In Saving Sight, Dr. Andrew Lam explains the intricacies of human sight and shines a light on the heroes who fought to save it, while also revealing the personal side of life as an eye surgeon - the stress and joy of a man who, on his best days, can turn darkness into light. Many remarkable life stories illuminate this autobiographical/biographical/historical work. Included are Louis Braille, Judah Folkman, Harold Ridley and many others who have enabled us to see in all kinds of unimaginable ways.

NY City of Kings chronicles the history of graffiti's genesis in New York from its late 1960s origin to the present, as seen through the lens of writers who started the movement. This narrative intends to help elucidate how the unprecedented movement of NYC graffiti culture spread internationally, and how graffiti has become so lodged and influential within our present popular culture. The accompanying exhibit installation features a monumental walk-through timeline covering the rich, complex history of New York graffiti history, including hundreds of famous and obscure images, lore and facts from 1967 to the present.

What makes this exhibit different is that the narrative is told through the lens, and voice of the actual players who created graffiti, not observers, gallerists, art historians, collectors or academics. New York City graffiti artists have historically been underrepresented and our narrative has been misinterpreted or skewed. An accessible, concise account for the general public has been overdue. As a lifelong, committed member of the graffiti and art communities, I feel compelled to share this story, and I am proud to have an opportunity to tell it. - Al Díaz, NYC (August 2022)

Coaching for Life is an autobiographic journey into the mind and heart of a remarkable man. In his own well-chosen words Coach Annacone describes his life as player, coach and the friend of many who love and work in the field of tennis. This exceptional story is full of anecdotes and exciting passages of dynamic play and deep concentration from Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, to name only two of the many intimate portraits revealed here. In the words of Paul Annacone:

Coaching for Life is not about the sport of tennis as much as it is a process-oriented journey based on the sport of tennis. It is the life I have lived, and the front row seat from which I have watched some of the greatest players compete on the most majestic courts in the world. But it is also something that can be applied to our own day-to-day life.

In this revelatory book tennis becomes the perfect metaphor for life. In explaining how to play with perseverance, rather than luck, Coach Annacone speaks for all of us--students, teachers, business pros, homemakers, parents, journeymen and women of all kinds, knowledge seekers and athletes on the cutting edge of their chosen game, whatever that game may be.

Aristotle once said it this way---We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.

We can always do better but it is best to do our best, says the author of this clear and positive paradigm for playing, living and being yourself at your best.

The champion's way as clarified by the world greats of tennis always comes down to the basic truth of the following universal Annacone principles:

--Work not only hard but smart

--Commit and refine your process

--Prepare for and accept adversity

--Strengthen your game and see it clearly

--Take pride in your resilience and reap the reward

Author and archaeologist Sally Crum has written a wonderfully poetic account of an astonishing cosmic event. This historical treatment with clever visuals created by Eric Carlson will enrapture young people of all ages. The story, told in rhymed stanza form is both beautiful and historical. Irie Books has added images from the Smithsonian Collection that bring to life the long-ago meteor shower that scared many thousands of people all over the world. The author is careful to show how tribal people, worldwide, as well as explorers from the western world, reacted in much the same way to the phenomena. Also included in the back of the book is a series of Fun Facts explaining the illustrations as well as the event. Students, teachers, star watchers and those interested in history will find this book fascinating and charming.

Al D az and Jean-Michel Basquiat stoked public intrigue in 1978 as teenagers when they began tagging their SAMO(c)... writings throughout New York City.

The statements spoke to people, spoke about people, and sometimes spoke of nothing at all. What began as a cynical, yet clever joke among friends--eventually became a creative cornerstone for both artists--and a hallmark of NYC art historical accounts.

Everyone around town was asking,Who is SAMO? Basquiat's path was well laid when the pair gave up their anonymity to the Village Voice in December 1978, in exchange for $100. The ball was rolling. Within two years Basquiat would be a famous painter, abruptly leaving behind D az and street writings for the blue chip gallery circuit. D az became a regular player in the NYC music scene. SAMO(c)... was dead. Ten years after that, Basquiat was also dead. But today, Albert D az is very much alive.

Fred Burstein shares his career as a boxer, poet, children's author, teacher, and devoted family man. His memoir reveals a passion for all of the above while also capturing what many people miss -- the little things that children see so vividly and what we, as readers of his new book, will awaken to - the beauty of poetry and a life well-lived.

He had discovered late in life that love has no age and, so he too could fall in love again. First with a colleague, unexpectedly, unintentionally, who was happily married and had two young children. Then with a much younger woman, unmarried, who he mistakenly thought had sent clear encouragement of romantic possibilities. After that pathetic, misguided failure he travelled thousands of miles to lands he had inhabited centuries before, in search of a sympathetic widow who would have pity on his soul, he conjured as a joke.

He fell in love three times, but only one broke his heart. This is that very short love story.

Bill Worrell's personal journal begins with phrases that ring true--as he says, I came from the desert, from the dust of the desert ... I must return again and again to the desert that gave me life. The life he speaks of is a spiritual one and this book is a very spiritual introspection on such mysteries as the famous Lubbock Lights, the ghosts of the fabled Hill Country of Texas, the search for our earliest beginnings in caves, in the cliffs of the Southwest. Worrell is a large man and he works on a large canvas of words. In addition to being a renowned sculptor and visual artist, Worrell is also a philosopher and a mystic in the tradition of Loren Eisley and Edward Abbey. This book will both intrigue and entrance--not only with words but with intriguing color photographs.

The Turquoise Horse is the story of a young Navajo girl, Lisa Todachine, who discovers she is a poet. Her father, a silversmith, teaches her the importance of wisdom and how it is passed down the generations. Lisa comes to realize that the spoken poetry of her people imparts values that can be uniquely shared in this special way. Through the medium of silversmithing her father tells how he learned what was sacred when he was young and wondering about the nature of artistic pursuit. In school Lisa learns that sharing one's experience with others can be a way to learn about oneself. It is personal discovery combined with helping classmates to know who she is. In addition to learning in school, Lisa also begins to trust her unusual, personal and powerful, dream of The Turquoise Horse. When she realizes that the horse dream should be shared in the old way, as story or legend, she allows herself to believe in her ability to tell a story on her own. With the help of a folksinger who is invited into her classroom, Lisa learns that words are like the jewelry her father makes from turquoise and silver. In the end Lisa decides that she will become a poet whose words will be printed in books. Rather than turning away from Navajo tradition she chooses to follow it in her own way using poetry to tell stories.

In 1808, mountain man John Colter ran and climbed 150 miles while being pursued by members of the Blackfeet nation. His run for life became a part of heroic American history and culture. In 1823, hunter Hugh Glass, left for dead after being torn apart by a grizzly bear dragged himself out of his grave and crawled more than 80 miles to wreak revenge on the trusted friend who abandoned him. This authentic and unique historical novel follows the survival trail and blood spoor of both men. History has recorded their triumphs -- Colter discovering what is now Yellowstone National Park. Hugh Glass becoming an icon of the American frontier.

Gobi (Gobee) was born a pedigreed dog outside of Los Angeles, California.

By the time he was a year old he had hit some hard times and ended up at

a dog rescue, where he was then taken in by the Aniello family.

Gobi blossomed into a social butterfly cozying up to anyone who came

to visit the Aniello house...in anticipation of a cookie or two! His only

character flaw was the bad habit of running off with things that weren't

his and hiding them under beds, but with such an adorable face this was

mostly overlooked by the family.

Gobi retired to New Mexico and discovered he had a great love for chasing

lizards and hiking on the trails near the family home. Gobi lived a vibrant

life filled with love and laughter. Just before Gobi's sixteenth birthday

he left us and crossed the doggy rainbow. His fifteen pounds of effusive

energy will live on in Gobee From the Adobe.

Once again the author of The Andean Codex, Dr. J. E. Williams
has written a true story of shamanism and the sacred way of the Q'ero
family into which he has been initiated as a member. This new book however
takes us deeper into the labyrinth of the highest mountains and into the secret
heartland of the gods themselves. As he is learning the beautiful, inexorable value system that goes back to the Incas, Dr. Williams discovers that nothing is given to those who take it for granted.

Beyond the physical plane, he is taught by his mentor, Sebastian, to be prepared to meet the spirit deity of that most sacred of all Andean mountains, Ausungate. But Sebastian cannot promise deliverance. He is there only as a guide not a guarantor. The final chapters may give you the shivers as the author ascends to the roof of the world. Does he meet the spirit presence of Ausungate? Does he triumph on the trail of fire and ice? Your own journey awaits as you begin to read this remarkable true adventure.

Jan Wiener's fascinating, well-documented book tells of the heroic exploits of various Czech men and women, most of whom paid for their resistance with their lives. Above all it gives a detailed, documented account of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the most gruesome of the Nazi murderers, by Czech resisters parachuted from London but aided in their task by the Czech underground.
William L. Shirer, author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

If you only read one book about what it felt like to be present during the worst time in modern human history, a time when your life could be snuffed out for having the mere thought of opposition against the Nazi regime, this should be the book because it is told by survivors and by one of the greatest survivors of them all, Jan Wiener.

Michael Gibbons had the common touch, as they say, the love of others and the ability to express this love in the way he moved, talked and wrote poems. He discovered poetry later in life but it had always been inside him like an orbit of energy that wanted to come out, and finally did. When that happened, he wrote as if it were as natural as breathing. He breathes deep in this book of poems that was written in spurts shortly before his passing. He seemed to know that he was a poet of praise seeking to re-unite himself with the vibrancy of mother nature. Many of his best poems seem like songs and he titled the book Rambling Boy partly because of this, but also because he was, in fact, a rambling boy, who went round and about the world seeing and praising the simple, elemental beauties that others, maybe in too much of a hurry, missed. Now he is the one missed, but thankfully we have his poems.

Michael Gibbons had the common touch, as they say, the love of others and the ability to express this love in the way he moved, talked and wrote poems. He discovered poetry later in life but it had always been inside him like an orbit of energy that wanted to come out, and finally did. When that happened, he wrote as if it were as natural as breathing. He breathes deep in this book of poems that was written in spurts shortly before his passing. He seemed to know that he was a poet of praise seeking to re-unite himself with the vibrancy of mother nature. Many of his best poems seem like songs and he titled the book Rambling Boy partly because of this, but also because he was, in fact, a rambling boy, who went round and about the world seeing and praising the simple, elemental beauties that others, maybe in too much of a hurry, missed. Now he is the one missed, but thankfully we have his poems.

Fred Burstein is a poet of moments. He enjoys the woodlands around his home and celebrates them in short, lovely verses. From the poet's sharp eye we learn which way the frog faces ...when the red eft comes out of hiding ... how the wind, rain, sun and snow tickle the senses. We see through the eyes of a child, hear through the mind of a natural man who has spent his entire life amidst turning leaves, red berries, chickadees, bluejays, woodpeckers--and who else do you know who counts the Jack-in-the-Pulpit as a best friend?

John Nizalowski's essays weave a large tapestry of life events reminiscent of the Mexican Tree of Life. However, his personal odyssey takes a multi-dimensional view. . . . As an artist, his tool box is filled with astonishing talents. He absorbs the movement of his trajectory and incorporates meticulous detail and grace in the images and poetry in his writing . . . . We also get to know the writer's two daughters, Ursula and Isadora, mostly as young children, but also as young women. I'm fascinated by the pictures he draws of his children. They are tender and gentle. The children share their father's joy of hiking and exploring caves, but sometimes he has to explore their fears. They challenge him with questions and with doubts and he answers them truthfully with thoughtful answers. The girls look up to him for guidelines and he listens to their observations and attempts to help them navigate in a complicated world.

Gravnick is several novels woven into one. It is a love story, first and foremost, but also a twisted family saga of murder, disguise, trickery and greed. Two families are involved - one mafioso, the other Jewish. Hard-edged and fast-paced, Gravnick takes us into the darkest realms of revenge and exploitation. But underlyng everything is the search for love and redemption; once found, the darkness vanishes and the light shines through. This is a story of how faith and beauty can overcome any amount of corruption and depravity.