Columbia Books

This is a remarkable work by a young man who was held captive for several years by a tribe of Native Americans on the coast of Vancouver Island during a time when European vessels visited these shores only once every few years. As a result, the account provides a unique insight into the lifestyle of these people prior to European intervention.

I read the work while visiting the area and found it irresistable. The natives have many surprising habits, including a preference for rotting rather than fresh whale blubber (this creates many difficulties for our protagonist) and a penchant for midnight raids on slumbering neighbors. Jewitt is a good writer and his dated prose has a tendancy to amuse the reader. He does a good job both of mentioning the details of every day existence and of capturing the emotional bonds he develops with other members of the tribe. The end of Jewitt's adventure leaves the reader deeply saddened, sharing the conflicting emotions that he himself was torn by.

As it is no longer out of print, I intend to give copies to a variety of friends with interests in anthropology, Native Americans, and adventure in general.

An excellent first hand narrative with lively and descriptive writing by one of the first pioneers to help settle the untamed Northwest. Alexander Ross joined Astor's Pacific Fur Company expedition in 1810 and this is his story of the day to day struggles which he and the other men had to overcome. He left New York on the soon to be ill-fated, doomed ship the Tonquin, with a pompous and overbearing Captain Thorn. They sailed around the tip of South America, then to Hawaii and finally to the mouth of the Columbia River, all the while prevailing over many hardships during this voyage. Upon landing and without delay, the men began to construct the trading post Astoria. Ross' detailed descriptions of their adventures amidst the forces of Mother Nature, Indian relations, the Northwest Fur Company, geography, etc. makes this book a real page turner. They all had many obstacles to overcome, and as I said, his writing skills are exemplary. He devotes the last few chapters to the culture and customs of one of the local Indian tribes. The man was a keen and acute observer of all his surroundings and this is an energetic effort on his part to put it in writing.

This is old, but good.

I lamented at almost every page that people have lost the skill to write with such language. It has the feel of objectivity and it's well footnoted with corrections. Ross Cox is a fascinating person with a fascinating story.

This book is filled with adventures complete with wild animals and violent natives. If you have illusions about the wilderness that preceded our arrival you should read this book. For a misty eyed treehugger like myself it was an eye opener.

In light of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the families that have suffered from those attacks, this book provides perspective on the impact a father's life can have on future generations. The backbone of any nation is the families that inhabit it. The author does well in explaining the significance of being united generationally in this trying and difficult time. As we admire the sacrifice of the men and women who gave their lives for the freedom of this nation, this book also calls us to live our lives for the sake of our children and our children's children.

I think that it is a very profound dialogue on the true meaning of the faith in a world confused about politics, religion and secolarization.

Aging In The New Millennium: A Global View by Terry Tierrito (Associate Professor, College of Social Work, University of South Carolina), is a complex and scholarly analysis of shifting global population dynamics - the people in the world are, on average, older than ever and the trend appears to be continuing. Thoughtful essays on the ramifications of increased life expectancy, biopsychosocial perspectives, cultural attitudes and more fill the pages of this unique and enlightening study. Aging In The New Millennium is commended for Contemporary Social Issues reference collections and student reading lists.

"...A wonderful, multi-faceted documentation of a project that explores what it takes and what it means to create excellent arts integration..."
Steven Seidel, Director of Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education

"...To be used by anyone interested in making a difference in urban education."
Dr. Sonia Bassheva Manjon, Director, Center for Art and Public Life, California College of the Arts

"There are precious few portraits of what creative education actually looks like. AIMprint: New Relationships in the Arts and Learning fills this gap with rich narratives of cutting-edge educational practice." "...A quantum leap in the field."
Arnold Aprill, Founding Director, Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education

I work on Algeria issues as a big part of my job so I picked up this book at the library. I was expecting it to be a tedious academic study without much in there for someone who has to deal with the real world. Surprisingly, it was readable and very interesting. I highly recommend this to anyone who either has to work in Algeria commercially (and could use some cultural/political insight) or who has a broader counter-insurgency or Middle East interest.

Few books are currently available on street organizations (commonly referred to by sociologists, anthropologists and criminologists as "gangs") that present both an insider perspective and outsider analysis, and place these social formations into the context of both the contemporary and historical variables that cause their formation, and direct their transformation into radical political organizations.

Without romanticizing the negative elements of the gang phenomena, this study offers a counter-perspective to the criminological canon, and challenges the theoretical assumptions proffered in all but a few standard texts on gang-behavior.

A must read for those interested in the underclass debates, Latino/a youth culture, and grass roots social movements.

This book is the story of Mike Tomkies, who built a small plywood shack on a Canadian wilderness shoreline and lived there for more than a year. He arrived with some camping skills and some general carpenter skills, but really no idea how to build a house to withstand the winter weather. An elderly neighbor, who happened to be a skilled carpenter, helped him build his small house. This friend also advised him on his water supply and how to deal with bear attacks. Otherwise Mike was pretty much on his own.

His mood goes from the early summer euphoria of finally getting there and working on his house, to the melancholy of fall and the animals and his friend leaving, to the depths of dispair and loneliness in winter. He writes manuscripts for publication and has them rejected. He receives a Dear John letter from a woman he had hoped would join him in his cabin. He wrecks his boat, which is his main way to go for supplies, and also rolls his old truck down a gully. Life looks pretty grim at one point, and I expected him to pack up and leave. Then he is adopted by a stray dog he names Booto. He and Booto bond, and live together happily. They spend the following summer hiking, camping and backpacking through the beautiful Canadian wilderness, encountering bears and other wildlife and scenery beautiful beyond description.

He also learns that several of his manuscripts were accepted for publication, and the money they bring eases his worries about buying food.

At the end of this book I was expecting to read that it was written recently. Instead, I find out that then-40-year-old Tomkies wrote this book in the 1960s. He was a Scot who went on to live in the Scottish wilderness for 20 more years, and wrote many articles on the wildlife found there. It's hard to believe he is now over 70 years old. His book has a timeless feel to it, and deals with the emotions, fears and growth any of us would experience if we were able to take off alone to live in a small hut in the woods.