In the early 1900s the coming of the Wards Catalog, both the Summer and Winter issues, was an EVENT. There it appeared in the mailbox.... a picture book, a place for children to learn new words, the latest fashions and shoes. There was even a detailed method of measuring a child's foot. There was furniture, tools, toys and even baby chickens could be ordered. You could choose a variety of fowl, and even ask they to be sexed. There was no guarantee against a crowing 'hen' of two, it was just soup kettle for him. When outdated, the catalog furnished small, handy sheets of paper for multiple uses, and was finally relegated to the small house at the back of the property. So when Mr. John Hansen required a mother for his two young children, where would he look? That was a no-brainer for young Florie and Eddie... just look in the catalog.

Life was filled with long days of hard work in the 1930s and 1940s, however families thrived by working together and creating their own entertainment without the benefit of electronics. The author's family raised their own food, had only one car for a family of eight people, and had limited social activities. Yet, their style of life prepared them for a broader world by giving them the values of mutual love, compassion for others, and the ability to be self sufficient. The stories featured in this book are based on first person experiences while growing up during the depression on a farm in Iowa. The author's perceptions of the stories may differ somewhat from those of her siblings', who then are invited to share their own.

One of the great allegorical masterpieces of world literature, Cancer Ward is both a deeply compassionate study of people facing terminal illness and a brilliant dissection of the cancerous Soviet police state."

One of the great allegorical masterpieces of world literature, Cancer Ward is both a deeply compassionate study of people facing terminal illness and a brilliant dissection of the "cancerous" Soviet police state. --Publisher

Married in the '70s, Blakely expected to be the kind of mother society could admire. But, caught up in the women's movement--and an increasingly chaotic world--she soon lost her innocence about expert wisdom and began to break the rules. With humor and insight, this acclaimed journalist explodes the myths of motherhood today.

The letters Joseph War, one of the elite Marine Scout Snipers, wrote home reveal a side of the Vietnam war seldom seen. Whether under nigthly mortar attack in An Hoa, with a Marine company in the bullet-scarred jungle, on secret missions to Laos, or on dangerous two-man hunter-kills, Ward lived the war in a way few men did. And he fought the enemy as few men did--up close and personal. A Dual Main Selection of the Military Book Club From the Paperback edition.

A mother’s job is never done, but in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks to My Mom, she gets the praise she deserves! Children of all ages share their words of thanks in these 101 stories of love, learning, and gratitude to the woman they couldn’t have done without! This new collection is filled with heartwarming and entertaining anecdotes by grateful children, all in praise of the woman who encourages them, supports them, and most importantly, loves them. These stories will brighten any mother’s day, and show her that the kids were paying attention after all.

The life story of the five Ward brothers Drew, Charles, Willie, Frank and Ted who emerged from the cotton fields of Alabama to pimping and macking then to turning their lives over to God.

Her life turned upside-down when a Japanese internment camp is opened in their small Colorado town, Rennie witnesses the way her community places suspicion on the newcomers when a young girl is murdered.

Business journalist Robert Spector grew up working in his family's butcher shop in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where he learned invaluable lessons about the independent retail business. Mom & pop stores have always brought people together, fostering a sense of neighborhood identity and camaraderie, and are the glue that connects people in big cities and small towns alike. Long fascinated by the "direct connection" people feel as merchants and customers when they do business in neighborhood stores, at shops that are not super-sized, but human-sized, and responding to the growing "buy local" movement across the country, Spector set out to discover the state, and the state of mind, of independent retailing in America. From a specialty soda pop shop in Los Angeles to a florist shop in Dayton, Ohio, from a bakery in Chicago to a bookstore in Washington State, mom & pop store owners shared their stories with him, revealing the spirit and tenacity of the small business owner, dealing with frustration and defeat as well as triumph and success. Spector also interweaves the history of independent retailing. The Mom & Pop Store reflects the story of this country, for it embraces and cross-references every ethnic group, and virtually every element of our society.