Helicopter Parenting – Overparenting an Epidemic
#overparenting #childrearing #parental Helicopter parenting is the term for it. In The Overparenting Epidemic, George S. Glass, MD and David Tabatsky cast a wide net. The authors want to engage parents in an examination of their own parenting practices. Toward that end, the authors gently guide readers with self-assessment exercises and oblique anecdotes about some…
Read MoreElephants, Mankind’s Last Innocence Endangered
#elephants #poaching #endangeredspecies #safari When Cecil, a magnificent twelve year old male lion, was killed by Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, the world took note. Finally, a cowardly act so outrageous in its cruelty gave rise to an outcry from thousands. Perhaps now, in the anger and grief, attention will be focused on the…
Read MorePhilip Kenney’s “Where Roses Bloom”
Where Roses Bloom, Philip Kenney’s recent book of poetry, is an impressive body of work, especially when the poet’s novel, Radiance, is included in any consideration of the author’s output. The title might suggest sentimentality in his approach. “Roses,” as a word, has many connotations. But do not be misled. Kenney’s work is fresh, challenging,…
Read MorePoet Robert Lax – Michael N. McGregor’s Powerful Biography
Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax by Michael N. McGregor is a powerful biography of a poet who only recently has been recognized for his contributions to the evolution of contemporary poetry. The book succeeds on several levels. Lax was born to immigrant parents in Olean, New York in 1915. The middle class…
Read MorePowerful, Profound Novel Looks at Racism in America Today
#leonardpittsjr #grantpark #racism Malcolm Toussaint is a haunted man. He was in position to save Martin Luther King from assassination but failed to move fast enough to get the civil rights leader out of harm’s way. Only nineteen years old on that fateful balcony in Memphis in April, 1968. the tragedy lodges in his subconscious.…
Read MoreCast Overcomes Flawed Script in The Three Musketeers at The Barter Theatre
The Three Musketeers was presented for the first time ever on Saturday, September 11, 2015 at The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA. Artistic Director Richard Rose made sure his audience was aware of the occasion in his opening remarks. Over they years, The Barter has many notable successes in presenting dramas that were not originally…
Read MoreMidwestern Yankee in a Tar Heel State – Part II
I am a Midwesterner by birth. My grandfather homesteaded in South Dakota. Until my dad went off to college, he had never left his native state. My father referred to the northeastern part of the country as the Wicked East. “People out there,” he often said, “line up on one side of the room to…
Read MoreMidwestern Yankee in the Tar Heel State – Part I
I moved to Winston-Salem, NC, in December, 1978. Yep. A long time ago by most measures. For guy who grew up in the Midwest, the adjustments to take up residence in the South took some time. For one thing, the countryside was no longer flat. I couldn’t step out onto the back porch early in…
Read MoreRecovery from Major Surgery Requires Gumption
#by-passsurgery #heartattack #convalesces #cardiac Recovery from major surgery is a drawn out process. Depending on the patient’s age and physical condition, it can take months. The body has absorbed a tremendous shock, especially with highly invasive procedures like coronary bypass surgery, joint replacement, or organ transplant. The patient’s strength is depleted. Muscles that worked…
Read MoreCoronary Bypass Surgery Commonplace and Life Extending for Many.
#bypasssurgery #coronary #openheart Coronary bypass surgery has been around for more than 50 years. Yet to the patient, most of whom experience the procedure only once, undergoing the operation can give rise to anxiety. The survival rate is actually very high. Less than 5 percent mortality in the first thirty days and less than 8…
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