Customer Reviews (1)

Amnesia and Altered Recollections
As a documentary filmmaker who has extensively and thoroughly researched Flaherty for a current project, and having conducted lengthy film interviews with both Helen AND Ricky Leacock, Flaherty's cameraman on Louisiana Story -- I feel obliged to report that Ricky finds this accountis literally a fiction -- replete with dozens of grotesque inaccuracies andmisleading memories (shooting ratios, etc.) Ricky finds it offensive thatHelen suggests in this book that somehow the film couldn't have been madewithout her. I just put Ricky on the plane this morning -- and to this hesaid, "Nonsense! If Helen and I were never born this film would havebeen made. Flaherty was a genius, and in complete control of his work. ... Read more

Product Description
In this touching memoir, Roberta Bandy chronicles thirty years' of her family's loving care for her son Robert, who was born with severe physical and mental handicaps. Robert's gentleness brought joy, laughter, and respect for life to all who encountered him. Roberta and her husband Phil never flagged in serving their beloved son even in his worst moments, relying on the aid of God's generous grace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Book to Melt Your Heart
A friend of mine who knew this family gave me this book. I couldn't put it down.This is one of the most inspirational books on the subject of a special child that I've ever read.Roberta's daily walk with God for almost thirty years revealed the blessings her son gave to her life.It showed how a boy who couldn't even talk and had to be fed and cared for daily could give more love, kindness, innocence and laughter than the outside world could ever provide.I have a much better appreciation of what familieswith special children struggle with, yet, if they rely on God for help, will reap the many blessings. God bless this family! ... Read more

Product Description
It costs up to 20 times as much money to develop new clients as it does to provide teh good customer service that guarantees repeat customers and great referrals. Make your business stand out by creating a service-oriented culture that actively addresses your customers' needs. Use cusotmer research, service standards, and customer expectations to enhance your profits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Comfort and Inspiration for Mothers of Special Needs Kids
An amazing testimony to a mother's love.This mother, who gave so much of herself to support and care for her severely disabled son, feels that she was the one who received a gift.Over and over throughout her son's life, the author found meaning and blessings from her relentless struggles to raise her son with love and dignity.The author uses scripture as the foundation for each chapter, telling the story of a life well lived despite overwhelming obstacles. This should be required reading for mothers everywhere, not just moms of special needs children. Ths lesson here is to love each child regardless-- and even because-- of his or her imperfections. Inspiring, a compelling book you won't be able to put down.In the end, you will feel a sense of triumph for Rob and his mother.

A Christian oriented inspirational book
A child with a disorder is not a child to shunned. "A Mother's Search for Meaning: The Dance Goes On..." tells the story of Roberta Brandy and her son Rob. Rob was born with a rare disorder that made his life short, but during his life, there was much Roberta gained. A Christian oriented inspirational book, "A Mother's Search for Meaning" will ring true for other Christian parents of disabled children. "A Mother's Search for Meaning" is ultimately an uplifting read. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is directed toward graduate students who are preparing to become, or already serving as, school library media specialists. It reflects the rapidly changing questions being asked in school library media research, as well as the methods of addressing those questions. These changes are due to both the changing role of the school library media specialist, and the explosion of research methods available. The authors hope that this book will encourage its readers to pursue an active research agenda in their school library media center. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
A 16 year-old high school dropout leaves home to avoid incarceration in a Juvenile Court Detention Center for placement in an orphanage. Using a falsified birth certificate he enlists in the army where he finds himself in an extremely hostile environment. Seeking refuge in the army, he discovers that he cannot run away from himself or escape the family curse. As a member of the elite United States Army Constabulary in occupied-Germany, he faces the greatest challenge of his life amid the war torn ruins of a conquered nation.

The book describes, in lurid detail, the misadventures of the men in the lower echelons of the military establishment and the effects of their relationships with the German populace. As a fraudulent enlistee, he lives in constant fear of being discovered. He is further plagued by premonitions of doom by the family “curse”, the result of an unconscionable sin committed by his maternal grandfather. Born into an impoverished, dysfunctional family in the middle of the Great Depression, he struggles to overcome the indoctrination of inferiority and social ostracism resulting from his mother’s alcoholism.

The story traces the family history from his ancestors’ 19th century Mississippi plantation to the early 1950s in segregated Birmingham, Alabama.

Customer Reviews (3)

Hard to read, difficult to look away!
Memoirs can sometimes be self-serving.Not this melancholy rendition of a troubled family in Birmingham, Alabama, during the 30s, 40s and 50s.Sergeant Major John Allen Bandy's `coming of age' story is as grim as any Dickens' novel.The son of an alcoholic mother and a gambling, womanizing father, Bandy doesn't gloss over the unforgiveable neglect that he and his siblings endured - yet, his empathetic portrayal of his parents is endearing. He presents them - and himself - as flawed human beings struggling with obsession, addiction - and perhaps an inherited curse.
To escape hunger, social ostracism, and the likelihood of being placed in an orphanage after his father's death in 1948, Bandy fakes his birth certificate and joins the Army at age sixteen.The image of a frightened boy, beaten by his Drill Sergeant the first night of basic training, curled up in his bunk crying for his mama is especially moving.We see him mature from a rambunctious teenaged recruit during a four-year tour in post-war Germany to a young husband and father to be on his way to Japan in 1954. The road is especially hard for the emotionally scarred, undereducated Bandy who tackles growing up like a prize-fighter taking on one challenger after another.The ever repeating theme of this story is the struggle against self-doubt that torments and sucks away ambition and discipline - and the courage it takes to rebound after a life-delivered gut-punch.
"When Whippoorwills Call" will resonate with those raised in dysfunctional families. It will also move people who found discipline, self-respect, and opportunity in the Army.The fact that Bandy rises to the rank of Sergeant Major and retired from the Military, given the roadblocks he had to navigate is inspiring. That he had emotional and physical set-backs is not surprising -- yet, true to form, he went on to earn several degrees and had a second successful career as a teacher.Now he has taken up the pen.
Although overly-long and redundant in places, "When Whippoorwills Call" breaks the reader's heart. It's compelling reading and even when you finish Bandy's story, it nags at the soul for hours afterwards.

Joyce Faulkner
President
Military Writers Society of America
Author of "In the Shadow of Suribachi"
Co-Author of "Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors"

A Brutally Honest Story
This is a most revealing account of the formative years in the life of a troubled young man who is not afraid to share his past with the reader.The graphic account of his introduction into the world of adulthood at the hands of an unscrupulous army sergeant and his futile attempts to cope with its many pitfalls is a story everyone who has ever successfully (or unsuccessfully) dealt with similar adversities should read. A sequel is a MUST!!!!

When Whippoorwills Call - Overcoming Adversities
I found it hard to put this book down! I can relate to the author's experiences of growing up in a dysfunctional family as a social outcast, and highly recommend others read this riveting account of a man who exceeded expectations others had of him! It was worth every dime! ... Read more

Product Description
One of our new titles, Teaching and Testing Information Skills, authored by Jane Bandy Smith, ties the school librarian’s role into helping students learn information literacy skills that can help to improve test scores.This book helps media specialists to join forces with educators for collaborative test-taking preparation and helps address the accountability schools face today from the federal government and local communities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fairly good book
He is somewhat verbose in his writing, and the book would benefit from a dose a Reader's Digest type editing.He makes valid points about the rise of coaching as a model for encouraging change.There is a whole life coaching movement in progress, I guess in reaction to disenfranchisement with psychotherapy.If you want to wade through the many detailed illustrations it is worth the read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Consultant-in-a-Book!
From the back cover: A workbook/tool/companion to the book by the same name.The congregational mission assessment tool that enables local church leaders to examine congregational life honestly and thoroughly, and point the congregation beyond itself toward mission in the postmodern world."If you're looking for a church revitalization 'consultant-in-a-book' that is analytical in tone, is data-driven in format, and explores the formal aspects of congregational life in detail, then FACING REALITY is for you.Should you invest the necessary effort, you will see your church more comprehensively.The coaching sections of the book are especially helpful." -- Robert Dale, Center for Creative Church Leadership Development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Dangerous book - radical ideas for ministry and mission training - get your hands dirty as you train
Thomas Bandy Mission Mover: Beyond Education for Church Leadership (Nashville: Abingdon, 2004)

Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw

Bandy is a church consultant and avid internet coach who uses an email format in this book to challenge potential ministers-in-training (and churches, colleges and denominations) to go beyond safe institutional leadership to follow Jesus into mission in contemporary culture. He challenges people to aspire to be mission movers rather than church leaders; to follow Jesus on the road past Emmaus rather than staying in the upper room to maintain the infrastructure. This fits the needs of contemporary society and the desires of many aspiring leaders. They don't want a churchy career but missional immersion. So rather than investing 3-4 years in training and then settle into ministry, hoping no bishop will move them or conflict crush them; mission movers start tomorrow, among people for whom their heart bursts, learn what they need as they need it, and let a passion for growth and adaptability get them around any conflict or obstacle.

He says ministry is leading others to share the gospel among pagan publics. His model of fulfilling leadership is of a coach and dreamer, a pilgrim among pilgrims, a motivator to missionaries and entrepreneur to partners. Preparation for this involves changing lifestyle, finding mentors, joining a team, identifying learning needs, customising a training track, developing coaching skills, pursuing internships with practitioners anywhere, networking everywhere and being prepared to fail boldly. He says students learn from movies, music and relationships as much as books and lecturers: 'We need to let people go to learning opportunities appropriate for their growth, and not bind them to an established model of training.' (p.171)

Training is less dependent on colleges and denominational approval and more about reflecting on experience and conversing with others about the adventure, like the characters in Chaucer's Tales. Colleges need to adapt to students with new learning styles and agendas, but too often stick with linear learning for an omni-literate world. This is bad for learning and bad for modeling: 'when the pastor assumes that the best way to learn is through listening to expository sermons, reading curriculums, and studying concepts in the seclusion of the church parlor, it is no surprise that what people end up learning is rational dogma, institutional obedience, and a condescending attitude towards outsiders' (p.91).

Learning methods are as important as content, and method will include action-reflection, mentoring, interaction, teamwork, lifestyle challenges, face-to-face and web-based input, and contextual, customised and indigenous theology. Postmodern content will still focus on Scripture but other than that focus on patristic rather than reformation history, holistic health rather than psychology, teamwork rather than denominational systems, mentoring rather than counseling, visioning rather than CPE, experiential rather than informational worship, motivational speaking rather than expository preaching, and learning technology more than liturgy. Missional leaders are interested in different things: 'Church leaders worry about the truth of Scripture; mission leaders worry about the truth in Scripture. Church leaders worry about continuity with the past; mission leaders worry about where Jesus will be fifteen years down the road in their zip code and how much they are willing to stake to meet up with him there' (p.100).

Practical ministry training is essential but as much to learn how to train others in ministry as learning the skills for their own sake. Practical training is much more a focus than it ever has been: 'In the old days, you spent all week on the seminary campus and spent weekend doing "fieldwork." Today you need to spend the weekend (at most) on campus, and spend all week "experiencing the mission field." In the old days, experts lectured on how to do ministry, and then you tried to do it. Today, you learn for yourself and apply it, and bring the experts up to speed when you see them on the weekend' (p113).

Bandy warns against dependence on strategic planning, buildings, and approval of anyone other than the Lord. He says watch out for the co-dependency of needy people and courageously stamp out the efforts of dysfunctional controllers. Bandy has little patience for traditional 'family churches' that keep to themselves and maintain the status quo: 'If most of the people who harp away at maintaining tradition could just experience the real power behind the tradition they are trying to maintain, they would not want the tradition. It would be too hot to handle' (p.159).

This is an indispensable though dangerous guide for vocational guidance for anyone considering a call into Christian leadership and considering their training (or apprenticeship) options.

Originally appeared in Darren Cronshaw, `The Emerging Church: Introductory Reading Guide', Zadok Papers, S143 (Summer 2005).

Provacative
This book will make you think about the church, about seminaries, about denominations and about call in new and interesting ways.Bandy may overstate his arguments in places, but does so to push the reader to engage and to think which is a good thing.He speaks of the body of Christ (the church or band of pilgrims or whatever) as either the body in residence or the body in motion.The body in residence is the show up on Sundays and the minister will perform for us type model and the body in motion is his suggestion for the church as mission mover.The book is a quick read and I'd recommend it for pastors, seminarians, denomination leaders, truck drivers and anybody else who cares about the church of today and tomorrow. ... Read more

Product Description
The sense of God has often been touched on in the movies. European directors like Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, Luis Buñuel, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Roberto Rossellini and many others have dealt directly with the theme throughout their careers, and Hollywood too has told stories based on the Bible, the lives of the saints and the martyrdoms of ordinary people. The Hidden God, which accompanies a film series of the same name organized by The Museum of Modern Art and screening in October and November of 2003, explores the ways in which a sense of God may appear in films, whether or not it is understood as such or is visible to the eye. This book contains over 50 essays by a wide range of writers, who find God encoded not only in explicitly religious subjects but in westerns, horror movies, comedies and many other genres, and in films from all over the world. In the times, places and societies these filmmakers explore, God may be lost, found, absent entirely or seen by only a few, whether saint or sinner.Edited by Mary Lea Bandy and Antonio Monda. ~Essays by Carlos Fuentes, Charles Silver, Dave Kehr, Michael Wood, Kent Jones, Phillip Lopate, Andrew Sarris, and Martin Scorsese.Paperback, 6.25 x 9.75 in./312 pgs / 0 color 60 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20152 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I was intrigued
The Hidden GodContrary to another reviewer, I was not disappointed by this book.It takes an unusual angle into the subject of film and struggling faith, and although it doesn't say the last word on any of the fifty films chosen, it starts one thinking on new lines.The directors included are world leaders of cinema. While a few of the brief, four-page treatments are worthless, many are erudite and insightful.Try it! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

a must for any fanatical makeup artist! :)
way bandy was THE man back in the day! he was the go to guy, THE premiere makeup man for models, celebrities, anyone in print, runway and so on, and a brilliant makeup artist. i've owned his book since i was a child and would pour over it preparing for my future endeavors in the field. sure, it's a bit dated now, the makeup styles, the book format, etc., but again, i would recommend it for ANY makeup artist, wannabe makeup artist or just a lover of beauty and/or makeup.

Designing your Face
You can tell it was written many years ago. Still has very good information and Way truly was an artist.I really enjoyed this book.Would recommend! ... Read more