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ACROSS AMERICA ON THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD Cycling into a New Life By Virginia Mudd Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Imagine reading a “Cycling Companion Wanted” ad in a bicycling newsletter for a cross-America bike trip, answering it, and setting off two months later with a woman you just met for a 3,500-mile, 60-day journey from California to Washington, DC. Taken from Virginia’s journal this tells the story of two twenty-nine year old adventurers who fulfill a common dream. She recalls exhilarating roads and landscapes, tedious miles, peaceful times, scary experiences, personal struggles, wonderful encounters with people, and the unfolding of a journey of a lifetime.
Virginia Mudd, a California native, has followed her heart into many diverse arenas—politics, business, education, the arts—as well as numerous bicycling adventures. Beneath it all has flowed the deeper call to self-discovery and personal knowledge of the divine. Virginia is also the author of Bicycling Home, My Journey to Find God from Sunstone Press. She lives in New Mexico with her husband and family of beloved animals. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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AMERICAN BREAD Chronic Lyme Disease and the Tao of the Open Road By Nick Vittas SUMMARY: A memoir that chronicles the author’s battles with Lyme disease over 14 years, as well as the cross-country adventures these battles inspired during times when he was healthy enough to travel. Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 This book chronicles the author’s battles with Lyme disease over 14 years, as well as the cross-country adventures these battles inspired during times when he was healthy enough to travel. Taoist and Zen philosophies helped him cope with the frequent ups and downs associated with the disease, and these same philosophies also prepared him to make the most of his time on the road.
Nick’s saga began in 1998 when chronic pain began to spread throughout his body. Three years later he was correctly diagnosed with Lyme disease, but the journey had just begun. Over the course of the next decade he experienced both remarkable recoveries and heartbreaking setbacks, all of which taught him many influential lessons. American Bread offers valuable insights on how to evolve from hardship to anyone coping with any chronic illness.
Dispersed between each chapter about Lyme disease is a chapter from the cross-country trips he took when he was well enough to travel the highways of North America. During these trips he had the good fortune of connecting with several captivating characters, one of the most engaging being an eccentric Mexican nicknamed Lobo. Nick experienced many obstacles and unexpected events during his travels, but met them all with an equanimity that was cultivated from years of searching for meaning while coping with chronic illness.
Nick Vittas was born in London to Greek immigrant parents. He and his family moved to the Washington, DC metropolitan area when he was eight years old. He is a committed early childhood educator who has been working in Preschools for seven years. He graduated from the Texas State University Education program in 2011 and now resides in Austin, Texas. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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ANGEL ON DANIEL'S SHOULDER Bilingual Story in Spanish and English By Joseph J. Ruiz Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Little Daniel was a very special child. Some say he was “blessed” since he was born during an eclipse and on the same day as his father. Daniel’s special gift guides his family throughout his life. Why? Because the Angel on his shoulder remained with him from birth until Daniel was a grown man. This bilingual (Spanish and English) story will appeal to all ages. JOSEPH J. RUIZ, a native of northern New Mexico is an avid researcher into the history of New Mexico, “The Land of Enchantment,” or “La Tierra Encantada” as it is referred to in Spanish. Jose always incorporates some of his own life experiences into each book he has written and is pleased that they are in both Spanish and English. His other Sunstone Press books are: LITTLE JUAN LEARNS A LESSON, THE LITTLE GHOST WHO WOULDN’T GO AWAY, and MANUEL AND THE MAGIC RING. All are bilingual. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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BICYCLING HOME My Journey to Find God By Virginia Mudd Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Desperate to be free of a terrifying food addiction and driven by a terrible longing to find God, whomever and whatever that meant, Virginia began a ten-year journey that covered more than 10,000 miles by bicycle and countless inner miles of self-discovery and transformation. Her search takes her from a well-ordered, happy married life into divorce, chaos, confusion and despair—and ultimately to the unexpected and profound answer to her quest. This story follows a modern-day seeker as she bicycles her way—alone on back roads and in long distance races—all the way home, where she finds herself as she finds the God she is seeking.
Virginia Mudd, a California native, has followed her heart into many diverse arenas—politics, business, education, the arts—as well as numerous bicycling adventures. Beneath it all has flowed the deeper call to self-discovery and personal knowledge of the divine. Virginia is also the author of Across America on the Yellow Brick Road. She lives in New Mexico with her husband and family of beloved animals. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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BORN IN TIME A Re-telling of the Traditional Christmas Nativity Story By Mildred Cram Mildred Cram, the famous American author of the long-time best selling Forever and Kingdom of Innocents applies her special magic to a re-telling of the traditional Christmas Nativity story in modern terms. In addition to her many novels and short stories, Mildred Cram was known for her work in motion picture scripts as well as radio and television scripts. Her short story “Stranger Things” was included in the O. Henry Award story collection. She is also the author of another book from Sunstone Press, Sir, a political thriller.
Mildred Cram was born in Washington, DC, and educated at Barnard and abroad. “Love Affair,” “Wings Over Honolulu,” and “Stars Over Broadway” are some of the notable motion pictures she scripted. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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BUDDHIST WISDOM FOR BEGINNERS A Guide from A to Z By Victor M. Parachin, M. Div. A basic introduction to the philosophies and practices of Buddhism as well as ways to incorporate them into daily life. The West is experiencing a widespread phenomenon of spiritual boundary crossing. A majority of Christian denominations are undergoing a sharp decline in membership and participation. At the same time, interest in Buddhism is expanding, capturing the attention of women and men who seek a spiritual path without the restrictive nature of dogmas and doctrines. Increasingly they are turning to Buddhist wisdom, which offers them inspiration and information for increasing happiness and making suffering less frequent. From the very beginning and continuing into the present era, Buddhism has consistently sought to help people cultivate kindness and compassion toward all beings while developing inner peace and outer joy. Some examples of this come directly from the Buddha who said, “You are what you think. All that you are arises from your thoughts. With your thoughts you make your world. Perform those actions you will never regret: actions that will ripen into future joy and delight. A tamed mind brings happiness.” This book is a primer for readers who seek to experience Buddhist wisdom, which can guide them toward greater awareness and awakening. Includes a Readers Guide.
Victor M. Parachin is a Buddhist meditation teacher, Vedic Educator, and Yoga instructor. He directs the Tulsa Yoga Meditation Center. A graduate from the University of Toronto (M. Div), he is the author of a dozen books about Eastern spiritual practices including Think Like The Buddha: 108 Days of Mindfulness (Hohm Press) and Eastern Wisdom For Western Minds (Orbis Publishers).
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CHARITY'S SISTER The Story of Sister Mary Joaquin Bitler, SC By Mari Graña In 1951, when Sister of Charity Mary Joaquin Bitler was called to Santa Fe, New Mexico to be the Supervisor of Nursing at Santa Fe's antiquated St. Vincent Hospital, she remarked that the 1910 Catholic hospital was surviving on "nerve and hope." Later, as Administrator (1960 – 1976), she was lauded locally and nationally for her achievements in health care and for bringing that care to the poor of New Mexico. Considered by many a brilliant businesswoman, she turned St. Vincent's into a state-of-the art facility in its time, managed by a community corporation. Sister Mary Joaquin's story tells of a very complex personality. A tough hospital administrator, she had many admirers as well as some enemies; a devout nun, she drew strength from her religion to open her heart to the poor and the sick, while she herself suffered a chronic and debilitating illness.
In 1977, after succeeding in her goal to build Santa Fe a new and greatly expanded community-owned hospital, Sister Joaquin retreated to a life of contemplation and prayer in a little hermitage in central Mexico. Appalled by the poverty and sickness around her—the distended stomachs of hungry children, the heart-breaking number of infant deaths from dysentery and other parasitic diseases—she opened a small clinic in her hermitage to treat the villagers, most of whom had never seen a doctor or had any access to health care. Her last years were spent living as a hermit in New Mexico's Christ in the Desert Benedictine Monastery until her death in 2003.
Charity's Sister is a book that will appeal to students of medicine, Southwest history and women's history, as well as being a testament to one woman's profound strength of will, to one who always sought divine guidance in dealing with adversities in her own life and in the many lives she touched.
Mari Graña has published books on New Mexico history and on western women in medicine. Her memoir, Begoso Cabin, won the Willa Cather Award from Women Writing the West for best memoir of 2000, and the biography of her physician grandmother, Pioneer Doctor, was a finalist for the same award in 2006. Charity's Sister is the third in a series on women in medicine. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sample Chapter
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CHRISTMAS IN OLD SANTA FE Southwestern Traditions For The Season By Pedro Ribera Ortega Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 The special customs and traditions of the Christmas season in Santa Fe, New Mexico are carefully and clearly explained in this book that has become a classic. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=03esVhNCjZ0C
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CHÁVEZ A Distinctive American Clan of New Mexico By Fray Angelico Chavez The examination of the origins and history of the Chávez Clan in New Mexico. Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 He has been called a renaissance man and New Mexico's foremost twentieth-century humanist by biographer Ellen McCracken. Any way you measure his career, Fray Angélico Chávez was an unexpected phenomenon in the wide and sunlit land of the American Southwest. In the decades following his ordination as a Franciscan priest in 1937, Chávez performed the difficult duties of an isolated backcountry pastor. His assignments included Hispanic villages and Indian pueblos. As an army chaplain in World War II, he accompanied troops in bloody landings on Pacific islands, claiming afterwards that because of his small stature, Japanese bullets always missed him.
In time, despite heavy clerical duties, Fray Angélico managed to become an author of note, as well as something of an artist and muralist. Upon all of his endeavors, one finds, understandably, the imprint of his religious perspective. During nearly seventy years of writing, he published almost two dozen books. Among them were novels, essays, poetry, biographies, and histories.
All true aficionados of the American Southwest's history and culture will profit by collecting and reading the significant body of work left to us by the remarkable Fray Angé1ico Chávez. Sunstone Press is now bringing back into print some of these rare titles. Sample Chapter
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COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS A History of The Sacred Heart Church, Nambé, New Mexico By Carolina M. Romero de Luján and Alfredo Celedón Luján Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Like a sentinel, The Sacred Heart Church—La iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús—sits at the crossroads atop a hill overlooking the bucolic green valle of Nambé, New Mexico. From the panoramic and hallowed church property, one has clear vistas of the magnificent Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In this most tranquil setting, members of the parish gather every Sunday morning for mass at 8:30. The masses, celebrated by many revered priests and gifted musicians and vocalists over the years, are holy and serene—calm for the soul.
This book, through research and interviews by Carolina Romero de Luján, is a compilation of the church history and is co-authored by her son, Alfredo Celedón. Its purpose is to document, thus preserve, the oral history of the church and cemetery in written form and is designed for the reading and viewing pleasure of the families of Nambé and their succeeding generations, as well as for readers who are interested in northern New Mexico history. This book also serves as a reminder that Nambeseños, through their collective good spirit and work ethic, built the church over 100 years ago, rebuilt it after it burned down in 1946, and continue to maintain its architectural dignity through constant care to this day.
Carolina Romero de Luján is a life-long resident of Nambé and a meticulous record keeper. She is the daughter of Juanita Sena de Romero and Petronilo, the wife of Ismael Ernesto, and the mother of Alfredo, Ernie, and Jessica Ramona. She raised her family in the valley where she attended Nambé Elementary School and is a graduate of Pojoaque High School. She is retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Alfredo Celedón Luján is hijo of Carolina and Ernesto. He is the husband of Amy and the father of Amanda, Mabel, and Peter. He attended Nambé Elementary School and is a graduate of Pojoaque High School. He is a career educator in northern New Mexico, graduate of New Mexico State University and the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.
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CURANDERO A Spanish Legend By José Ortiz y Pino III "...territory here is similar to that described by Carlos Castaneda.... Ortiz y Pino, a prominent New Mexico politician with family roots deep in the state's history, has preserved a vanishING way of life with this simple tale." (PUBLISHERS WEEKLY) Complete with folklore on the art of mystic healing in the lost mountains of Northern New Mexico, this cuento, a legend, is first and foremost a love story. Antonio discovers affection early on for the various types of herbs found around his homeland. But he is also infatuated with Marianela. Will Antonio remain in the village of San Lucas, wed Marianela and raise a farm and family to support their future? Everything in this young man’s life directs him toward a calling he cannot afford to ignore. Antonio will become a curandero, Northern New Mexico’s version of a healer, a mysterious individual schooled in the magic of collecting and combining herbs with convalescent powers. But this blessed individual must also be well versed in the ecstasies of the Catholic Church as well as brujeria, black magic, in order to defeat the spiritual and physical enemies that can curse one’s health and well being. Antonio follows his destiny in this romantic tale. Jose Ortiz y Pino III is a graduate of New Mexico Military Institute and New Mexico State University. He has served as an officer in the U.S. Army as a Santa Fe County Commissioner and as a New Mexico State Senator. As Chairman of the New Mexico State Parks Commission, he was instrumental in building the Villanueva State Park in San Miguel County and the Zoological and Botanical State Park at Carlsbad, New Mexico. Mr. Ortiz y Pino presently owns and operates the Galisteo Historical Museum. He is known as a curandero himself and has practiced privately for many years. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=HdoxAiwjqREC
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DEDICATED LIVES Talks with Those Helping Others By Michael Scofield Order from Sunstone Press: (800) 243-5644 This book honors the legions of people in the United States who are dedicating their lives to helping others. The representative thirteen in-depth talks with fourteen people you’re about to eavesdrop on took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The author has gotten to know many people who dedicate their lives to service and you’ll get to know them as well: Tony McCarty of Kitchen Angels, Deborah Tang of St. Elizabeth Shelter, foster-parents Diane Kell and Russel Stolins, geriatric psychiatrist Larry Lazarus, infant mental health specialist Jane Clarke, and eight others. These credits to the human race often involve their families in their work, and borrow evening and weekend hours to get it done. After finishing each chapter, we hope you’ll exclaim, “Thank you for doing what you’re doing!”
Yale University graduate Michael Scofield received his MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2002. Sunstone Press has published two collections of his poetry, Whirling Backward into the World and Circus Americana. Acting Badly, the first novel in his Santa Fe trilogy, was followed by Making Crazy and Smut Busters. Sand and Other Flash Fiction followed, all from Sunstone Press.
“The Santa Feans you’ll get to know, and probably love, in Michael Scofield’s Dedicated Lives represent our city’s multicultural community of good neighbors reaching out to help others—because that’s very much what Santa Fe is all about.” —Javier Gonzales, Mayor of Santa Fe
“We are blessed to be in this beautiful city of Santa Fe, with its quality of life and values, where so many people give so much of themselves. How privileged we are to spend time with some of them in Michael Scofield’s moving and important new book, Dedicated Lives. It will inspire you.” —Ali MacGraw Website: http://DedicatedLives.com
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DIVINE RAINBOW Nature as Spiritual Teacher By M. Louise Heydt "Those who are strongly drawn to nature will find 'Divine Rainbow' an inspiring and uplifting book, perhaps one they may want to read outdoors." --SirReadaLot.org Winner: Best New Age Book, 2007 New Mexico Book Awards In this uplifting book, Louise Heydt weaves together a one-year cycle of nature in a small valley in the Tecolote Mountains east of Pecos, New Mexico, and an inspirational spiritual journey as taught by nature. The land and the spiritual path are interconnected; the outer landscape of nature is the guide for the journey through the inner landscape. The reader is shown how to find sacred places in the land, and how these places are a gateway or threshold for quiet observation and meditation. The realm of mystical experiences can be explored while in the embrace of nature. The book also shows that it is a contemporary delusion that humans and nature are separate, and how in the process of immersing oneself into experiences in nature one nourishes his or her inner nature. In the process of this nurturing, a spiritual awakening begins in which one also learns the power of prayer, thus bringing to light one’s intimate relationship with the Divine. LOUISE HEYDT has lived in northern New Mexico for 28 years. She is a self-taught naturalist with a love for all things wild since childhood. With a Masters Degree in Eastern Studies from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she brings her academic knowledge of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and the literary classics of China, India and Japan into her writing. She has studied under Joan Halifax Roshi for eight years at Upaya in Santa Fe. An artist and poet, she has traveled extensively in Asia. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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EYES FORWARD Messages for Today from Yesterday By Robert Whitfield Miles, D.D. Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Here are words of hope and inspiration. Decades have passed since their author, Robert Whitfield Miles, preached these words, but their value endures to benefit all who seek spiritual substance and focus in their lives. Firmly grounded in a vibrant Christian faith, the messages breathe optimism. The theme, which knits them together, is that God’s purposes for human beings shall triumph ultimately over evil. These purposes will grow steadily clearer to a person as God’s relationship with that person evolves. Graphically articulated, these messages offer compelling alternatives to fanaticism, exclusion, and bigotry. To read them is to glimpse the possibility of a future in concert with an accessible God who cares. The twenty-five sermons, or messages, are representative of Dr. Miles’ preaching in a ministry that spanned thirty-four years. Transcribed from recordings, their voice and cadence exemplify the great oral tradition of preaching in America and show remarkable literary vitality in addition to biblical interpretation and spiritual guidance.
Robert Whitfield Miles, Presbyterian clergyman, scholar, and writer, devoted his pastoral career to the furtherance of God’s kingdom on earth and to building unity and ecumenism in the Christian community. Were he alive today, he would approach the future with the same optimism that so characterized his life and work in the past. Throughout his ministry he served four congregations: First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, North Carolina, as assistant minister; First Presbyterian Church, Auburn, Alabama; Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lynchburg, Virginia; and First Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, as minister. In addition to his sermons, Dr. Miles published numerous articles and two books: That Frenchman, John Calvin and Christian Reconstruction. Sample Chapter
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THE FAST TRACK TO ENLIGHTENMENT Easy Instructions on Clearing Your Negative Conditioning, So You Can Live From Your Heart in the Now By Amara Mahdhuri “Amara’s healing work is a testimony to the evolving times where it is now possible to transform in a simple moment.” --Audrey Hope, Creator and Host of REAL WOMEN, an International TV Show Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 As a young woman, Amara was inspired by the book, Be Here Now, which was written in the 1970s by Baba Ram Dass. It contains the teachings of his guru, Sri Neem Karoli Baba Maharaj-ji. Through the years, Amara would repeatedly ask herself, “Exactly how does one do this thing called “Be Here Now”?, which is the ultimate state of enlightened Presence in the eternal moment. Not wanting to take another 10,000 lifetimes to experience this state of Grace, she embarked on a 30 year quest, gathering information to quicken the process of unfoldment for herself and others. Through her own revelations and her study with different Masters, she has developed a system that potentially clears great portions of one’s negative conditioning within 30 seconds. The great Indian sage, Paramahansa Yogananda was once heard saying, “Do you want the donkey way, or do you want the airplane way?” The teachings in this book are from the airplane way of Universal Truth. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=r28bSd_M0BgC
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GOD'S WARRIOR Father Albert Braun, OFM, 1889-1983 By Dorothy Cave Fellow priests called his ministry “just short of a miracle.” A superior castigated him as “an adventurer,” Apaches and migrant Mexicans claimed him “one of us.” To his fellow soldiers he was “a man’s man.” Of himself he chuckled, “I’ve been in mischief all my life.”
He was Father Albert Braun, OFM, in turn mule-headed, explosive, or penitent. Vigorously outspoken, he once charged a group of august bishops to “get off your butts and out among the people.” His sense of duty was profound, his humor crusty. He arrived in New Mexico as missionary to the Mescalero Apaches just after Pancho Villa’s raid, was a highly decorated chaplain in both World Wars, and after World War II he participated in the top-secret birth of the first hydrogen bomb on a south Pacific atoll.
Drawing on archival and military records, letters, memoirs, and interviews, Dorothy Cave chronicles the amazing life of this last of the frontier priests from his birth in the lusty, brawling California of 1889, to his death and burial in 1983 in the church he built for his beloved Mescaleros. This book is at once a biography and a kaleidoscopic history of the tumultuous times in which he lived. From it there emerges the inspiring saga of a man who changed thousands of lives with faith, humor, dedication, and a generous dash of pure hard-headed cussedness.
Dorothy Cave spent much of her childhood exploring with her geologist father the isolated villages and mountains of northern New Mexico, a practice she continues today. Although her formal education was at Agnes Scott College and the Universities of Colorado and Wyoming, she feels her true education has come from these remote but rapidly vanishing hamlets and pueblos and from the soil-rooted wisdom of those who live in them. Cave has traveled widely, danced with the Atlanta Ballet, acted, and taught. She is the author of two histories: Beyond Courage, which won the New Mexico Presswomen's Zia Award, and Four Trails to Valor, both from Sunstone Press. Her two novels, Mountains of the Blue Stone and Song on a Blue Guitar were also published by Sunstone Press. Cave served as historical consultant for two documentary films: Colors of Courage, produced by Scott Henry and E. Anthony Martinez for the University of New Mexico’s Center for Regional Studies; and for Aaron Wilson’s award-winning A New Mexico Story, based largely on her Beyond Courage. She appears in both films as narrator/commentator. Beyond Courage also inspired composer Steven Melillo’s musical opus of the same title, acclaimed on two continents. Sample Chapter
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GOING TO THE DOGS An Incredible True Story By M. Louise Heydt Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Think you know your animal friends? The author did too. Then she met Laura Stinchfield, who calls herself The Pet Psychic, and her world became enriched in ways she never knew were possible. You will meet Kundun, selfless, big-hearted pit bull-greyhound rescue, Genji, a spirited Paso Fino gelding, rambunctious Rasa and shy, abused Tara, Catahoula Leopard Hound sisters who tell their stories in their own words with the help of animal communicator, Laura, and their mom.
The journey begins with a move from the wilds of northern New Mexico to the Ojai Valley in California. Experience this family’s joy, pain, love, loss and the author’s odyssey of caring for them as all age and confront their limitations, traumas, hopes, dreams and absolute devotion to each other. You will cry. You will laugh. And you will never think about animals in the same way again. The sudden illness and untimely death of a member of this animal family leads to conversations on the Other Side and introduces the reader to an alternate reality so surprising that it may completely change whatever one believes Heaven is.
Louise Heydt lives in the Ojai Valley in California. With a Master’s Degree in Eastern Classics from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she brings her academic knowledge of Buddhism, Hinduism, and the literary classics of China, India, and Japan into her writing. An artist and poet, she has traveled extensively in Asia. She is also the author of Divine Rainbow from Sunstone Press. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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THE GUADALUPE HISTORIC FOUNDATION How a Secular, Non-profit Organization Saved Santa Fe’s Most Religious Site By Kay Lockridge A history of the Guadalupe Historic Foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico and how they restored and preserved the Santuario de Guadalupe built in the 18th century in Santa Fe. Order from Sunstone Press: (800) 243-5644 The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe envisioned by a peasant in 16th century Mexico has been told over and over throughout the ensuring centuries, as has that of the Santuario de Guadalupe built in 18th century Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Franciscan friars who accompanied the Spanish Colonial colonists on the Camino Real (Road of the Royals) from Mexico to Santa Fe, bringing with them their Roman Catholic faith and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. While the Santuario was not the first shrine to Our Lady in what became the United States, it is the oldest, still-used such structure in this nation. Yet, by the middle of the 20th century, the Santuario was in such disrepair that the parish considered demolishing it and paving over the site for a parking lot. Some said only a miracle could save it. This book goes behind the scenes and tells—for the first time—how a small, dedicated group of volunteers formed a secular, non-profit foundation in 1975 and proceeded to save the Santuario for generations to come. Over the next 30 years, these people, and hundreds more, gave their time, money and efforts to accomplish this miracle.
Journalist Kay Lockridge has covered breaking news, both locally and nationally, since she was a teenager. Newspapers, magazines and The Associated Press have carried her byline for the past fifty years. What began as an independent investigative effort in 2015 developed into this book.
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THE HEALER The Story of a Mystic By Norman Cleaveland, Editor In most generations there appears a person, usually a man, who has authenticated powers of healing and who acts, often, as a kind of messiah. This is a person who by his or her charisma and personal magnetism attracts a large following. Charlatan, miracle worker or deluded mystic? Few contemporaries can ever decide and history itself is not sure. Such a person was Francis Schlatter who arrived in Denver in 1892. He was a German immigrant shoemaker and a devout Catholic who was on a special mission for the “Father.” The mission required him to wander about the country and even to be thrown in jail in Arkansas. In the villages of New Mexico, he was known as El Sanador, “The Healer.” This is a collection of articles about Schlatter and his own story of the wandering. He finally disappeared from a ranch in New Mexico and his body and "miraculous" copper rod were later discovered in Mexico. NORMAN CLEAVELAND, born 1901 in California, came home to New Mexico at ten months of age. The son of Agnes Morley Cleaveland, he was educated in Silver City, New Mexico and in California. After receiving his degree at Stanford University, his professional career as a mining engineer was spent principally abroad, including twenty-two years in Southeast Asia. He is the author of two books, THE MORLEYS and BANG BANG IN AMPHANG. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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HEALERS ON THE MOUNTAIN And Other Myths of Native American Medicine By Teresa Pijoan, PhD A unique characteristic of Native American medicine is the belief that each patient holds a different spirit, and that the healing can only work when it affects the individual spirit. Mythology is essential to this healing process. The belief stories within these pages reflect a culture that holds both poignant and alarming lessons. Readers of this book will discover the intriguing past and knowledge of Native American history and beliefs which are more enlightening than they may have previously realized.
Teresa Pijoan was raised as a young child on San Juan Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico by her Barcelona born father and her New York born mother. When Teresa was twelve years old, her family moved to Nambe Indian Reservation. She also spent several summers with her adopted aunt at Hopi. As a University of New Mexico at Valencia history professor, Teresa Pijoan, PhD, is an internationally acclaimed author, storyteller, and lecturer. She has won many awards for her teaching and her publications.
Her other books from Sunstone Press are American Indian Creation Myths, Pueblo Indian Wisdom, Ways of Indian Magic, and Dead Kachina Man. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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HISTORIC CATHOLIC CHURCHES ALONG THE RIO GRANDE IN NEW MEXICO By David Policansky In this stunning collection, the photographer/author has fulfilled a long-term mission to photograph the captivating and evocative historic Catholic churches of the state of New Mexico. The mission became a journey that covered the highways, back roads, and SUV trails of the state, from north to south, east to west. He has driven these roads, photographing these churches that reflect New Mexico’s complex history and beautiful landscapes, and talked to many people who attend, maintain, and love them. His descriptions of the churches reflect that complex beauty and provide enough information for the reader to find each of them. The photographs and descriptions also reflect an urgency: many small, rural, historic churches in New Mexico lack funds for maintenance as rural populations decline, and some of them are at risk of disappearing forever. This volume covers the churches along the Rio Grande, a transportation and trade corridor for millennia and home to many of New Mexico’s oldest Catholic churches. The churches include famous and imposing ones like Holy Cross in Santa Cruz de la Cañada, with its glorious artwork, and more-modest ones off the beaten track like San Antonio Mission Church in Alamillo. They include churches from near the Mexican border in the south to Taos County in the north, covering not only a geographic span but a time span from the early 1700s to the 20th century. The churches reflect the diversity of New Mexico’s communities and history. Each is unique and each one claims the Land of Enchantment as home.
David Policansky was born in Cape Town, South Africa and came to the United States for his higher education. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Stanford University and masters and PhD degrees in biology from the University of Oregon. He taught biology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and did research, and has published more than 35 scientific papers. He later worked as a staff officer and scholar at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC where he directed or contributed to about 60 published reports. After living in Washington for many years, he and his wife spent more and more time in New Mexico, where they now live for half of the year, attracted by its spectacular landscapes and diverse and fascinating history and cultures.
David has been interested in churches, especially Catholic churches, for many decades. He began photographing New Mexico’s historic adobe, stone, and brick churches in 2005 and has continued to do so, with increasing urgency as it becomes clearer that these churches do not last forever. He says that he is not a historian or a regular church-goer, but photographing New Mexico churches together has deepened his appreciation of New Mexico’s marvelous cultural and natural landscapes, including the fact that the descendants of these New Spanish/Mexican colonists have been here as long and are just as American as the descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims. He adds that when you consider the even longer history here of the Native Americans, you can begin to understand the complexity and profundity of the factors that have led to the presence of these beautiful buildings all over New Mexico.
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HISTORIC CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO By David Policansky In this second collection, the photographer/author has continued his long-term mission to photograph the captivating and evocative historic Catholic churches of the state of New Mexico. The mission became a journey that covered the highways, back roads, and trails of the state, from north to south, east to west. He has driven these roads, photographing these churches that reflect New Mexico's complex history and beautiful landscapes, and talked to many people who attend, maintain, and love them. His descriptions of the churches reflect that complex beauty and provide enough information for the reader to find each of them. The photographs and descriptions also reflect an urgency: many small, rural, historic churches in New Mexico lack funds for maintenance as rural populations decline, and some of them are at risk of disappearing forever. This volume covers the churches in central and southern New Mexico, churches south of Interstate 40. The churches include famous and imposing ones like San Esteban del Rey in Acoma Pueblo, and more modest ones off the beaten track like San Isidro Mission Church in Borica. They include churches from near the Mexican border in the south to the Arizona border in the west and the Texas border in the east, covering not only a wide geographic span but a time span from the 1600s to the 20th century. The churches reflect the diversity of New Mexico's communities and history. Each is unique and each one claims the Land of Enchantment as home.
David Policansky was born in Cape Town, South Africa and came to the United States for his higher education. He received a bachelor's degree in biology from Stanford University and masters and PhD degrees in biology from the University of Oregon. He taught biology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and did research, and has published more than 35 scientific papers. He later worked as a staff officer and scholar at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC where he directed or contributed to about 60 published reports. After living in Washington for many years, he and his wife spent more and more time in New Mexico, where they now live for half of the year, attracted by its spectacular landscapes and diverse and fascinating history and cultures. David has been interested in churches, especially Catholic churches, for many decades. He began photographing New Mexico's historic adobe, stone, and brick churches in 2005 and has continued to do so, with increasing urgency as it becomes clearer that these churches do not last forever. He is not a historian or a regular church-goer, but photographing New Mexico churches has deepened his appreciation of New Mexico's marvelous cultural and natural landscapes, including the fact that the descendants of these New Spanish/Mexican colonists have been here as long and are just as American as the descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims. When you consider the even longer history of the Native Americans, you begin to understand the complexity and profundity of the factors that have led to the presence of these beautiful buildings all over New Mexico.
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HISTORIC CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO By David Policansky In this third stunning collection, the photographer and author continues his long-term mission to photograph the captivating and evocative historic Catholic churches of the state of New Mexico. The mission became a journey that covered the highways, back roads, and 4WD trails of the state, from north to south, east to west. He has driven these roads, photographing these churches that reflect New Mexico’s complex history and beautiful landscapes, and talked to many people who attend, maintain, and love them. His photographs and descriptions of the churches reflect that complex beauty and provide enough information for the reader to find each of them. They also reflect an urgency: many small, rural, historic churches in New Mexico lack funds for maintenance as rural populations decline, and some of them are at risk of disappearing forever. This volume covers the churches in northeastern New Mexico, churches north of Interstate 40 and east of Santa Fe County and of the western half of Taos County. The churches include famous and imposing ones like San Francisco de Asís in Ranchos de Taos, and more modest ones off the beaten track like the Chapel of San Isidro in Tinaja. They cover not only a geographic span but a time span from the early 1700s to the 20th century. Each church is unique, each has its own story, and each one claims the Land of Enchantment as home.
David Policansky, born in Cape Town, South Africa, came to the United States for his higher education. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Stanford University and master’s and PhD degrees in biology from the University of Oregon. He has published more than 35 scientific papers. He also worked at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, where he contributed to about 60 published reports. He and his wife have long loved New Mexico, where they now live for half of the year, attracted by its spectacular landscapes and diverse and fascinating history and cultures. David began photographing New Mexico’s historic adobe, stone, and brick churches in 2005 and has continued to do so, with increasing urgency as it becomes clearer that these churches do not last forever. This interest in New Mexico’s churches led to his previous books, Historic Catholic Churches Along the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Historic Catholic Churches of Central and Southern New Mexico. He says that he is not a historian or a regular church-goer, but photographing New Mexico churches has deepened his appreciation of New Mexico’s marvelous cultural and natural landscapes, including the fact that the descendants of these New Spanish/Mexican colonists have been here as long and are just as American as the descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims. He adds that when you consider the even longer history here of the Native Americans, you can begin to understand the complexity and profundity of the factors that have led to the presence of these beautiful buildings all over New Mexico.
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HOLY WEEK IN TOMÉ A New Mexico Passion Play By Thomas J. Steele, S. J., Translator Order: (800) 243-5644 Like so many folk customs, the Tomé (New Mexico) Passion Play was passed along orally from generation to generation for nearly two hundred years. The same drama that Fray Francisco Dominguez mentioned in 1776 was still being performed in 1947 when it was filmed by a local resident. It was at this time that Fred Landavazo, Edwin Berry and Juan Estevan Zamora realized that the drama, already threatened by a modern, disinterested world, should be preserved in a more permanent form. Through their efforts a script was produced before the final performance of the play in 1955. HOLY WEEK IN TOME, an important religious and historical folk document, is now for the first time made available in its original form with translations and annotations by Fr. Thomas Steele. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=mbriIiUHJVAC
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LA CONQUISTADORA / Chavez The Story of a Famous Religious Statue By Fray Angélico Chávez Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Written as an autobiography, the author lets this famous willow wood statue speak for herself, tell her own story from the time she was brought to New Mexico in 1625 by Fray Benavides until the present. Many photographs bring this remarkable history to life. Fray Angélico researched, translated and annotated facts about the statue's history, its religious society, its fiestas and chapels, correcting the mistakes and folklore held as truth for more than two centuries.
Fray Angélico Chávez has been called a renaissance man and New Mexico's foremost twentieth-century humanist by biographer Ellen McCracken. Any way you measure his career, Fray Angélico Chávez was an unexpected phenomenon in the wide and sunlit land of the American Southwest. In the decades following his ordination as a Franciscan priest in 1937, Chávez performed the difficult duties of an isolated backcountry pastor. His assignments included Hispanic villages and Indian pueblos. As an army chaplain in World War II, he accompanied troops in bloody landings on Pacific islands, claiming afterwards that because of his small stature, Japanese bullets always missed him.
In time, despite heavy clerical duties, Fray Angélico managed to become an author of note, as well as something of an artist and muralist. Upon all of his endeavors, one finds, understandably, the imprint of his religious perspective. During nearly seventy years of writing, he published almost two dozen books. Among them were novels, essays, poetry, biographies, and histories. Sunstone Press has brought back into print some of these rare titles. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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LA CONQUISTADORA / Chevalier Unveiling the History of a Six Hundred Year Old Religious Icon By Jaima Chevalier Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Few religious icons dominate and inspire their subjects as powerfully as La Conquistadora, America’s Oldest Madonna, has over the centuries. Don Diego de Vargas carried her image as a message of peace and reconciliation when the Spanish returned to Santa Fe after the Pueblo Revolt. In frontier times, a well-known local madam was especially devoted to her. In modern times, her fame has reached throughout the world, while her local devotional society has provided a link between the very rich and the very poor in Santa Fe, even as it served as a power base for city and state politics. While maintaining her place in the hearts of Santa Feans, La Conquistadora has also taken the throne at the heart of the ancient city's history, and she has the scars to prove it.
With features sometimes called "Palestinian" and startling blue eyes, La Conquistadora’s origins are shrouded in mystery, but Jaima Chevalier unveils surprising new information about this icon's amazing provenance and past. A never-before-seen x-ray suggests the transformations La Conquistadora has undergone, while material from the journals of one of her most loyal devotees recalls the tense weeks of her 1973 kidnapping. Finally, Chevalier discovers the key to the long-standing mystery surrounding the wood used to craft the statue. This book fuses recent scientific discoveries with the stories and legends that comprise La Conquistadora's incredible mythology, creating a lyrical meditation that resonates with history throughout the centuries and across two continents and embracing Santa Fe, New Mexico as a crossroads of different cultures.
Jaima Chevalier is a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with deep ties to her home state. After the extraordinary circumstance of spending the first few years of her life in the basement of New Mexico's Laboratory of Anthropology, her family moved to the ranch outside of Santa Fe where she now raises her two children. Chevalier served as a researcher and associate producer for a 2009 history documentary made by Silver Horn Entertainment. She is the principal of Picture This, a local marketing and public relations firm. Sample Chapter
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LA CONQUISTADORA / Houser The Story of the Oldest Statue of the Virgin Mary in the United States By Sue Houser Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 The oldest image of the Virgin Mary in the United States, a petite wooden statue, accompanied Spanish Conquistadors and missionaries to the Kingdom of Nuevo Mexico in 1625. Her existence has been tumultuous. She was rescued from a burning church, kidnapped and held for ransom, and had her wooden form mutilated and remade. This book conveys the essence of devotion given to the statue who is yearly celebrated at La Fiesta de Santa Fe and yearly carried in procession based on a promise made over 300 years ago. She is the Queen of New Mexico, enthroned in her own chapel at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has the wardrobe of a Spanish Queen with over 200 exquisite gowns and priceless crowns and jewelry. Her name is La Conquistadora, "Our Lady of the Conquest." Was she a conqueror of territories or a conqueror of hearts and healer of human weaknesses? This is her story.
Sue Houser is a native of New Mexico and is interested in preserving the history and culture of the state. A retired social worker, she writes about the inspiration and passion behind the stories. This is her second historical, non-fiction book. Sample Chapter
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LANDS OF THE UNEXPECTED Memoirs of the Middle East, 1930–1960 By Ezra Young Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 In 1930, during the author’s first assignment in Turkey, a wise old Cypriot philosopher said to him, “Just remember that you are working in a region where the unexpected is normal.” In the more than 20 years that followed, this became increasingly evident; the more one stays in that part of the world the less one dares to predict. An American missionary, with 30 years service in various lands of the region once commented, “I can say that I have never been bored, for each morning as the Muezzin calls the faithful to prayer I wonder what new surprise or excitement the day will bring.”
Given the uncertainty, and the unpredictable nature of life and events in that part of the world, this book will not pretend to be a political treatise, lest these thoughts become irrelevant and obsolete. Rather it is intended to be an inside look at personal and human relations as experienced by the writer, his colleagues, his family and friends over two decades.
Significant to the psychology and moods of these lands is a legend about the camel which compensates him for an often burdensome life. The legend goes: “Among our people the ‘tespih’ (string of 33 prayer beads) is told three times by the faithful Muslims to name the 99 names of Allah. But only the camel knows the 100th name of Allah. Hence his proud, and aloof, mien.” In lands where fantasy and fact often mingle, it is not difficult to believe the legend of the camel.
The following tales of Turkey and the Middle East are like a string of 33 beads (plus one) held together by the author’s memory. They reflect the humor and wisdom, as well as the life-style, aspirations and hopes of the people of these volatile and fascinating countries. If the reader completes these memoirs with a fresh understanding of the people and events in this vitally important part of the world, the writer will be richly rewarded for the years of experience and study which have gone into the writing of The Lands of the Unexpected.
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THE LEGEND OF LA LLORONA By Ray John de Aragón Cover illustration by Rosa María Calles Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 The folklore of Spanish America is full of exciting accounts of a wandering, shrieking, tormented spirit called La Llorona, the “Wailing Woman.” Her eerie spine-chilling cry was said to be an omen of death. This is the first serious account of the frightening tale that has fascinated people for generations. Ray John de Aragón, an expert on Spanish folklore, traditions and myths, traveled throughout the villages and byways of New Mexico searching out the roots of this very popular Spanish phantom. What he found was that every person he listened to had a different version. They sometimes placed her in their own towns as having been a local girl who had lived, loved, and then died a tragic death. She then arose, according to hearsay, and now she searches throughout the countryside for the children she lost in a watery grave. Some villagers even took him to a nearby river or arroyo to show him where La Llorona and her children drowned, but they always cautioned, “Don’t come here late at night because she will appear to you crying, and she will follow you as you try to get away.” The author then took the threads of the stories he heard and has woven them in a full length study of this famous ghost. Noted folklorist Pedro Ribera Ortega called this book in a review, “The tragic mythic love/ghost story laid out to scare even the bravest of readers.”
RAY JOHN de ARAGÓN has a Masters in American Studies and has been a keynote speaker at public and historical conferences. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is the author of Padre Martínez and Bishop Lamy, The Penitentes of New Mexico, and Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martínez, all from Sunstone Press. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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LET BUSTER LEAD My Discovery of Love, PTSD and Self Acceptance By Deborah Dozier Potter “I'm not a dog person, but I became just as emotionally involved reading about Buster, in Deborah Dozier Potter's memoir, as I did as a youth reading Alfred Payson Terhune's books about his collie, Lad. He became a person. I felt for him. I cheered for him. I ultimately grieved for him. Buster is a dog who truly made a difference during his life, and Mrs. Potter's love for her subject matter illuminates each page.” (Dominick Dunne)
“Deborah Potter vividly elucidates a much under diagnosed illness affecting an estimated 6 to 7 percent of the U.S. population at any one time. As a physician I have witnessed first hand how Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can destroy families and relationships. I strongly recommend this book to my colleagues and to those who desire a first person account of this illness and its manifestations." (David A. Gonzales, MD)
“'Let Buster Lead' is a love story that begins in the pound, but the adopted pup is beyond ordinary. He rescues a woman who falls prey to a devastating and seemingly incurable illness and saves a marriage in the process. You will weep for joy and heartbreak in the course of reading about this creature, who must be gamboling in heaven with Lassie and Rin Tin Tin and every other legendary dog in literature." (Sylvia Chase, television news correspondent for 20/20, Primetime and NOW on PBS)
“Those suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as their family members will enhance their own healing through this warm, honest, and poignant story. The book is a touching and vivid reminder to us all of our hidden inner struggles and can give hope to the many who learn that their recovery will be through relationships--of all kinds! Potter writes in a warm, open and easy personal style; this is a story of courage and commitment.” (Marilyn J. Mason, Ph.D., former family psychologist and celebrity author)
"Hats off to a talented new writer Deborah Potter. In her first book she spins a touching, charming, altogether winning love story, the likes of which has never been told quite so tenderly before. It will lift your spirits and make you feel good about the world at a time when we need it most." (Robert Osborne, columnist for "The Hollywood Reporter" and host of Turner Classic Movies) Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 In this newly revised personal memoir about love, courage and healing, Deborah Dozier Potter shares her relationship with her Border Collie, Buster, from the day she met him at the animal shelter until the last moment of his life. But this isn’t a typical pet love story. The author met Buster while in a state of cynicism and grief following the death of her father and her new pet helped to restore her faith in life. Buster then helped her cope with a high-powered marriage, intense stress and faltering self-esteem. When she suffered major trauma in a horse accident, Buster stayed by her side, his herding dog instincts protecting her vulnerable and broken body. A year after the accident she became too tense to be touched by others or leave her home, unaware that she had developed a severe case of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). She tells us how she discovered she had this disease and how Buster became her official service dog. She describes her struggle with PTSD symptoms, and what it was like to travel on airplanes and function in public with a disability. Buster, as a therapy dog, helped restore her mental health and self-assurance and lead her back into a normal life. This is their story.
DEBORAH DOZIER POTTER was born into an entertainment A-list family. Her mother, Joan Fontaine, her aunt, Olivia de Havilland, and her stepmother, Ann Rutherford, were forties era movie stars. Her father, William Dozier, a popular film and television executive, produced and narrated TV’s Batman series. Seeking a “regular” environment, Deborah settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she continued her international career as an actors’ representative. She and her husband raised two sons, developed a politically charged real estate law firm, and have formed partnerships that own several businesses. Among her many volunteer positions, she has served as the founding organizer of Santa Fe’s Plaza Community Stage, a member of the Kennedy Center’s President’s Advisory Council on the Arts, and as a trustee of a college, an orchestra and two museums. Her traumatic accident leading to PTSD, an often un-diagnosed disability, and a life-changing relationship with her Border Collie inspired her to write their story. www.deborahdpotter.com Secure Movie & TV Rights
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LIVING HOPE A Study of the New Testament Theme of Birth from Above By William Orr and William Guy Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 In the face of frequent and sometimes loose contemporary usage of the term “born again” (which is the King James version of the Bible’s rendering of a phrase from John 3:3), the authors of this book attempt to examine what the New Testament reveals about the process of being “born from above” (which is a preferable translation of the Johannine phrase). The third chapter of the Gospel of John, with its grounding in old Testament prophecy, is examined in detail in order to see what Jesus says about this process of birth. Then four New Testament characters are discussed as “test” cases. On the basis of their analysis, the authors believe that “birth from above” is not some sudden cataclysmic and definitive alteration in the life of an individual but rather the beginning of a process which takes place in company, and sometimes in conflict, with others, in order that the divine society envisioned by Jesus may come into existence and thus replace the wrangle of warring element into which the world has been fractured. It is a means of bringing peace, which in the deepest Hebrew sense means ultimate well-being, into the world. This purpose of this book is to illuminate the possibility of establishing a world society that understands itself to be the family of God.
William Orr is Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is, with James A. Walther, the author of the Anchor Bible volume on I Corinthians. William Guy is a poet, novelist, and translator, and an avid student of languages and literature. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZlCdAAAACAAJ&dq=086534132X&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FXrWT6_GEIXc2AWB2ZSDDw&ved
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LOS PENITENTES A Brief History By William Farrington Order from Sunstone Press: (800) 243-5644 One of the most fascinating, written about, and misunderstood religious groups in the world is Los Hermanos Penitentes, a Catholic brotherhood found only in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. As with all cultures, societies and organizations lacking a written literary tradition, the recorded history of the Penitentes is full of compounded errors and misinterpretations, Legends and folklore, handed down orally over the years, are open to interpretations that are, perhaps, wide of the mark. But the facts, such as they are, have come from outside observers, scholarly researchers and obvious detractors with a religious bias. Somewhere among all that has been written lies the truth, but since no hermano has ever told or written the true story, much is still left to conjecture. From the recorded facts this booklet has been compiled with, it is hoped, some measure of objectivity.
William Farrington was a professional librarian for twenty-five years in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and California. His non-fiction articles have appear in national magazines and he has served as a book reviewer for various periodicals. He is also the author of Prehistoric and Historic Pottery of the Southwest, A Bibliography, also published by Sunstone Press.
On the cover: “Three Black Shawls,” William Shuster (1893–1969), c. 1930. Etching with watercolor 3 x 3 7/8”
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A MAN CALLED JESUS A Novel By Rick Herrick Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Have you ever wondered about Nazareth as a place to live in the first century? How about Jesus the miracle worker: how did he do the great deeds reported of him in the New Testament? A Man Called Jesus answers these questions and more. It recreates Jesus as a Jew in contrast to the first Christian of the early church. It’s a novel that makes one central assumption about the historical Jesus. He was a man all about love. In doing so it creates a Jesus that is relevant for all times and all places.
Rick Herrick (PhD, Tulane University) is a former tenured university professor and magazine editor. He is the author of three published novels and a work of nonfiction entitled The Case Against Evangelical Christianity. His musical play, “Lighthouse Point,” was performed as a fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in 2013. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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MESSIAH The Life and Times of Francis Schlatter By Conger Beasley Jr. While living in Denver in the early 1890s, Francis Schlatter, a poor immigrant cobbler from Alsace-Lorraine, heard a voice inside his head that told him to put down his tools and go outside and walk east. For several years Schlatter, a deeply pious man, had been aware that he possessed the potential to cure people of their afflictions if he could only muster enough faith; the time to test that faith had arrived. So began a grueling two-year journey on foot that took him as far east as Hot Springs, Arkansas, then back across the Southwest to San Diego, north to San Francisco, then east to Arizona and New Mexico.
In the summer and fall of 1895, first in Albuquerque then in Denver, he began to treat hundreds of people a day. Word of his miraculous power ran like wildfire all over the Southwest. Appalled by the carnival atmosphere he encountered in Denver, Schlatter slipped away into the wilds of New Mexico, finally into Old Mexico, where he died under mysterious circumstances in the spring of 1897.
Charlatan or saint? Healer or fraud? The question remains. Even his detractors acknowledged the genuine compassion that people felt in his presence. Most telling was the fact that he never took a dime for the therapies he performed.
A hundred years ago Francis Schlatter was one of the best-known figures in the American Southwest; since then he has literally fallen off the map. In this gripping and powerful narrative, based on contemporary newspaper accounts and a memoir that Schlatter dictated to a friend before he died in Mexico, Western Writers of America Spur Award winner Conger Beasley, Jr. reconstructs the life and times of this remarkable man. Conger Beasley, Jr. has published a dozen books, several dealing with the history of the American West. We Are a People in This World: The Lakota Sioux and the Massacre at Wounded Knee won the Western Writers Spur Award for the best contemporary non-fiction book published in 1995. An earlier book of essays, Sundancers and River Demons: Essays on Landscape and Ritual (1990), won the Thorpe Menn Award for the best book published by a Kansas City author. Mr. Beasley currently divides his time between Kansas City and Colorado Springs. Sample Chapter
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MOONBOW An Ode to the Sacred Cosmic Dimensions of Earth, Spirit, Love and Life By Jessika Le Corre The author says, “I grew up in nature surrounded by forests. I would spend whole days playing in the woods in the presence of bears, perched on the tallest trees with the hawk, on top of mountains peaks with the eagle, hiking with the mountain lion, running with the deer, soaking in the streams, singing with the hummingbird and dancing with the butterfly, ice skating on the frozen pond, skiing topless in the moonlight, watching the shooting stars with my dad’s giant telescope, collecting everything wild, stones, flowers, resin, herbs, barks, asparagus, berries, fruit, mushrooms, the wind even...hunting, and gathering Mother Earth’s magic. I instinctively knew the natural world was good for my well being. I talked to the plants and asked for their secrets.
“My love for the Universe, nature, beauty, and the sacred kept growing so intensely that I started to express it in the form of poetry at age eight. My first poem, ‘The Black Tulip,’ won an adult poetry contest. Poetry has been a way for me to share my deep gratitude for all the gifts. I’ve apprenticed for many years as a Vegetalista traveling to Peru and all over the world learning plant medicines, sitting in ceremony, and now holding ceremony.
“This book is an offering to Mother Earth, to Spirit. Gracias Señora. Gracias Señor. Life is the ceremony.”
A Native American and native New Mexican, the author was born and raised in Southern New Mexico where she grew up in Cloudcroft, a small village hidden in the mountains at 10,000 feet elevation. She is the founder of world-renowned organic skincare company FeatherEagleSky. She now lives with her husband and their three children Feather, Eagle and Sky in Truchas, a small village in Northern New Mexico.
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MY PENITENTE LAND Reflections of Spanish New Mexico By Fray Angélico Chávez This unusual book, Fray Angélico Chávez’s personal meditation on his cultural heritage, is also a kind of spiritual autobiography of the Hispano people of New Mexico. The spirit of New Mexico, he feels, grows out of its dry mountain terrain whose hills and valleys resemble those of Spain and of ancient Palestine. Just as this kind of landscape helped the Hebrew shepherd Abraham to find his God, so in Fray Angélico’s view, have New Mexico’s mountains kept her people close to their God. In evoking this special closeness between the divine and the human, the author returns repeatedly to the Penitentes of New Mexico—the societies of men who scourge themselves and replay the Crucifixion each Holy Week to share the sufferings of their Savior.
Some of his ideas will spark controversy over the meaning of New Mexico’s past, but Fray Angélico Chávez’s viewpoint, representing that of many native Spanish Americans, deserves the attention of every reader with an interest in the state’s Hispanic heritage. No one can read this book without gaining a new understanding of the world of the New Mexican Hispano imbedded in the dry, hilly landscape of the majestic Sangre de Cristo mountains.
Fray Angélico Chávez has been called a renaissance man and New Mexico's foremost twentieth-century humanist by biographer Ellen McCracken. Any way you measure his career, Fray Angélico Chávez was an unexpected phenomenon in the wide and sunlit land of the American Southwest. In the decades following his ordination as a Franciscan priest in 1937, Chávez performed the difficult duties of an isolated backcountry pastor. His assignments included Hispanic villages and Indian pueblos. As an army chaplain in World War II, he accompanied troops in bloody landings on Pacific islands, claiming afterwards that because of his small stature, Japanese bullets always missed him.
In time, despite heavy clerical duties, Fray Angélico managed to become an author of note as well as something of an artist and muralist. Upon all of his endeavors one finds, understandably, the imprint of his religious perspective. During nearly seventy years of writing, he published almost two dozen books. Among them were novels, essays, poetry, biographies, and histories.
All true aficionados of the American Southwest's history and culture will profit by collecting and reading the significant body of work left to us by the remarkable Fray Angé1ico Chávez. Sunstone Press has now brought back into print some of these rare titles. Sample Chapter
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THE NEWEST ANGEL By Anne Burgess Rowe Includes Questions and Comments from Young Readers. When little Anna Marie Dolores de San Francisco arrives in Heaven, she is welcomed with the special attention given to young Angels. All goes according to the Great Plan, as it should, until there is a mistake in Heaven. Somehow, she is not given her wings on the appointed day. True to her nature, Anna Marie begins her own search for wings, noticed only by God. This is the story of a young girl’s spunk and the results of God’s Watchful Eye.
Anne Burgess Rowe studied art, then worked as a card designer for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. After marriage and raising four children in rural Missouri, she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where this book was conceived. She later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute and now lives in St. Louis, Missouri where she is a professional artist.
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NOT WALKING ON WATER A Novel By James S. Reiley The Most Improbable Spiritual Enlightening of a Computer Geek. Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Waking up to the idea that there may be more to the universe than he learned in Sunday School, Paul Bradley sets off to make sense of all manner of newly discovered spiritual notions. Fortunately he is guided by another computer software guy named Bob who is also a hippie/Zen Buddhist. Paul’s trip takes a slew of turns through organic farming, strange encounters with other beings, far out forms of spiritual discipline and the dissolution of a broken marriage. At every hard spot or weirdness, Bob is there to provide enlightened guidance, usually with a peculiar twist of some sort. Written in the style of Dave Barry with humor punctuating most situations, the novel is aimed at people trying to get a handle around the ideas of where we come from, where we’re going, and why.
James Reiley has degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science and Medicine and has spent the last thirty odd years studying spirituality from a variety of different perspectives. Dr. Reiley is currently a part-time writer and practicing physician in Connecticut. Sample Chapter
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OF ONE MIND From A Longing To An Understanding Of The Universal Mind By Myrtle Stedman Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Through her forthright and open yearning to understand the mysteries of the Mind, Stedman articulates our own deep seeking. Her probing questions prod us into curiosity and consternation. Her answers startle and delight. Put together with its structural bones she gives us a clear picture of the creative process in non-classical poetic verse that flows and snags and flows again through life and death to life again. Chapters include Automatic Writing, Channeling, and Living by Grace. This is the first book of Myrtle Stedman's Universal Mind trilogy. The other two are Of Things to Come and The Way Things Are or Could Be.
Myrtle Stedman was a member of PEN New Mexico, a branch of PEN Center USA West of International PEN and believed that there is no end to what the mind can do with the eye and hand, in time and in spirit. She is also the author of Artists in Adobe, Adobe Architecture, Adobe Remodeling and Fireplaces, A House Not Made with Hands, Of Things to Come, Ongoing Life, Rural Architecture, The Ups and Downs of Living Alone in Later Life, and The Way Things Are or Could Be, all from Sunstone Press. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=WCfcPQAACAAJ&dq=0865341559&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mHrWT7a6BIPW2gWigJWQDw&ved
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OF THINGS TO COME An Explosive Declaration By Myrtle Stedman Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Readers are given vivid examples of how the Universal Mind turns imagery into reality, invited to ponder and explore this mechanism in their current lives, and to examine the potential for humanity's future evolution. The other two books in the Universal Mind Trilogy, all written in non-classical poetic verse, are Of One Mind and The Way Things Are or Could Be.
Myrtle Stedman has been described as “both innocence and heirloom.” Designated in 1985 as a “Living Treasure” in northern New Mexico, this award-winning artist, architect, and writer is the author of ten books, including Artists in Adobe, Adobe Architecture, Adobe Remodeling and Fireplaces, A House Not Made with Hands, Of One Mind, Ongoing Life, Rural Architecture, The Ups and Downs of Living Alone in Later Life, and The Way Things Are or Could Be, all from Sunstone Press. Myrtle Stedman was a member of PEN New Mexico, a branch of PEN Center USA West of International PEN and believed that there is no end to what the mind can do with the eye and hand, in time and in spirit. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=H7YAAAAACAAJ&dq=Of+Things+To+Come&hl=en&sa=X&ei=o0jFT-TeDuWgsgKxxPn
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OFF THE PATH The Zen of Mountains and Deserts By Sydney Musai Walter Journals and photographs from a Zen Master in the American Southwest. Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 The author says: “I began my Zen practice in the midst of a life crisis, under the guidance of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. When I asked that Zen Master what I should do about my life dilemmas, he responded, ‘Do zazen. Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it doesn’t tell time.’ I have been following that advice for over four decades. I have turned to wild places for reassurance and adventure since I was a child. When I moved to Santa Fe in 1980 I found, in the Four Corners states, vast areas of mountain and desert wilderness where I could wander year-round, shedding the concerns of life in society and opening to the earth. These two fundamental streams of my life merge in my hikes and solo wilderness retreats. I hope in these photos and journals I can share some of the wonder and release I have found in this Buddhist wilderness practice.”
“I have known Musai for forty years, having sat my first Zen retreat right next to him. I have the greatest respect for him as a Zen Master and as a human being. He has brought Zen practice into the wilderness and brought wilderness into his Zen practice and teaching. His photos and words bring a new perspective on wilderness to his readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates beautiful photography and the amazing simplicity of Zen.” —Roshi Dennis Genpo Merzel, Abbot, Kanzeon Zen Center, Creator of Big Mind practice
“I endorse this book and would recommend it without hesitation for two important reasons. First, the inspiration of the natural world as it informs our spirituality has never been more crucial than it is today, during this time of environmental challenge. This, coupled with lives spent in urban settings withdrawn from the natural world, brings a unique urgency to Musai’s message. Secondly, Musai expresses the distinctive voice of a mature spiritual elder who dares to open to the gifts of solitude and physical challenges.” —Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Abbot, Zen Center of Los Angeles
“This is one of those books that you will cherish for a life time. It is treasure house of wisdom and beauty, capturing the true sense of Zen and the wilds, a true path of no path.” —Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center
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ONGOING LIFE A Universe of Mind By Myrtle Stedman Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 In this collection of the author’s most personal thoughts and experiences, both real and imagined, she examines her own belief systems, family problems, advancing years, triumphs, and blends them into loose flowing poetry which laughs and cries to be read. Readers will find much of themselves in this timely book.
The author says, “First and foremost I acknowledge the Mind as the creator and the substance of that which it creates. We couldn’t even imagine a universe or anything in it without the Mind. It is the Mind that expresses itself and conceives that which it expresses. It is this male and female that is the basis for the production of all that exists. It is to the Mind and in the spirit of its contemplation that I attribute the end resolves of family and all life situations which enter into ongoing life today and into life beyond the grave, never dying, never forgetting.”
Myrtle Stedman was a member of PEN New Mexico, a branch of PEN Center USA West of International PEN and believed that there is no end to what the mind can do with the eye and hand, in time and in spirit. She is also the author of Artists in Adobe, Adobe Architecture, Adobe Remodeling and Fireplaces, Artists in Adobe, House Not Made with Hands, Of One Mind, Of Things to Come, Rural Architecture, The Ups and Downs of Living Alone in Later Life, and The Way Things Are or Could Be, all from Sunstone Press. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=OXUVAQAACAAJ&dq=0865341923&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rwzVT_-_Esei2wXixvyMDw&ved
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OUR LADY OF THE CONQUEST The story of America's Oldest Devotion to the Virgin Mary By Fray Angélico Chávez The story of a statue called "La Conquistadora" used in Catholic religious celebrations in Santa Fe, New Mexico. New foreword by Marc Simmons. As the Spaniards were preparing to reconquer Santa Fe from the Pueblo Indians in 1692, Captain-General Don Diego de Vargas solemnly vowed to build a special chapel for his own favorite statue of Our Lady of the Rosary should he gain a quick victory, and also to hold a yearly procession in her honor. The image was carried into battle and the Spaniards gained an effective conquista, and thereafter this particular image came to be known as "La Conquistadora." Other legends and practices grew around these bare essentials of the story. Many people have tried, in all sincerity, to evaluate the historic aspects of the tradition and to draw the best plausible conclusions therefrom, but Fray Angélico Chávez seemed best suited to detail the origins and development of America’s oldest devotion to the Virgin Mary in a scholarly yet devout manner.
Fray Angélico Chávez, in the decades following his ordination as a Franciscan priest in 1937, performed the difficult duties of an isolated backcountry pastor. His assignments included Hispanic villages and Indian pueblos. As an army chaplain in World War II, he accompanied troops in bloody landings on Pacific islands, claiming afterwards that because of his small stature, Japanese bullets always missed him. In time, despite heavy clerical duties, Fray Angélico managed to become an author of note, as well as something of an artist and muralist. Upon all of his endeavors, one finds, understandably, the imprint of his religious perspective. During nearly seventy years of writing, he published almost two dozen books. Among them were novels, essays, poetry, biographies, and histories, some of which are published by Sunstone Press. Sample Chapter
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PADRE MARTINEZ AND BISHOP LAMY By Ray John de Aragón See PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK below. Willa Cather, in the historical novel Death Comes for the Archbishop, depicts Padre Antonio Jose Martinez as an unscrupulous backward rogue priest and Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy as a civilizing, heroic and monumental figure. Countering Cather’s assessment and portrayal of these two larger-than-life Southwestern folk heroes, Ray John de Aragon attempts to set the historical record straight. Padre Martinez (1793-1867) is viewed as a genius who was ahead of his time. Recognized as a champion of the poor, defender of the Native Americans and proponent of human rights, it was inevitable that he would clash with Lamy. Bishop Lamy (1814-1888), who also had his followers, emerges as someone whose understanding of native New Mexican cultures was lacking, but one whose intentions were to do good as a missionary in a strange and foreign land. Ray John de Aragón has written extensively on the history of New Mexico and the traditions and culture of northern New Mexico. He is recognized as a master santero with works in numerous private and public collections. His efforts at promoting and preserving the Spanish Colonial heritage of the American Southwest have gained regional and national attention. He has been featured in many publications and a PBS documentary. He holds a Masters in American Studies with emphasis on the Hispanic culture, heritage, history and traditions of New Mexico, and he has lectured and taught in this area at the university level. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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THE PADRE OF ISLETA The Story of Father Anton Docher By Julia Keleher and Elsie Ruth Chant The story of Father Anton Docher while a Catholic priest in Isleta Indian Pueblo in New Mexico from 1891 until his death in 1928. Adolph F. Bandelier, Charles Fletcher Lummis, and Father Anton Docher are names closely associated with the early colonial days in New Mexico. All of these characters appear in this narrative of Isleta Pueblo which tells the story of Father Docher’s life in the Indian pueblo from the day when he first arrived along the road that was bad, but the sunset beautiful in 1891 until the time of the death of his two great friends, Bandelier and Lummis, and his own death several months later in 1928.
Father Docher’s job was not an easy one, but his great patience and understanding helped him through many difficulties. The story goes into many of these and into much of the legend and superstition of Isleta Pueblo which the Padre encountered during his long life there. He was particularly interested in the story of Father Padilla, the Franciscan friar who came with Coronado’s band, whose body was buried in the church at Isleta but which refused to stay underground.
Julia Keleher was a member and Professor in the English Department of the University of New Mexico from 1931 to her retirement in 1959. She was also a professional writer and edited each of her brother, William A. Keleher’s books, all of which have been published by Sunstone Press in its Southwest Heritage Series. Her collaboration with Elsie Ruth Chant resulted in this fascinating collection of incidents for all readers interested in the American Southwest. She was married to Lloyd Chant and raised two children, George Ashley Chant and Julia Jane Chant. Sample Chapter
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THE PASTOR OF NEW MEXICO Peter Küppers’s Memoirs By Tomas Jaehn SEE PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK BELOW. There are few foreign original voices talking about early twentieth century Northern New Mexico. Father Peter Küppers who immigrated from Germany to New Mexico is one of those few voices.
Father Küppers was born in 1885, came to New Mexico in 1911 and aside from a few short trips to Colorado and the mid-West, remained in New Mexico all his life. Rather limited in his knowledge of American culture when he arrived on this continent—after all, he once got mad that folks in New York did not speak German—Küppers grew to love New Mexico. Always biased and fierce in his protection of Northern New Mexicans, particularly his often poor Catholic parishioners, he became a cultural agent for Hispanics and Anglos and a chronicler of rural small town life.
In his sometimes jolly account from the early 20th century, Küppers discusses growing up in Germany, describes personal experiences in the United States, and particularly in New Mexico, where he had to adapt to rural life, interact with town folks, parishioners, and Penitentes, and his adjustment to cultural surroundings so very different from his homeland in Germany.
Tomas Jaehn grew up in Germany and has lived in the United States since 1984. He attended universities in Germany and the United States and holds a PhD in history from the University of New Mexico. He has written about Germans in the Southwest and West and is the author of Germans in the Southwest, 1850–1920 (University of New Mexico Press, 2005). He has worked for over ten years at the New Mexico History Museum’s Fray Angélico Chávez History Library in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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THE PENITENTES OF NEW MEXICO Hermanos de la Luz/Brothers of the Light By Ray John de Aragón Cover illustrations by Rosa María Calles Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 This is the first major study by a Hispano from New Mexico with intergenerational ties to the Penitentes--the deeply religious group called Hermanos de la Luz, Brothers of the Light. It also ties the santero folk art of New Mexico, the Penitente Brotherhood, and the Penitente religious hymns, alabados, together. De Aragón asserts that one cannot truly function without all three and herein lies the devotional beauty that has been passed down for generations in Spanish folk tradition. Ray John de Aragón is an internationally recognized santero and writer. He has received numerous awards and is credited with producing images meant primarily for religious veneration like the original New Mexico santeros of the nineteenth century. He has always strived for authentic detail in sculpting wooden figures that most closely resemble the spiritual and folk quality of the originals. His attention to true religious detail centered on the Passion sufferings of Christ is evident in this book. He is the is the author of Padre Martínez and Bishop Lamy, The Legend of La Llorona, and Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martínez, all from Sunstone Press. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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THE PENITENTES OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTOS By Bill Tate Order from Sunstone Press: (800) 243-5644 The Penitentes are a secret and sacred Spanish-American brotherhood who live in the mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado who have pledged themselves to Christian devotions without completely withdrawing from the daily world. They have dedicated themselves in remembrance that Jesus Christ was condemned, crucified, and died on the cross for the salvation of mankind, and the expiation of his sins. Their devotions are observed usually in secret because the Penitentes believe that worship is a private matter and that one should not seek approbation for one’s sacred endeavors. They are the descendants of the vanguard of Spanish colonists who settled in the highlands of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado during the floodtide of Spanish colonization. The Penitente liturgy consists mainly of prayers called rosaries, rapturous songs called alabados, and processions. The author says, “I have no portfolio to be their apologist or oracle, but I have taken it upon myself to portray and to clarify in this book who the Penitentes are, what they do, and why, as lucidly and objectively as possible.”
Bill Tate was an artist and author who lived in the mountain village of Truchas, New Mexico where he owned and operated the Tate Gallery. His paintings hang in private collections in almost every state and many foreign countries. He served in the United States Navy and after World War II became a writer in Hollywood. After his move to New Mexico he served as a Justice of the Peace in Santa Fe and Rio Arribo counties. He has written several other books about New Mexico history and philosophy.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LIFE OF THE PRIEST DON ANTONIO JOSE MARTINEZ By Pedro Sanchez Original Spanish Text Translated by Ray John de Aragón. Cover illustration by Rosa Maria Calles. Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 In 1903 Pedro Sanchez published his Memorias, or Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martinez. This rare book, written in Spanish, is hailed by historians and others as an important and unique contribution to the literary history of New Mexico and the American Southwest. Sanchez was a student of this famous folk hero priest and the book beautifully illustrates the respect and admiration the people held for Padre Martinez. The priest is shown as dedicated to the Church and the people who looked up to him as a champion of social justice, equal rights, the downtrodden and the oppressed. Pedro Sanchez himself, as a product of Padre Martinez’s coeducational school in Taos, New Mexico, credits his mentor for his success in his career and life as did many of his other students. This Spanish and English edition features an introduction by Myra Ellen Jenkins, Ph.D., a former New Mexico state historian. RAY JOHN de ARAGÓN, a leading scholar on Padre Martinez and the authority on his life and work, translated the original Spanish text of the Sanchez book into English. De Aragón has a Masters in American Studies and has been a keynote speaker at public and historical conferences on Padre Martinez whom he has research extensively. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is the author of Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy, The Legend of La Llorona, and Brothers of the Light, The Penitentes of New Mexico, all from Sunstone Press. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=woVDwr8al3AC
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THE ROMANCE DIET Body Image and the Wars We Wage On Ourselves By Destiny Allison National Indie Excellent Award Winner for Women’s Issues
“In her latest book, Destiny Allison has deftly parsed that feminist cliché the personal is the political in a fresh new way. The search for the authentic self is new for every generation and Allison's book is a valuable contribution to that quest for today's women.” —Patricia Murphy, PhD, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Women’s Health Policy Fellow and author of “Making Connections: Women, Work, and Abuse” Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Brave, raw, and unflinchingly honest, this book is a weight loss journey, a love story, a heart beating loudly on the page. Every day we battle against something—injustice, our spouses, our weight. Seldom do we acknowledge the real wars we wage. Repressing feelings and silencing our voices, we suffer under the surface, attributing emotional distress and unwanted pounds to the inescapable effects of hormones or age. But weight gain, anxiety, and marital difficulties aren’t always so easy to explain. In her poignant and touching memoir, Allison doesn’t offer recipes, exercise tips, or advice. Instead, she shows us how to stand up, express what we want, and develop empathy for ourselves and the people we love. In doing so, she provides invaluable insight for those seeking to lose weight, save a marriage, or make a significant life change. Includes a Readers Guide.
Destiny Allison is an award winning artist, author, and businesswoman. When an injury required her to re-envision her life, Allison did what she always does. She applied her explosive creativity and dog-with-a-bone tenacity to new endeavors such as community building efforts and developing an innovative business model that transformed a bankrupt shopping center into a thriving community and commercial center. In 2011 she was named Santa Fe Business Woman of the Year. Her first memoir, Shaping Destiny: A Quest for Meaning in Art and Life won best independent non-fiction/memoir in the 2013 Global Book Awards. Since then, she has published two novels and opened a general store. Allison believes that one’s life is one’s greatest work of art. Unafraid to make mistakes and always passionate, she lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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SANTOS Stories About the Saints of New Mexico with Pictures to Color By Marie Romero Cash This series of line drawings by legendary Santera (saint-maker) Marie Romero Cash, depict many of the popular saints painted by the santeros of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Northern New Mexico. “The saints have always been an integral part of the culture,” Marie says, “so much so that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in New Mexico the art of the religious folk art of the santero became a part of its history. In creating this coloring book, my goal was to not only impart knowledge about the santero culture, but to provide images that could be colored in by children or adults, and could also be used for many other purposes, including embroidery or various decorative arts.”
Each full-page image is suitable for coloring by children at playtime or in a classroom setting. Easy to read information on many popular patron saints is included, as is the feast day of each saint. Teachers will find this coloring book a valuable teaching tool.
There is also an author preface and an article about Marie Romero Cash by well-known journalist, Kay Lockridge.
Born in Santa Fe, Marie Romero Cash has been a Santera (saint-maker) for over thirty years. Her award-winning works are in major museums and private collections throughout the United States, Mexico, Africa and The Vatican. She has written several books and magazine articles on the culture and religion of Northern New Mexico and has lectured widely on the subject for the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities. Sample Chapter
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SANTOS OF SPANISH NEW MEXICO A Coloring Book By Al Chapman, Compiler and Illustrator Illustrated, English/Spanish The mystery. The rich heritage. The haunting sorrow and mesmerizing beauty captured in the solemn eyes of the saints. Explore the world of the Northern New Mexican Santo in this coloring book unlike any other. Santos of Spanish New Mexico is a perfect introduction for both young and old into the art of carving and painting images of saints that represent the care and love of the community that the Santero (maker of saint images) comes from. The Santero is a self-taught craftsman who utilizes handmade tools, pine, aspen, cedar or cottonwood root to fashion representations, figurines, and objects in honor of the patron deities brought to the New World by their ancestors during the late 16th century. Learn a little about the saints and the various depictions you can recognize anywhere throughout Northern New Mexico. A tradition handed down from generation to generation, the art of making Santos is still very much alive and thriving in this special region of the world. Care has been taken to be faithful to the artistic details of the original works. Like the folk art he has endeavored to reproduce, Al Chapman’s drawings in this book are simple and sincere.
This book is a good companion to What is a New Mexico Santo? by Eluid Levi Martinez and Santos, A Coloring Book of New Mexico Saints by Marie Romero Cash, both from Sunstone Press. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=9_FweoIvZMcC
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THE SCHOOL ON THE BLUFF A History of the University of Albuquerque By John Taylor The University of Albuquerque began in 1921 as a small Catholic teachers’ college occupying part of an orphanage. It grew in both size and scope, first moving to a former Catholic boys’ school, and then to its final location on Albuquerque’s then-barren West Mesa. Over the years it rode an ideological and financial roller coaster until its demise in 1986. This book traces the history of the school, from its foundational background in territorial New Mexico, through its halcyon years in the 1950s and 1960s, to its struggles with finances and its change of direction from its original purpose as a teachers’ college for Franciscan nuns into an institution with a significant curriculum devoted to associate-degree occupational training. The school had twenty-one presidents—both religious and lay, with nine in its final nineteen years alone. The book examines each of these administrations, the challenges they faced, and the disparate solutions that were applied.
John Taylor earned a Master’s Degree in Nuclear Engineering from Stanford University and served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Nautilus (SSN-571). He joined Sandia National Laboratories in 1975, where he worked for thirty-five years, focusing on analysis of transportation of radioactive material, evaluation of nuclear weapon safety, nonproliferation and national security, and arms control and treaty analysis. While at Sandia, he authored or co-authored forty-seven technical reports and papers. John is also an historian with particular interests in the Civil War in New Mexico, the history of the Rio Abajo, the development of Catholicism in central New Mexico, railroading in New Mexico, and the “naval history” of New Mexico. He has authored or co-authored nineteen books on these and other subjects.
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SEVEN CAROLS, SEVEN GIFTS Christmas Stories for All Ages By Drew Bacigalupa "It would be a mistake to assume that these stories should be read only in December, for their message transcends the seasons." They..."touch the human and divine in all of us." SOUTHWEST BOOKVIEWS Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Collected for the first time, these prize-winning Christmas tales (carols) of Drew Bacigalupa range in time and place from mid-20th century to the new millennium, from remote mountain villages in New Mexico to the sophisticated neighborhoods of Rome, from children in country fields or on city streets to young soldiers at combat areas, to parents and grandparents at home or abroad. Whether in the United States, Mexico, England, France or Italy, the diverse peoples of these brief but luminous stories share the joy--and sometimes apprehension--we’ve all known as winter solstice heralds the approach of Christmas. Uniting all is the theme of renewal, the promise of longer days and return of the sun, and our uniquely individual gifts which brighten The Child in each of us. The illustrations are from original works by Bacigalupa--his paintings, drawings, ceramics and sculptures, testament to the artist/writer’s work in many media, his conviction that all the arts are essentially communication. Heavily influenced by Renaissance Man following graduate studies at L’Accademia di Belli Arti in Florence, he frequently refers to the journals and poems of sculptor/painter Michelangelo and the notebooks and dissertations of painter/sculptor/inventor Leonardo as examples of men who employed whatever medium was best suited to communicate differing concepts demanding expression. Though a resident of Santa Fe since 1954 and one who loves the American Southwest, Drew Bacigalupa is an inveterate traveler whose works have doggedly resisted regionalism. His published books include the World War II novel And Come to Dust, set in Belgium and Germany; Since My Last Confession, a spiritual journey and love story which follows the protagonist throughout the U.S. and across Europe; Journal of an Itinerant Artist, essays which roam the globe and embrace peoples of ethnic diversity. His stories, features and articles have appeared in numerous national newspapers and periodicals in this country and--in translation--in Italy. He first gained encouragement as a writer at the age of ten by winning a prize with an adventure story submitted to a writing contest in his hometown’s newspaper The Baltimore Sun. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF A MISFIT A Personal Pilgrimage By Francis Dorff, P. Praem. If being a ‘mystic’ means being Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 As someone who has been guiding people through the catacombs of their own lives for decades, Francis Dorff, O. Praem. is uniquely qualified to tell stories that evoke personal experiences of the treasures residing within each of us. Readers may recognize their own lives reflected in his description of: being “a stranger in a strange land,” wondering where to turn when a door to one’s “promised land” closes in one’s face, exploring intimations of a Loving Mystery beneath the surface of all of life, embracing parts of our life that we have been neglecting, and creatively getting to know our own deepest self.
This book will encourage those of us who are yearning to live more peacefully with others to see how we can “meditatively journey together to the underground place within us that is deeper than all our differences.” Those who are feeling stuck may find some help in Fr. Dorff’s insight into how “widening the scope of my attentiveness has a lot to do with my being able eventually to take a creative next step.” And everyone can be inspired by the author’s “experiment with loving” and how many different forms this loving can take over the course of a long, rich life.
Here is a personal invitation to learn how to live with the ongoing tensions between solitude and community, meditation and ministry, “getting it all together” and letting it all fall apart—as well as being a misfit and a mystic on a deeply personal pilgrimage.
Francis Dorff, O. Praem. is a priest of the Norbertine Community of Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a former professor of philosophy and theology living in retirement at the Abbey’s Hermitage Retreat. His ministry is currently focused on study, writing and meditatively practicing and sharing a life-integrating approach to personal and spiritual development. He is a specialist in the Holistic Depth Psychology of Ira Progoff, PhD, and the author of several books on living spiritually. Fr. Dorff received his licentiate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome and his doctorate in philosophical theology from the Institut Catholique in Paris.
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THRIVER SOUP A Feast for Living Consciously During the Cancer Journey By Heidi Bright, MDiv “Illuminating, empowering, and practical, this ‘support-group-in-a-book’ provides a holistic guide for enlivening your Warrior Goddess’ protection against cancer. Heidi Bright shares her healing journey with vulnerable authenticity and deep insight that arouses inspiration and hope. With hundreds of practical tips, “Thriver Soup” lights the way toward inner and outer transformation. A must-read for all those challenged by cancer and committed to thriving.” —Christine Horner, MD
#2 Bestseller, Amazon.com, Oncology Books Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Cancer patients seeking to integrate meaningful spirituality with practical healing solutions can now feast on a comprehensive blend of self-care options. This book provides a variety of holistic strategies for cushioning chemotherapy and softening surgery while empowering readers to grow in consciousness. Each of more than 250 topics begins with an inspirational quote from one of the world’s wisdom traditions, offers a story to foster self-care and personal transformation, and concludes with a useful tip. With passion, authenticity, and a dash of humor, this book courageously addresses medical topics such as “Finding Chemo,” “Hair Pieces: Turbanator,” and “Recovery: Master the Possibilities.” Holistic care entries include “Nutrient Density: Thriver Soup,” “Shadow Work: Dark Night Rises,” and “Field of Dreams.” Explore these restorative ingredients to enhance your nutritional choices, stimulate your creative juices, foster your personal powers to transform mentally and emotionally, and deepen your connection with others and the Divine.
In 2009, specialists predicted Heidi Bright, MDiv, would die within months from an aggressive end-stage cancer. Heidi discovered powerful ways to manage conventional treatment, love her body, embrace her emotions, play with imagery, deepen her spiritual consciousness, and accept support. After two grueling years, another tumor swelled next to her heart. Heidi knew she had to make a shattering decision, permanently altering her life. After another surgery, she was told to prepare for Hospice. Her next scan was clean. Now she combines her journalism and theological background with fresh insights each Thursday on her blog, www.heidibright.com/blog. Website: http://thriversoup.com/book/
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TIMELESS QUESTIONS How World Religions Explore the Mysteries of Life By James R. Davis The timeless questions that nag us all, those that ask about our origin, essential nature, way to live a good life, and final destiny, are explored through the ancient traditions of world religions in a probing dialogue between a knowledgeable professor and a persistent, unidentified questioner. Timeless questions are the questions asked as we confront the mysteries of life: What is our origin, essential nature, best way to live a good life, and final destiny? The questions are timeless because each generation keeps asking them, and their mysteries are never fully resolved. The world religions, in their ancient forms, explore these mysteries and provide not so much answers as useful insight for thinking about human existence. Each chapter in this book explores a particular mystery and its related questions, drawing in the ideas of the religions as needed. These include chapters on God, creation, human nature, social order, the good life, suffering and death, and the fate of the world. Through the persistent inquiry of the “questioner,” in dialogue with a knowledgeable professor, the mysteries are explored in a practical way, relevant to life today, but leaving room for further discussion. Because there is often little opportunity to study religion in school, many people, through no fault of their own, don’t know much about religion, especially world religions. This is not a book to foster belief or doubt. It is designed to provide basic information, enhance cross-cultural understanding, and aid in the development of a philosophy of life. Here you can feel the joy of learning something new while examining the mysteries of your own life through the timeless questions that nag us all.
James R. Davis is a professor and dean emeritus of the University of Denver. He holds degrees from Oberlin College, Yale University Divinity School, and Michigan State University and is the author of eight academic books on college teaching, training, and leadership. A sequence of graduate courses taken at Miami University (Ohio) inspired a life-long interest in world religions. Jim lives at home in a suburb west of Denver, Colorado, with his wife Adelaide, who is originally from Brazil. His novels, Ranch Without Cowboys and The Last Resort are also published by Sunstone Press.
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TOUCHED BY A THOUGHT By Brian G. O'Rourke Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 Since the release of the author’s first book, Questions, A Journal for Exploration of Oneness, Brian continues his pursuit of understanding life's spiritual journey. Within the bond of family and friends, the author finds the need to express and acknowledge the feelings of peacefulness, the struggle of society’s structure, the joy of togetherness, the pain of prejudice and the love of life’s uniqueness. In Touched By A Thought, the author offers a new collection of personal thoughts, created with the guidance of God and presented to you with the hope that you will be touched in a meaningful way. May your thoughts bring you enlightenment, happiness and an acceptance of the beauty of your spiritual journey. In all that is good or perceived to be not so good, there is always our ability to create, to choose our next step, to grasp our next lesson whether with enthusiasm or reluctance. In the silence of life listen to your heart, to your soul and to your God. God's voice can be heard expressed in all that we do, in all that we wonder about and in all that we choose to happen throughout this endeavor known as human life. Appreciate the expression of your lives with the creativeness found throughout your eternal journey. The experiences in this life's journey for the author, Brian G. O'Rourke, have included two countries, twelve different schools, thirty plus residences and countless "incredible creations" he calls family, friends, and those who have touched and enriched his life, some for only the briefest moment. Brian is a product of determination, a desire for self-taught continuing education and the inward flame that life is beautiful, wonderful, playful and must be shared with all of God's people. Brian has spent years earning a living, while like many, searching and challenging the questions of life and meaning. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=kCtXRD2Km5gC
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THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIVING ALONE IN LATER LIFE A New Look At Life By Myrtle Stedman “…confident, lyrical, and unhurried—a wise woman reflecting on a meaningful life. After nearly a century, Myrtle Stedman retains the wide-eyed wonder of innocence and the skill to impart it. She is one of the world’s best arguments for honoring the wisdom of elders.” --Larry Dossey, MD, author of Reinventing Medicine Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 In The Ups and Downs of Living Alone in Later Life, Myrtle Stedman follows and develops the ideas expressed in her previously-published trilogy: Of One Mind, The Way Things Are or Could Be and Of Things to Come. In the process of her writing, she has come to view the Mind as Universal expression and receptivity ever driven by the Spirit of a biological urge—Its creativity evolving whatever It sets Itself to do for the love of doing. With a sense of humor, honesty and simplicity, she sees the Mind’s work blinking in and out of range or sight, much like an artist works with a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other, the creative attainment ever evolving. Two age-old questions, “God created” or “evolution,” are thus settled to her satisfaction in this, her fourth book on the Creative Mind.
Myrtle Stedman was a member of PEN New Mexico, a branch of PEN Center USA West of International PEN and believed that there is no end to what the mind can do with the eye and hand, in time and in spirit. She is also the author of Artists in Adobe, Adobe Architecture, Adobe Remodeling and Fireplaces, Artists in Adobe, A House Not Made with Hands, Of One Mind, Of Things to Come, Ongoing Life, Rural Architecture, and The Way Things Are or Could Be, all from Sunstone Press. Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=nLsCPQAACAAJ&dq=9780865343214
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THE WAY THINGS ARE OR COULD BE A New Consciousness By Myrtle Stedman The Second Book in the Universal Mind Trilogy Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 In this dynamic and timely statement about biological and spiritual life, readers are treated to refreshing observations of daily life interwoven with this elder’s persistent curiosity about the nature of the Universe. It is put together in an episodic and anecdotal fashion in a collection of poems, each with its own character and unified in an overall rhythm. It portrays a satirical, a down to earth, and a heavenly attitude toward life all in one. In it is an insight to the Creative Mind and what the knowledge of its working principle could mean to our health and well being and to our associations in an expanding consciousness of our particular species as males and females in the total field of Universal Being.
And it is here that she wishes to acknowledge the importance of her artist husband’s remark that “most of what we call love is just a biological urge” which gave her the impetus to see in this urge the will and the willingness to live together. She still doesn’t know if this would satisfy Einstein’s question, “Is the universe friendly?” She has said, “yes,” definitely, it is even in love. The other two books in this Universal Mind Trilogy are Of One Mind and Of Things to Come, all written in non-classical poetic verse.
Myrtle Stedman was a member of PEN New Mexico, a branch of PEN Center USA West of International PEN and believed that there is no end to what the mind can do with the eye and hand, in time and in spirit. She is also the author of Artists in Adobe, Adobe Architecture, Adobe Remodeling and Fireplaces, Artists in Adobe, A House Not Made with Hands, Of One Mind, Of Things to Come, Ongoing Life, Rural Architecture, and The Ups and Downs of Living Alone in Later Life, all from Sunstone Press.
“I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a walk in the country, a gentle rainfall, an afternoon with a child or any of these moments we often overlook in our hurried world.” —Stuart A. Ashman, Former Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of New Mexico Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=82YDAAAACAAJ&dq=9780865342552
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WHEN HUSBANDS DIE Women Share Their Stories By Shirley Reeser McNally Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644 What happens to wives when husbands die? The quick answer is widowhood. The deeper truth is they are forced into a life change that has serious ramifications for themselves, their families, their friends and their futures. Are poems and songs written about widow-heroes, does literature extol their strength and courage, their independence gained, their new lives discovered? Hardly. But women have important stories to tell about this time in their lives when they come face to face with one of the most common and devastating life experiences for women everywhere. Seventy-nine story tellers have joined together to tell about the tragic time that begins when, in an instant, the husband dies, the man, the lover, the companion, the mate is gone--and so is the marriage! SHIRLEY REESER McNALLY, the originator of this project, is a graduate of Smith College as are Barbara Harrison Mulhern, Mary Witt Wydman and the majority of women whose stories are told in this book. Because Smith is a liberal arts college for women, it seemed logical to McNally that the alumnae of Smith would be a source and an audience for a study of widows. It has turned out to be so. “The work,” she says, “has been arduous, fascinating and redemptive.” The result is intended for current widows who can learn how others are handling the difficult situation forced upon them, and for women still married who, with their spouses, must plan for what well might occur in their futures. Secure Movie & TV Rights
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WHY BILLY GRAHAM? An Evaluation of Billy Graham’s Career and Life. By David Poling New Foreword by the Author. Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418 Why has Billy Graham, more than any other person, left his imprint on the religious life and history of our times? Why has a man who always cherished quiet conversations with ordinary people made international headlines as perhaps the world's best-known “religious celebrity”? And how did Billy Graham stay free of the tarnishing Elmer-Gantry-type temptations of money and women? David Poling asks these and many other questions critics have often asked--and he offers answers as one who was an outspoken critic in the past but changed his mind and attitudes.
Placing Billy Graham’s life and ministry under the journalist’s microscope, Poling examines the personal qualities and unchanging message that characterized the great evangelist. He also chronicles the triumphs and struggles of the Graham Crusades and other far-reaching ministries. Evaluating the man in the context of the global society of which Graham still remains so prominent a figure, Poling traces his ministry and its effects from the early days to his position of leadership and reveals why Billy Graham won his abiding respect and admiration and remains a shining example to be followed in his private and public life and conduct.
David Poling is author/co-author of fourteen books. He has been pastor to Presbyterian congregations in New York, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. His weekly syndicated column on faith and ethics appeared in 600 newspapers, with an audience of 17 million. Married to Ann Reid Poling, a Wooster College classmate (and known to others as "his favorite theologian") the couple has four grown children and eight grandchildren. Next book: The Gospel According to the Apaches. Sample Chapter
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