University of Portland Books

This was a very professionally written account of the lives of 15 very diverse people who also happen to be professional lacrosse players. The book really makes you view these athletes as interested in their sport, valued members of their community, and very different from the multi-million dollar primma donnas who play other professional sports. I definitely recommend this book.

After the Duke Lacrosse scandal, it was refreshing to see an upbeat well-written book about lacrosse. These players truly honor their sport, and make the casual observer want to learn more. The stories were interesting, and it was a good overview of the NLL, and the players who make the league work. I really enjoyed it, and hope to see more books like it.

This book was interesting, insightful, and sometimes even funny when explaining the lives of 15 "ordinary" people who have jobs, wives, kids, and play professional lacrosse on the weekends. It makes you realize how different pro lacrosse is from other pro sports. (And I mean that in a good way.) The writing was clear and engaging, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

It was great to finally read a good book on professional lacrosse. The writing was interesting and insightful, and provided a good mix of lacrosse history combined with people who play the game. I would definitely recommend this book for the lacrosse fanatic, or even the casual observer. I enjoyed it!

This book is filled with stories of professional lacrosse players. The players are atypical from other professional sports players, who are often filled with self-admiration and greed. Yet, they are not exactly everyday people either. The players do have full time jobs and families, but many of them are in noble fields such as teaching, law enforcement, the armed forces, fire fighting... Of course, it takes a noble character to be devoted to such an underpaid and under-appreciated sport. The players sacrifice their bodies, time, and some family commitments for the love of their sport. The writing is clever, and the author gives good insight about the players' individuality, achievements, reminiscences, and dedication.

Proven Strategies Professional Use to Make Their Proposals Work is the rare book that delivers what it promises. It looks under the hood and tweaks the writing process in an insightful and cogent way. From developing a strategic approach, to researching to establish need, to using logic models to develop your grant application, to thinking through your evaluation plan, and using your budget to tell your story -- all the grant development building blocks are here in useful detail. Michael Wells has gifted the reader with street smarts and soul. My two thumbs are way up!

It is rare to find a book directed towards the experienced professional. The logic model section is especially helpful for planning more complicated applications including those to federal agencies. I found the information thorough, well presented, and usable, which is refreshing in a book about writing grant applications. I also found the case study exceptional. Seeing a winning proposal is always helpful but seeing the thought process behind the writing is a great way to get the point across. No matter how long you have been writing grant proposals, you can always learn more. This book gives excellent insight into today's funding world.

Michael Well's book is an excellent resource for grant professionals who have moved beyond the basics and are interested in expanding their knowledge and professional skills.

Michael has been actively involved as a leader in the developing grants profession, and his many years of professionalism and experience are evident in this work. He covers a wide range of topics that are faced when developing grant proposals, as well as managing and tracking grants. Further, he offers excellent real-life examples and samples.

I especially found the section on developing logic models to be useful. This is an area of grant proposals that many grantwriters handle poorly, and Michael has provided clear guidance and excellent examples that will help developing grant professionals take their work to the next level.

I would definitely recommend it to grant professionals interested in moving behind "Grantsmanship 101."

Although the title says that this book is to cover "Beyond the Basics," it will also serve as a good primer checklist to tell you what you need to get started. It begins with a general discussion on the rising number of nonprofits that are seeking grants from the rising number of granting organizations.

From there it goes into what it takes to make your grant fit what the grantor is looking for. It lightly covers each point of grant seeking including mundane things like accounting/budgets and the impact of various laws and IRS rulings like Sarbanes-Oxley. It also goes into what the reader is going to be looking for such as how the grant will be managed, why the foundation doesn't like to fund adminstration, operating costs and endowments, and other points.

Perhaps the most important part of the book is its discussion of where to go for more information on nearly every aspect of the grantwriting project. Many of these are web related at no cost, others such as the authors favorite books on grant writing have fairly nominal costs.

This review is based on a reading of only a small part of the book. However that sample provided me with a great deal of enthusiasm for reading the rest.
The subject of 'courage' is one of endless fascination. The definition of Courage as Miller makes clear at the outset of this work is by no means sure and easy. He opens the book by telling a story from the Civil War which he calls the 'Story of the Good Coward" This was a soldier who did all his duties well, volunteered often to help others. And whenever there was an engagement for battle , readied himself, prepared to go into the battle but somehow took fright and could not. What is surprising is that his fellow soldiers did not curse and banish him, but rather tried to support and encourage him. They seemed to understand that he simply did not have what it takes to face the battle.
Miller discusses 'courage' in relation to the overcoming of fear. He raises the question of whether 'courage' is fearlessness, or knowing how to live with and overcome one's fear. He discusses Courage in relation to a wide variety of psychological and moral questions. He uses too a wide variety of sources from battle memoirs to philosophical discussions of the subjects.
He points out that Courage too is in today's world often indicted. And this when his historical discussion notes how the Greeks considered Courage one of the major virtues. Miller considers historical efforts of Plato, Aristotle ,Aquinas ( patience and sufferance, as Christian courage) to define this quality.
This review is in part written because of the attention called to the book by the act of courage of Virginia Tech University Professor,Holocaust survivor, Liviu Librescu. When a deranged gunman came to shoot up the class he ran to the door, he held it closed while being shot, yelled to his students to escape from the windows. Certainly all would agree that the risking and giving of one's life in this way to save others is an act of courage.
The subject of Courage is a vast one. From what I have read Miller's treatment of the subject is an intelligent and informative one .

Once upon a time, there was such a thing as courage. It was at the center of all our stories. Now there are no more stories worth telling and all human beings are weak. At least we still have the stories and this book has some great ones, and true. For example, there's the one about the American GI on the Italian front who "charged" an enemy position on one knee and the stump of his other leg, shot off at the knee.

This is a scholarly work that gives real insight into the nature of courage. It's very well-written. The book draws on soldier's stories from ancient Greece to Vietnam and shows how the concerns about measuring up "when the chips are down" have not changed much despite the passage of thousands of years.

I had the privilege of studying the dynamics of the blood feud culture under Professor Miller. After the class I began reading some of his literature. Miller's historiography and use of primary sources is gripping, and his frank admiration and identification with honor cultures of the past is refreshing in this time of stifling political correctness.
Professor Miller has an extremely rare gift: He sees both himself and others as they really are. His self-examination is as important to his work as his historical analysis and philosophical musings. If you are honest with yourself you will recognize many aspects of your own psyche from Miller's writings.
"The Mystery of Courage" can tell you more about yourself than a thousand psychotherapists. This is a must read- you will never think of honor, bravery, fear, life or death the same way again.

Should you actually wish to drive down either Westmoreland or Portland Places, expect an unnessecarily rude treatment from what must be the local rent-a-cop. It matters not the price of your car or attire- you might get (as I did) threatened to be "thrown in jail for trespassing", and lectured as if you were an idiot. Other students of architecture beware. It happened to me, and judging by the character of the "gentleman" in question, I'm just glad I'm not black. I escaped without kissing the hood of my car.

I love this book. It has tons of beautiful exterior photos but I would like to see more historical photos and more interior shots. I would also love to see more recounts by the people who lived there. There are a few stories and I read them over and over. I'd really like to give this book a four and a half but that's not an option.

Congratulations to all that contributed to this outstanding book. The history of the Places was carefully and completely researched and presented with beautiful photographs.

An excellent and must have reference book, clement greenberg's selection of artists are important to all of the kinds of art that came about in the 20th century

This is a very beautiful book, showing many wonderful works of art, but only a relatively small number of them have achieved the recognition they deserve. Greenberg was always controversial during his lifetime. He lived to see the widespread acceptance in the 1950s of his endorsements during the '40s of Pollock and the rest of abstract expressionism, but his admiration for the color-field painters of the '60s was always a minority taste, with many more artlovers during that period favoring pop art and its ramifications--op, kinetic art, minimal, etc. (I say this upon the basis of having covered the art scene for Time magazine in the '60s, having continued to write about art since, and having come to the conclusion since receiving my doctorate in art history that pop was essentially a reaction back against abstract expressionism, while color-field painting and the modernist abstraction which carries on its tradition in the present are the true continuance of the avant-garde.) Since the '60s, the greater popularity of the descendants of pop & its ramifications has made it increasingly difficult for the art that Greenberg admired to receive the recognition it deserves, especially the art made by the younger artists, but majority taste has been wrong many times in the past, and this is particularly true in the present, when critical judgments in general are so often considered less important than how well a work of art is doing in the marketplace. I like to think this situation will improve in the future, but in the meantime, the reader will be able to see in this book what really good & truly avant-garde art looks like.

I have not yet seen this particular book, yet I give this man's work the deserved stars above from what I have seen about and around. He brought to me the same feelings that Abdul Mati Klarwein's work did when I first saw it. This man and Walton Ford are sending a message in different ways yet show us our fallible nature and perhaps prophecy some things to come. A good night would involve reading D. Quinn's Ishmael and perusing Rockman's images...

My Aunt was born and raised in Illasco Missouri where the book takes place. Her Father worked for the cement company in the book. I gave it to her for mothers day it brought tears to her eyes as well as many happy memories.

Salmon Chase is a most complex man and the age in which he lived his adult life is fascinating to anyone interested in U. S. History. Many historians have given us biographies of S. P. Chase, the editor Dr. Niven's being one of the best, but however good they are cursed with the author's inability to overcome his humanity and predjudices. It is forthis reason the collected works of an historic figure are so important. Chase led an active life as governor of Ohio, defender at the bar of abolitionists, anti-slavery senator with his congressional colleague Joshua Giddings, as Lincoln's Secy. of the Treasury, as intriguer in the war in Texas, and finally as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court upon the death of Taney (a break for which Lincoln had waited some time). To put preasure on Lincoln Chase offered his resignation as Secy. of the Treasury, Lincoln refused but kept the resignation letter and used it when the position of Supreme Court Chief Justice bacame available thus getting Chase out of the way and not offending radical republicans.

For a better understanding of the man and his tumultuous times I highluy recommend all the volumes of the Salmon P. Chase Papers.

Stafford was a great poet; he also writes about writing like a great teacher. I heartily endorse this book to anyone who has read "Writing the Austrialian Crawl." If you haven't read that book, read it first, and then read this one. This book is a posthumous collection of magazine articles, interviews, and other scattered writings. While it is delight to me, and anyone else who loved Stafford, it is not as effective at demonstrating Stafford's approach to writing. That said, Stafford's generosity and humanity shine in this collection. It is worth reading, even if you are not a writer.

Michael K. Wells has performed a hat trick for novice and professional grant writers alike. Books 1 and 2 covered all you needed to know so that with diligence you could advance your practice -- to a point.

Successful Program Evaluation propels the reader/writer through the arduous, yet necessary, sub-specialty in the grant writer's skill set of evaluation theory and practice.

For those, like myself, who put off statistical analysis to the last possible moment of my graduate program, the book comes as a revelation. Succinct clarity!

It will come as no surprise that Michael has written grants that have brought clients more than $50 million in program funds. This book is priceless!

Kent Layden, Principal
Second Wind Consulting, LLC