Showing results by narrator "Gary Roelofs" in All Categories

Public Gardens and Livable Cities uses a prescriptive approach to synthesize a range of public, private, and nonprofit initiatives from municipalities throughout the country. In doing so, the authors examine the initiatives from a practical perspective to identify how they were implemented, their sustainability, the obstacles they encountered, the impact of the initiatives on their populations, and how they dealt with the communities' underlying social problems. 

Between the 1970s and the 1990s American journalists began telling the news by telling stories. They borrowed narrative techniques, transforming sources into characters, events into plots, and their own work from stenography to anthropology. This was more than a change in style. It was a change in substance, a paradigmatic shift in terms of what constituted news and how it was being told. Thomas Schmidt analyzes the expansion of narrative journalism and the corresponding institutional changes in the American newspaper industry in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Longtime fly fisherman Quinn Grover had contemplated the “why” of his fishing identity before, more recently, becoming focused on the “how” of it. He realized he was a dedicated fly fisherman, in large part, because public lands and public waterways in the West made it possible. In Wilderness of Hope Grover recounts his fly-fishing experiences with a strong evocation of place, connecting those experiences to the ongoing national debate over public lands.

In this illuminating audiobook, Thomas Kidd draws on his expertise in American religious history to retrace the arc of this spiritual movement, illustrating just how historically peculiar that political and ethnic definition (white Republican) of evangelicals is. He examines distortions in the public understanding of evangelicals and shows how a group of “Republican insider evangelicals” aided the politicization of the movement. This book will be a must-listen for those trying to better understand the shifting religious and political landscape of America today.

In a dramatic unveiling of the little-known world of contracted military logistics, Adam Moore examines the lives of the global army of laborers who support US overseas wars. Empire's Labor brings us the experience of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who perform jobs such as truck drivers and administrative assistants at bases located in warzones in the Middle East and Africa. He highlights the changes the US military has undergone since the Vietnam War.

As American interests assumed global proportions after 1945, policy makers were faced with the challenge of prioritizing various regions and determining the extent to which the United States was prepared to defend and support them. Superpowers and developing nations soon became inextricably linked and decolonizing states such as Vietnam, India, and Egypt assumed a central role in the ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Wilber Winkle was called a "national treasure" by no less than TV's Larry King, and his book was dubbed the funniest in decades by American Bookseller. What does Mr. Winkle do? Without fear, he writes letters to the massive corporations responsible for popular consumer products, demanding satisfaction and complaining about even the most minor of flaws. And miraculously, the corporations answer.

Toilet experiences are an unfortunate yet essential aspect of living that, like it or not, we all must come to terms with, whether on the home front or in strange exotic foreign lands. The necessity of dealing with toilets, where to find them; what to do about them; and how to use them even, elicits from many travelers nothing less than abject terror.

Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers sent back to the front again and again under duress. Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression, or acute stress, all symptoms of PTSD. Other soldiers poorly adjust when they get home. This self-help manual provides urgent relief to the soldiers of long and multiple deployments in Iraq or just retuning home. Chapters are first-aid kits of fast, practical, and effective strategies to defuse stress and feel emotionally alive again.

Will Bevis is a writer of short stories, articles, essays, and memoirs. His best-known story is the Top One Hundred Free for Kindle story, "The Killing of Train-Man Brown". He has written over 50 short stories including, "Then Her Wig Fell Off", "Let the Dog Drive", "Blackbird", and many, many others. About this story: The author stumbles across a "mysterious" yard sale where he almost gets his butt kicked by an "alien" geezer. Come along for the ride. Better his butt than yours, right?

Hang on to your shamrocks and shillelaghs, folks! Max Blake, that hard-boiled private detective and former muck-raking journalist, along with his fearless fiancée Caeli Brown are back in action and up to their Walther P99s in slick, hypnotic robberies and terrorist plots in their newly adopted Irish homeland. A favor to a new friend who works with the Irish police brings them out of retirement to solve a series of thefts at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park which cater to the tourist crowd. 

Beginning with America’s first newspaper, investigative reporting has provided journalism with its most significant achievements and challenging controversies. In The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism, James L. Aucoin provides listeners with the first comprehensive history of investigative journalism. 

In his preface to this reissue of the 1990 book, Challenging the Boundaries of Reform, W. J. Conroy reflects on the recent legacy of Bernie Sanders, his agenda for America, and his appeal to young voters. His audiobook then looks back to identify Sanders’ experience in Burlington by examining several case studies that unfolded amid a conservative trend nationally, an unsympathetic state government, and a hostile city council.

There were, Peter Thompson notes, some 150 synonyms for inebriation in common use in colonial Philadelphia and, on the eve of the Revolution, just as many licensed drinking establishments. Clearly, 18th-century Philadelphians were drawn to the tavern. In addition to the obvious lure of the liquor, taverns offered overnight accommodations, meals, and stabling for visitors. They also served as places to gossip, gamble, find work, make trades, and gather news.

REITs do not have to pay taxes on the income they distribute to unit holders - and the government requires them to distribute at least 90% This means they pay out a lot more money than ordinary corporations (who have to pay corporate taxes).

Navy Lieutenant G. Palmatier has a small problem: A polar bear. But he's not going to let a little thing like that come between him and the crazy redhead he loves. Especially since he's so drunk he won't feel a thing til after it is all over. Don't try what he tries at home.

Trying to Make It is R. V. Gundur's journey from the US-Mexico border to America's heartland, from America's prisons to its streets, in search of the true story of the drug trade and the people who participate in it. The book begins in the Paso del Norte area, encompassing the sister cities of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, which has been in the public eye as calls for securing the border persist. From there, it moves on to Phoenix, which was infamously associated with the drug trade through a series of kidnappings....

Drawing on cutting edge research from the Institute of HeartMath, California, as well as Shelley Davidow's extensive experience in working with children and teens, Raising Stress-Proof Kids explores the powerful and potentially long-term effects of stress on our children. Most importantly, it offers simple but effective steps that parents can take to minimize the impact of stress at home and at school.

Five short stories of growing up in a dysfunctional family.

Finger Man is a collection of five short stories, soon to be available in audio format.