Park University Books

Gary Randolf has done a remarkable job of splicing natural history, Americans and psychical beauty into one great book. Traveling through time and seasons, the reader feels the words and witnesses the beauty of the Adirondack mountains. It's not just full of incredible landscape shots (both subtle and grand) but is matched with a moving narrative that warns us this island paradise will always be in danger.

Time for the world to take heed, especially in a period of history when our government seems to feel that acid rain is so irreversible here, that we can actually lower emissions standards? That the damage is already done? It's not too late, and Mr. Randorf reminds us with every page.

A wonderful little book of his past on the east side of Detroit during the 1940's. His muted love and affection for his mother and her family (originally from Germany but relocated in southern Ontario) brings back many poignant memories. Touches a nerve that is hard to translate into words but Mr. Dumas has done a wonderful job exploring his inner soul and the one's around him. Just a great "little" book of thoughts and poetry, emotion and strength of character, love and remorse-all the things that we all have felt in our lifetime.

Alone Among Friends is the first full-scale biography of W. Robert Parks, the eleventh and longest-serving president of Iowa State University. The life of Parks and the evolution of his university are intimately intertwined compelling this biography to serve as a history of the nation's first land-grand university as well. Alone Among Friends shows how a people's college, under Parks' stewardship, went on to become one of the nation's great institutions of higher learning a the peer of even the more prestigious European university systems. Alone Among Friends is a detailed, candid, occasionally humorous, exceptionally well presented and highly recommended biography of the man who, more than any other, is inextricably linked to Iowa State University.

The companion volume to This Blue Hollow, America's Switzerland: Estes Park And Rocky Mountain National Park, The Growth Years provides essential background for any who would understand the history of the Rocky Mountain National Park and its neighboring town Estes Park. Primary sources and achieved records contribute to provide the first comprehensive history of the region. From the individuals behind the park's development to how the park and town coped with two world wars and the increase of tourism, America's Switzerland offers a wealth of lively insights.

I had the pleasure of learning in the editor's-- Dr. John Parks'-- classroom, specifically the course that goes along with this collection. I sold most of my books back after each semester, and upon looking back on my undergraduate career, this is the only book that I wish I would have kept. It is a fantastic collection, especially for those who want a guide on whom to read next!

Dr. Kenneth Dodd, zoologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has authored an amphibian field guide that is so beautifully prepared and interesting to read that its photos and artwork alone make it nearly a "coffee table" volume! But, no doubt about it, this book was clearly written for biologists to enable them to set up and maintain an inventory and monitoring program for Appalachian Mountain amphibians (frogs/salamanders). The need for these monitoring programs stems from the desire to study the reasons behind an inexplicable decline of the world's amphibian population. To help you decide about obtaining a paper copy of this magnificent report, you can get a look at the document by "hopping onto" the internet at http://fisc.er.usgs.gov/c1258_Dodd/index.html.

Well-researched and gorgeously illustrated, this book manages to convey its author's enthusiasm for the Southwest's remarkable ruins without sacrificing scientific detail and even skepticism. He takes a well-known subject, Mesa Verde, and let's us see it with new eyes, while illuminating some of the least-well-known and most intriguing sites in the region. Few scholars and fewer tourists venture beyond Mesa Verde intothe obscure corners of the San Juan River valley, but William Ferguson shows how rewarding the trip could be. Above all, it is refreshing to read an enthusiast's book that does not indulge in unsupported speculation about the lives and beliefs of the prehistoric people of the Southwest.

Poverty Point in Louisiana is the grand-daddy of all Indian mounds in the US. Built in the shape of a amphitheater on a low ridge overlooking the swamps of the Mississippi River, Poverty Point is 3,500 years old. Author Gibson, an archaelogist, gives us a vivid, speculative picture of the people who built Poverty Point

You can skip the first two chapters which cover the history of theories about Poverty Point. Chapter Three begins the description of the place. Gibson goes through chapters about who lived at Poverty Point, their economy, politics, religion, equipment, and how they built the massive earthworks -- which consist of six concentric half-moon rings spread over a square kilometer of ground -- an enormous undertaking. It wasn't the first mound built in the United States -- but it was far larger than any previous structures.

The Poverty Point people, in Gibson's view, were pre-agricultural hunters and gatherers which makes their achievement even more remarkable. They lacked stones, so rocks for spearheads and other tools were imported from hundreds of miles away. What did they exchange for the rocks? Gibson doesn't know. That's an unanswered question. What did they eat? Gibson says mainly fish from the lakes and bayous nearly surrounding the place. Was Poverty Point only a ceremonial site? If not how many people lived there? Gibson calls it a residential site but doesn't believe it was large enough to be called a city.

This book blends archaelogical findings with ethnology, common sense and, frankly, guesswork -- but guesses by an expert on the subject. As the oldest major Indian ruin in the United States, Poverty Point has a mystical significance similar in my mind to Stonehenge.

Smallchief

I wish that I had the idea first! This cleverly written book takes a sideswipe at it's stuffy competitors by presenting the reader with a humourous and informative text. It appears as a breath of fresh air:not pretentiously proclaiming anaesthesia as some elevated speciality,but as a speciality that is firmly rooted in reality.Its use of tongue-in-cheek illustrations involving pretty bikini-clad maidens and vampires (as well as other eye-catching illustrations),not only challenge the grey world of political correctness,but act as a strange"aid-memoire".If other authors in the medical world could replicate this sense of fun in their own publications,then we would all remember their book contents far more effectively.My only disappointment is that it is out of print and I want a copy of my own.It would be great if a new up to date edition could be written using colour photos so if anyone knows the authors,please let them know that we will buy it in England! Jon Sansome Nurse-Practitioner/Teacher Recovery/Anaesthetics- University of Nottingham England

I received this book as a Christmas present and read it the following week. Since then, I have either recommended it to friends or purchased copies as gifts to friends.

If you are interested in Appalachian history, American history during the depression years, or interested in the current debate in our country about eminent domain, there is something in it for you. These letters and the research that they inspired give a unique perspective of a particular time and place in American history. It helped me to understand better the complex fabric of our whole country.