A typical game session has your characters snooping around for clues, and interrogating various NPCs (non player characters), and then implementing a course of action. The climax of a campaign also often (unfortunately for players) includes one of the hideous deities of the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Azathoth, Cthulhu himself, Dagon, or, possibly the worst, Nyarlathotep, trickster god with a thousand avatars or "masks". COC is the only game that has ever given me, as the gamemaster, chills reading a supplement in the middle of the day. I also recommend picking up one of the numerous Cthulhu Mythos anthologies of short stories. Prepare to be scared

I first read these tales in an "Armed Services Edition" of HP Lovecraft stories, back in 1944! Sitting underseas in a US Navy Submarine in the South Pacific, scared to death, and lonely for home, these stories gripped me so completely, I forgot my real fears of war.

That old book, now tattered and yellowed with age, was read by my son and daughter, who now want to pass it on to my grandchildren. It's time for me to replace it with a new Penguin edition before is falls apart, totally!

Lovecraft's writing has many weaknesses, flowery language, poor characterizations and vague plots. I see all these faults now, but they never bothered me when I first read him. Women don't seem to be a part of Lovecraft's world, and that is a shame. His stories were too short to correct these faults. Modern full novels, in the Lovecraft tradition, like "The Riddle of Cthulhu," are written with many of HPL's faults corrected; like the inclusion, for example, of unforgetable characters, romance and a believable plot. Still, the "Call" is the source and the classic horror book. You must experience these classic stories, then move on to today's modern "Lovecraft Style" novels!

Doesn't it tell you something, that *every* review for this edition of this book gives it 5 stars? (Some of the out-of-print editions have reviews here too.) And let's face it, us RPG enthusiasts are not the sort of folks to shy away from criticizing.

Some people will say the Basic Roleplaying rule-set is outdated. It's true that games like Unknown Armies and Godlike are pretty cool, and I know people who are using those rules for their CoC games. But just try introducing a newcomer to those rules, or getting someone who's only played D&D before to convert. They get dizzy, I tell you. Nope, for a simple, elegant rule-set that just about anyone can grasp right off the bat, Call of Cthulhu's Basic Roleplaying has still got it, after more than 20 years. The rules fade into the background, where they belong.

And unlike other games with their multivolume core rulebooks and endless splatbooks that you *need* if you want a fully fleshed-out campaign, everything you really need is right there in this one rulebook. Heck, every time Chaosium does a new edition, they comb all the supplements for spells, monsters, skills, and so on, and add them into the new edition--to save you time and money! Chaosium even printed the entire short story, "The Call of Cthulhu," in this edition, so newbies can get a taste of what it's all about.

If you've got an older edition of CoC, you don't need to buy this one--the rule changes are quite minor. Unlike D&D, a new edition doesn't make everything you already know obsolete--"editions" of CoC are back-compatible with older editions and old supplements. Chaosium does new editions to keep the book in print and to make it a little better every time, not to force the fans to spend money. I bought it because my old book was getting worn out, and I wanted a more durable hardcover edition. Now I can loan out the old book to players. But I'm really happy with the little changes, and it's nice to have some of the information that used to be in adventures and supplements all gathered together in one book.

I have read a lot of self help books over the years (I'm over 50) and this is the best one to come out in a long time. If you are at all unhappy with any aspect of your life or ready to make change for whatever reason, this book is a "must read". =)

Her book is magic! Best of all, she is an author who genuinely cares about her readers! An amazingly kind and knowledgable person. Do yourself (and Suzanne)a favor and buy this book. You will absolutlely love it. I am a real fan of hers: you will be also if you read her books.

As I read the case studies in this book, I recognized many of my peers who are in need of the resources that the author provides for developing a renewed personal passion for life. Anyone trying to energize the search for personal direction for the next life stage will appreciate the specific suggestions and examples. I have read this book twice already. Another book that I recommend is" The Five People You Meet in Heaven", and "He Never Called Again."

A dear friend of mine gave me this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dr. Zoglio does an excellent job of describing the keys to happiness. Long ago, I independently arrived at many of the same conclusions about happiness, but I have never been able to articulate them as clearly and simply as Dr. Zoglio does in her book. While reading it, I found myself underlining text and writing notes on almost every page. I have subsequently bought my friend her own copy and also bought copies for my two grown-up children with the hope that the book will "tickle" them, too.

I was a little disappointed in this book. I had expected something original and different. It seemed to be a summary of books I had already read. The ideas were good and there was nothing wrong with the book but it was nothing new. I really didn't find one idea that wasn't similar to something I had heard or read before.

The book is very comprehensive. Unfortunately, even though it claims to be a field guide, it is too heavy to carry around. It is not a book to take with you on a bird walk.

I simply had to acquire this one when I saw it in a bookshop in Nairobi. I had another field guide, but wasn't happy with it. Great illustrations. It is now my faviourite souvenir from Kenya. Its only fault is its weight, but I carry it in a shoulder bag. The book also has usefulness outside the target zone: Several birds seen in Cameron are illustrated in it. I always like to compare illustrations and was glad to have it with me when in Yaounde. A book to make others jealous by. You can set it on the coffe table as a conversation piece or to get the children interested without coaxing them.

An outstanding and essential book to help you identify the many magnificent birds inhabiting the savannah when on safari in Kenya. In fact, this is the book our certified guide and driver, a Masai, used daily and kept next to him at all times! LLC

I used it many times in Tanzania and it is also fantastic book for Israel and the Middle East!

Ofir

This book is one of the best field guides I have ever had on African birds. It is extremely detailed and has pictures of so many birds, it is just AMAZING.

I have used this book and it has proven to be a highly resourceful Visual Basic and SQL Server book, that I am anxiously waiting for the release of Beginning VB.NET Databases by the same author!!!.

It's very good Books with good Price and (Wrox Press)

OK for beginners who want to know some of the innards of SQL server, but there are two major faults. One is that newbies to networkable machines will find themselves crushed under the weight of networking and communications jargon that the author never explains, and Win98 machines can't handle half of the book. Second, the last third of the book for some 200 pages has nothing to do with VB: the samples are written entirely in XML, DHTML, and a mere snippet of VBScript. There are better VB tools for creating Web apps that can handle big datasets and ActiveX, whereas XML has enfuriatingly slow performance and an unattractive and inflexible interface that looks like something pounded out on a typewriter (remember those?). 5 stars for the first two-thirds, zilch for the remainder.

I had to learn SQL programming with Visual Basic 6 in about a month's time for a project. This book taught me everything I needed to know to deliver the application. Everytime I came across a stumbling block in my code or in SQL Server 2000 I found the answer in this book.

This book will make you feel that you not only know how to make Visual Basic talk to SQL Server, it will make you feel you know more than the basics of SQL Server itself. Previous to reading this book I had no idea what a stored procedure was, or how a query works in SQL Server (I had worked extensively with Microsoft Access, and these skills were not necessarily transferable to SQL Server, though many of the concepts are similar). Now I know my way around SQL Server 2000. This book fulfilled a dual purpose.

There are chapters on Database design, SQL Server installation, SQL Server security, Querying, Stored Procedures, the SQL language, IIS, and XML. Most of the book is taken up with what developers do everyday: the storage and manipulation of data. Over 300 pages of the book is dedicated to data in general, and how to get the most out of it using VB and SQL Server.

If you need to create a VB6 (there is no discussion of VB.NET since the book predates it) database application using SQL Server, this is the book to start with. Its bulk pays off.

This is an excellent introduction to SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic 6.0 developers. I used this book and Robert Vieira's Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming (Also by Wrox) to study for the Designing and Implementing Databases using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 exam (70-229). The 2 chapters on XML were especially good. Thearon does his best work when he works solo and this book is one of his best. I have his SQL Server 7 book and both books are well-written. I really like the "Hardware Tracking" tutorial that he follows for most of the book. This tutorial will also help with your Visual Basic skills. I have learned several new VB tricks just by following along. I hope that Thearon writes a Beginning SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic.Net Developers.

I'm so excited to find a new advernture novelist. Where has this guy been?
Freedom's Menace is excellent! The story is well round and there is never a dull moment. The scene inside the volcano was so real, I stared to sweat.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone that like a good action novel.

W. Laurence Willis is destine to become a real force real in the book business.

This book is killer. Strongly recommended for all who enjoy action novels. The author really knows how to spin an interesting web. Give this a read, You will not be disappointed.

This is an excellent summer read, especially if you're going to Hawaii. Freedom's Menace is set on the Big Island and centers around the Kilauea volcano. Not only is this story action packed, I also learned a lot. I like a good mix of reality with my fiction. This is a well constructed, seamless novel.

Highly recommended!

Freedom's Menace is a great adventure novel by an up and coming new author. The book is easy to read, suspenseful, action packed, and has a great plot. I stongly advise buying this book, and I can't wait to read his next one!

Excellent effort for a first time novelist. I would have given it 5 stars, but the start was a bit slow. Not to worry, the author makes up for it in spades with a thrilling ride through a volcano. Yes, inside a volcano. I'm heading for Hawaii to view this first hand. I vote this work "a must read" and recommend it to all my friends.

I found this book very hard-going in the beginning and nearly stopped reading it because Jan Willis comes across as a person who is in love with her own tragedy. I could hardly stand it how she 'milked' even minor incidences of her life for maximum drama and self-pity: she couldn't go to kindergarden - terrible; she was rebuked for not spelling correctly - a major emotional trauma; a documentary was made about her being very intelligent - an exploitation and so forth, page after page after page. Obviously, the racism she encountered is tragic but there is hardly any real appreciation for the many positive things in her life: that she had loving parents, a loving close-knit extended family, loving and motivated teachers who helped to bring out her talents.

Luckily, when Willis meets her Buddhist teacher he makes her aware of her curious mixture of prideful self-pity. Unfortunately, when it came to writing her biography she seemed to have forgotten about these Buddhist teachings. I can understand that she was full of self-pity when she was younger - did not most of us feel the same as teenagers? But I would have wished that she had recounted those days more from a Buddhist (namely self-responsible) perspective. Still, I enjoyed reading about her experiences with Lama Yeshe which was the reason I wanted to read this book in the first place.

I've always had the impression that Western/American Buddhism was overwhelmingly white, upper-middle-class and academic - an impression and perhaps a prejudice (or a hang-up); in spite of having read and been influenced by the philosophy and practice through much of my adult life, I've always held any personal endorsement or affiliation at arm's length because of this - I'm not white, upper-middle-class, or an academic, and the (perceived) insularity of that particular world doesn't often seem to be very inviting.

This is why this was such a valuable read for me - Willis belongs to a very, very small demographic - African-American Buddhists, and in DREAMING ME she traces a path from a Baptist upbringing in the segregated (and oft-violent) South to her present life as an academic and Buddhist scholar. Willis' recountings of her childhood were - to me - the most successful part of the book, with the grimness of Jim Crow-era Alabama rendered in cinematic detail. Willis also - with great success - draws parallels between the faith she grew up with and the philosophies she grew to accept as an adult. Beautifully written, she makes it almost seem effortless.

Not a very well-known book, unfortunately - and I fear this may slide into obscurity. I would encourage checking it out.

-David Alston

There is something intriguing about a story which chronicles a former Baptist's alteration towards adhering to the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Jan Willis is an African-American Tibetan scholar and translator, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University and teacher of Buddhism for more than 25 years. She starts the book recording her life prior to finding the Buddha's teachings, a life spent as a devout Southern Baptist in a segregation ridden south. The KKK was active in her area of Alabama, and at a very early age they had burned a cross in her parent's front lawn. Later she would go on to march in Martin Luther King's civil rights movement, adhering to the values she so strongly believed in. In 1965, with 7 other African-Americans, she enrolled in Cornell University where during her junior year she sailed off on a trip to India which greatly impacted her life. For a brief period she returned to the states to continue her studies at Cornell, but eventually she felt drawn back unto the East again. She left this time for Nepal and underwent intense study with the Tibetan master Lama Yeshe. She studied with him for more than 15 years, where she faced a problem most predominant in all our practices: sense of self, ego.

This book is a fascinating look at a very small minority in the world of Buddhism, the role African-Americans have played in it's growth and the teaching of the Dharma. In the west, in my lineage of Zen, African-American's are probably the least represented group of all. While we have male and female teachers, and practitioners of several racial and cultural backgrounds, for some reason or another there is a very small pocket of African-Americans present. This is not due to any sort of discrimination but rather, to be frank, oftentimes the African-American individual can at times have a problem with breaking down ego. Something which has it's roots in the horrendous treatment this group underwent at the hands of a predominantly white America. This work is a fascinating look at practicing the Buddha Dharma in modern times with a voice of honesty, clarity, and incisive wisdom on each and every page. Enjoy this treasure.

This book was read in one marathon session that flew by all too quickly. It spoke to the very core of my being. Having this story told in such a personal way deftly teaches the reader at every level. It's well written and one could easily be fooled that they are simply being entertained with a good read. There were many moments where I felt stunned with deep recognition of a life experience that mirrors a good portion of my own. I connected with this book deeply at the heart level. Most touching were the moments with her teacher, Lama Yeshe. His extraordinary heart helped her heal deep societal and personal pains which have traveled across generations influencing and shaping our culture in difficult ways. Thank goodness Dr. Willis chose to develop the good heart, rather than fight the good fight. One does not need to be in a culturally specific group or religion to recognize and feel Dr. Willis' experience. She reached into the depths of spirit and wrote in a way that touches universally. This lady has a heart that totally outsizes her brilliant, immeasurable intellect and her story will benefit countless numbers. I'm one unabashedly grateful reader.

Books like "Dreaming Me" are gifts or treasures that we rarely have the good fortune to discover. Ms Willis' journey is at times painful yet ultimately joyful. She shares this pain and joy in a compelling writing style that is filled with anecdotes and drama. No matter what your life experiences may be you are quickly drawn into the universal themes that every human being shares. As a white male living in the Northeast during the sixties I was on the other side of the world from a person like Ms Willis. Yet she made her experiences part of me. And like two parts of a greater experience I felt whole after reading this book. I highly recommend it. Thank you Ms Willis for putting your experiences into such a beautifully written book.