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Archive for September, 2012

Not Just A Walk In The Park: Two Men Complete First-Ever Trek Around Death Valley National Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Death Valley,
CA – This month, extreme endurance athlete Marshall Ulrich and
firefighter Dave Heckman finished an unprecedented expedition, going on
foot around the perimeter of Death Valley National Park during the
hottest part of summer, completely unaided and unassisted. They began on
July 22 and concluded 16 days later on August 7.

While others
have trekked in this area, no one has attempted to circumnavigate the
park, and certainly not during the height of summer when the threat of
dehydration and heat stroke are dire. To grasp the gravity of this,
consider that on the same day Ulrich and Heckman finished their trek,
another accomplished ultrarunner died in Death Valley after just a few
hours under the blazing sun.

To survive the scorching 120°+
temperatures and be self-sufficient even as they moved through remote
areas, crossed six mountain ranges with a total of about 40,000 feet of
elevation gain, and covered approximately 425 miles, the men had buried
water, food, and supplies along their route two months earlier. Nearly
all of the 37 caches were intact; in one, the water had leaked out, and a
few were invaded by insects, but none of this created a shortage and
they had enough water and food to sustain them throughout the journey.

Still,
at 5’9″, 61-year-old Ulrich dropped 10 pounds, and Heckman, who is
5’11″ and age 38, dropped 25 pounds. They attribute the rapid weight loss to the exertion and adaptation required to complete 20 to 34 miles a day in an extreme environment.

They saw no other hikers along the way, just a couple of cars and one park ranger,
some hardy desert animals and plants, hundreds of defunct mining sites,
Charlie Manson’s old hiding place, an active gold mine, several ghost
towns, and jaw-dropping landscapes. More than anything else, they
encountered solitude.

Ulrich remarked, “It’s amazing how
self-sufficient you can become. When you strip away all the luxuries
we’re accustomed to in day-to-day living, you realize how little you
really need, how distracting a lot of that stuff is, and how it gets in
the way of a certain peacefulness you can find within yourself without
it.

“Probably the most beautiful thing we experienced was waking up at night and realizing that our only ceiling was the stars.”

This
groundbreaking circumnavigation of Death Valley National Park
constitutes a previously unimaginable feat, but it’s hardly Ulrich’s
first successful outing. He’s completed the Badwater Ultramarathon (also
run in Death Valley and known as “the toughest footrace in the world”)
more times than anyone else, won the race more times than anyone else,
set and holds records there, and was the first to run it four times in a
row as well as run it solo, completely unaided and self-supported. All
told, he’s competed in more than 100 races of more than 125 miles each
and a dozen multi-day adventure races. In his fifties, Ulrich summitted
the highest peaks on each continent, including Mount Everest, on first
attempts.

Without question, his toughest undertaking was at age
57, when he went 3,063 miles on foot from San Francisco to New York
City. He was attempting to break a world record established by a man
half his age, and he ultimately set two new records by completing the
third fastest trans-American crossing in history. He included all this
in his book, Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner’s Story of Love, Loss,
and a Record-Setting Run Across America.

When Ulrich first
heard Heckman’s plan to circumnavigate Death Valley National Park on
foot, he thought it was not only crazy but impossible. Now, Ulrich
happily admits he was only half right. Heckman insists this was one of
the best ideas he’s ever had, second only to getting married and having
kids. The two men shared highs and lows, and times when they questioned
whether they would survive, but they are grateful for the experience.

The
Death Valley expedition was professionally filmed, and Ulrich and
Heckman also shot 3-D footage. They hope it will be used to create a
documentary that highlights the history of the national park and raises
important questions about its future.

Please visit www.MarshallUlrich.com for a closer look at Ulrich’s adventures.

###

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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Music Legends Launching World Tour To Promote Peace Through Music – Grammy Winning Artists Highlight Concerts Commemorating U.N. Peace Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA — Legendary blues/rock musicians (present or former band members with Toto, Asia, Eric Clapton,
Guns N’ Roses, Dave Matthews Band, Carole King, Sergio Mendes, Lionel
Richie, and many others) are forming a new all-star band to promote
world peace through music. They will combine with
internationally-renowned music masters
from nine world cultures to launch a world tour, beginning with three
concerts in Southern California this month, in celebration of U.N.
International Peace Day.

The concerts to promote U.N. Peace Day
began three years ago through a joint venture between the United Nations
and Listen for Life, which was founded in 1998 as a global family of
music listeners, performers, and producers. The Listen for Life All-Star
Band is the latest effort to expand the reach of the “global peace
through music” mission, and follows prior Listen for Life concerts to
commemorate U.N. Peace Day in the U.S., Bosnia, Croatia, Kenya, and the
U.K.

“We are launching the all-star global concert tour in the
Los Angeles area because of its music industry roots, and the
springboard the area has offered to many legendary performers who
believe music can bridge global discord,” said Donna Stoering, Founder
of Listen for Life.

International recording artists from India,
China, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and the Mid-East are among those scheduled to
perform at the concerts in Southern California. They will represent nine
world cultures, and will play 17 different instruments unique to their
region. “The way these instruments come together in harmony is the way
we hope to unite musicians from around the globe in the spirit of world
peace,” said Stoering.  “That message will permeate all of the concert
performances by the Listen for Life All-Star Band and ethnic music
masters, worldwide, in the coming months and beyond.”

The Listen for Life Musicfests in Southern California will
be on Sept. 21 in Mission Viejo, September 27 at the Ford Amphitheatre
in Hollywood, and September 29 at the famed Ramona Bowl amphitheatre in
Hemet. For further information on locations, venues and tickets, see www.listenforlife.org/peaceday.

###

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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Music With A Purpose: To Change Lives And The World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Houston, TX –
Vaughaligan “Von Won” Walwyn was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and
raised on Houston’s southeast side. After this all-American athlete and
record holder in long jump had a career-ending knee injury about the
same time he lost his father to AIDS, it put him on a journey of bad
decisions which lead him to being repeatedly tazed and abused by police –
on a night he refers to as “Shock Therapy.”

This event pushed
Von Won to put down his reckless lifestyle of drinking, drug abuse and
chasing riches, to living a life of integrity. Von Won Walwyn has
emerged as an inspirational recording artist, writer and powerful
motivational speaker, who challenges youth and young adults around the
world to pursue their dreams and overcome all obstacles to reach their
goal.

Walwyn also heads up Von Won Ministries in Houston; a
faith based organization that targets at-risk youth in its ‘Mission
Possible’ program. While this ministry is spearheaded by Von Won, it
supports several ministers and operates in many dynamic functions that
share a common goal – to change the world through faith-based media.

Von
Won Walwyn is a graduate of Rice University, all-American
athlete/rapper, and a dedicated husband and father whose transition
released him from drugs and alcohol and empowered him to become a
successful gospel artist and motivational speaker.

Von Won set
out to change the negative impact many of today’s role models in music
and athletics have had on young people and, by raising the bar, he has
now given America’s youth a positive role model to emulate!

Von
Won Walwyn has been featured in the Houston Chronicle and appeared on
the Great Day Houston television show, CW News Fix and more. He has also
been the opener for Fred Hammond, T.D. Jakes and Kirk Franklin, among
other great celebrities.

For more information on this motivating speaker whose goal is not only to change lives but to change the world, please visit: www.vonwon.com .

###

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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A Practical Guide To Kick Almost Any Addiction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brentwood, TN –
Millions of people live what appear to be normal lives, yet they are
secretly numbing their emotional pain with alcohol, drugs, food and many
other lifestyle addictions. Michael Cartwright knows all about it; he
transformed his life, becoming clean, sober and a respected pioneer in
the recovery field. Now he shares his success in a practical and
readable book, Believable Hope: Five Essential Elements to Beat Any
Addiction (HCI).

“There was a time when the world wrote me off as
just another useless addict with no home, no money and no future,”
Cartwright says. “If I hadn’t found my own believable hope, my addiction
and mental health issues would have definitely killed me.”

This
book offers a real source of hope powerful enough to save your life or
the life of your loved one.  Believable Hope is a proven methodology
with a five-pronged approach that has helped tens of thousands of people
over the years. With personal accounts and principles that will help
anyone put an end to addictive behavior, Cartwright reveals why lasting
change is only possible when a person truly believes in the possibility
of change.  

“No matter what obstacles you may have, Believable
Hope delivers the solution in the form of Five Essential Elements,”
Cartwright continues. “With these, absolutely anybody can eliminate
whatever stands between them and their wildest dreams.”

He has
become a leading expert on recovery, serving on the Senate subcommittee
on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services and conducting 15
federally funded research studies to determine specific treatments most
successful in the recovery process. As Chairman of the Board for
American Addiction Centers, Michael Cartwright oversees thousands of
people in treatment for drugs, alcohol, food, obesity, gambling and
smoking. Michael Cartwright’s newest venture is FitRX, a remarkably
effective physician-directed weight loss retreat facility just outside
Nashville, TN. He is an avid fitness enthusiast; Cartwright has
experienced firsthand the dramatic transformation possible through
Believable Hope, losing 60 pounds in five months.

Michael
Cartwright is also the founder of Foundations Associates, now with four
alcohol and drug treatment facilities nationwide. He recently launched
an annual national conference focusing not only on drug and alcohol
addiction but on all lifestyle addictions: food, obesity, sex,
pornography, gambling, smoking and gaming.

There is no end in
sight for Michael Cartwright. He has a sincere goal to provide endless
resources to those who truly want freedom from the grip of addiction.

Please see: www.believablehope.com/

Believable Hope
HCI
ISBN 0757317308
$13.29

###

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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The Emotional Cost of the Struggle To Be An American

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Asheville, NC – The author might not be Jewish, but City of Slaughter (Daniel and Daniel Publishers, Inc.) by Cynthia Drew is beautifully written from a Jewish perspective, with meticulous research that provides a powerful picture of the plight of women at the beginning of the 20th Century, and the obstacles they were forced to overcome. Already on Amazon’s list of Best Selling Jewish American Literature and Fiction, City of Slaughter is an exceptional work of historical fiction that is both exciting and inspiring and takes readers back in time to see the world through the eyes of another culture.

When fourteen-year-old Carsie Akselrod’s parents are murdered by Cossacks during a raid on the shtetl, Carsie flees with her younger sister, Lilia, touching off a turbulent journey that ends eight months later on New York’s Lower East Side.  Plunged into the immigrant chaos of the most crowded square mile on earth, the two girls take sweatshop jobs – Carsie as a milliner’s apprentice and Lilia at the ill-fated Triangle Waist Company. It never occurs to Carsie that in her haste to live the life she strives for in America she hasn’t stopped to lament her parents’ deaths.

Life in the tenements shocks Carsie and is definitely not what she envisioned in her new life. When her first love, a gangster named Arnold Rothstein, leaves her for a showgirl she smothers her grief and anger once more. But when her sister is killed in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, (until 9/11 the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of New York City), Carsie is powerless to mourn in any way and is haunted by all she has lost in her struggle to be American. Alone and on the edge of madness, she tries to fight back against everything that has wronged her.  

Set against Tammany Hall politics, gangland crime, and the rise of the American garment trade, City of Slaughter runs the gamut of human emotion in a tale of a woman torn by love, family, faith and a drive for fulfillment to claim her place in New York’s fashionable high society.  

This profound historical tale, told through the lives of rich and engaging characters, propels readers into a time where faith, hope and inner strength were pivotal to a woman’s survival. The rave reviews on this extraordinary story confirm how the unexpected turns of events that take place in the life of its lead character make for one exhilarating read, not easy to put down.

Cynthia Drew’s short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and she teaches Creative Writing at UNC/Asheville’s Reuter Center. She worked for several years in New York’s garment district, where she became aware of the sweatshops that even today are peopled by immigrants. For more information on Cynthia Drew and her heartfelt debut novel, please visit her website at: www.cynthiadrew.com .

Available at fine bookstores, online outlets and author’s website
City of Slaughter
By Cynthia Drew
Publisher: Daniel & Daniel
ISBN-10: 1564745147
ISBN-13: 978-1564745149 

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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Thirty Days With My Father: Finding Peace From Wartime PTSD By Christal Presley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“An incredible memoir . . . an important
part of the still unhealed wounds of war. Christal has given as much of
her heart to this story as her father gave to his country.”
—Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, activist, and educator

“Whether
you are a professional who treats veterans and their loved ones, or a
person at risk for military PTSD, or anyone who cares, you will be
profoundly moved by this eloquent memoir.”
—Frank Ochberg, MD, award-winning mental health expert who helped define the term “post-traumatic stress disorder”

“Thirty
Days with My Father is an important addition to the literature of
trauma psychology, shining a beacon of hope for transformation and
healing.” 
—From the Foreword by Edward Tick, PhD, author, War and the Soul and founding co-director, Soldier’s Heart

“To
me, post-traumatic stress disorder was just a bunch of words. All I
knew was that it had something to do with my father’s brain, and he
seemed to be going crazy. And I knew it was bad because my mom told me
that if anyone found out how sick he was, they’d come and take him away
forever, and they’d take me away too, and she couldn’t live like that.
If he had to be that sick, I wanted him to have something everybody
could understand. So I picked brain cancer.”
—From Thirty Days with My Father

Atlanta,
GA – When Christal Presley’s father was eighteen, he was drafted to
Vietnam. Like many men of that era who returned home with post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), he was never the same. He spent much of her
childhood locked in his room, gravitating between the deepest depression
and unspeakable rage, unable to participate in holidays or birthdays.
At a very young age, Christal learned to walk on eggshells, doing
anything and everything not to provoke him, but this dance caused her to
become a profoundly disturbed little girl. She acted out at school,
engaged in self-mutilation, and couldn’t make friends. At the age of
eighteen, Christal left home and didn’t look back. She barely spoke to
her father for the next thirteen years.

To any outsider, Christal
appeared to be doing well: she earned a BA and a master’s, got married,
and traveled to India. But despite all these accomplishments, Christal
still hadn’t faced her biggest challenge—her relationship with her
father. In 2009, something changed. Christal decided it was time to
begin the healing process, and she extended an olive branch. She came up
with what she called “The Thirty Day Project,” a month’s worth of
conversations during which she would finally ask her father difficult
questions about Vietnam. Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from
Wartime PTSD (HCI) is a gritty yet heartwarming story of those thirty
days of a daughter and father reconnecting in a way that will inspire us
all to seek the truth, even from life’s most difficult relationships.
This beautifully realized memoir shares how one woman and her father
discovered profound lessons about their own strength and will to
survive, shedding an inspiring light on generational PTSD.

Christal
Presley, PhD, is the founder of United Children of Veterans
(www.unitedchildrenofveterans.com), a website that provides resources on
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children of war veterans. She
obtained her PhD in education in 2009, and is an instructional mentor
teacher in Atlanta Public Schools. This is her first book.   

Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from Wartime PTSD
By Christal Presley
Publisher: HCI
Release Date: November 1, 2012
ISBN-10: 0757316468
ISBN-13: 978-0757316463

Foreword by:

Edward
Tick, PhD, is the author of the groundbreaking book, War and the Soul,
and the founder of Soldier’s Heart. A practicing psychotherapist
specializing in veterans with PTSD, Dr. Tick received his master’s in
psychology from Goddard College in Vermont and his doctorate in
communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
He is known for his pioneering work with PTSD, and he continues his
healing work with veterans and other trauma survivors with innovative
yet time-honored methods.

###

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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God & Man On Wall Street —The Conscience Of Capitalism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scott Umstead,
President, Fusion Investment Group: “This remarkable book will change
the way you look at fixing Wall Street and redeeming capitalism.”

New
York, NY – Fed up with Wall Street? You’re not alone. It doesn’t have
to be this way! Craig Columbus and Mark Hendrickson turn the subject of
financial reform upside down. The authors pull no punches, taking both
Wall Street and central bankers to task. They also show you a different
side of the financial system, reminding us of the good Wall Street is
capable of doing. This hopeful book connects the head and the heart of
free markets—uncovering original solutions that cannot be reached by
regulations alone. Written for the financial professional and layman
alike, God and Man on Wall Street (Brick Tower Press) will both
challenge and inspire you.

A frequent commentator on financial
television for fifteen years, Craig Columbus is one of Wall Street’s
most recognizable strategists and financial executives. He also serves
as the chair of the entrepreneurship department and executive director
of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Grove City College.
Mark Hendrickson is adjunct professor of economics and Fellow for
Economic & Social Policy with the Center for Vision & Values at
Grove City College. He is a contributor to Forbes.com, and sits on the
Council of Scholars of the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania.

For more information, please see: www.bit.ly/OA4m92.

God & Man on Wall Street —The Conscience of Capitalism
By Craig Columbus with Mark W. Hendrickson
Brick Tower Press
ISBN: 978-1-883283-79-7
$17.95 US

###

Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]

www.ascotmediagroup.com

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