Las Vegas, NV, – Writer H. Lee Barnes lives in Las Vegas and teaches English and Creative Writing at the College of S. Nevada – a far cry from his days on the battlefield as a member of a Special Forces A-team in Vietnam. Typical of many young men in the early 60’s, Barnes was in college and drifting along as an average student when a letter from his Draft Board made the decision of what he would be doing for the next couple of years of his life. He enlisted in the Army and became, much to his own surprise, a member of the elite Green Beret.
There are the legends of the Green Berets and their clandestine, special operations that are celebrated in story and song, and then there’s the reality of one soldier’s experiences. In When We Walked Above The Clouds: A Memoir of Vietnam (University of Nebraska Press) by H. Lee Barnes, we share first-hand the day-to-day loss and drudgery that more accurately conveys the daily grind and quiet desperation behind the polished-for-public-consumption accounts of military heroics.
Barnes tells what it was like to be a Green Beret; first in the Dominican Republic during the civil war of 1965, and then at A-107, Tra Bong, Vietnam, where he eventually came to serve as the advisor to a Combat Recon Platoon which consisted chiefly of Montagnard irregulars.
While Barnes sees his months of simply doing what the mission demanded as nothing to get excited over (after all, bad coffee, heat, insects, sickness, killing rats, cleaning guns and building bunkers, make up the routine nature of war), he skillfully communicates how this predictability makes the intensity of patrols and attacks all the more menacing, and his book makes for a very sobering read.
He recalls a particular routine patrol that had gone wrong and four of his own and a large number of Vietnamese and Montagnard tribesmen were killed. As he lifted a buddy’s decomposed body off the ground, both a hatred for the enemy and the stupidity of the war emerged and he began his own patrols. He learned to do what few other Americans in his outfit could – climb the treacherous mountains and survive the unforgiving conditions as well as a native. Learning to trust the jungle and all its dangers, he felt more alive than he had before or ever has since.
Barnes’s story is one of loss – of morale lost to alcoholism, teammates lost to friendly fire, of missions that were aborted, and those that were endlessly and futilely repeated. As the story advances, so does the attrition – teammates get transferred, innocence is cast off, and confidence in leadership dwindles. But against this dark background, Barnes manages to honor these men who nonetheless carried the day.
This rare look into life as a Green Beret makes a compelling read. Nearly fifty years later, Barnes writes that “Vietnam is the only thing in my life that isn’t fiction,” and his book stands as a tribute to the contribution the men of this elite group made, both the routine and the brave.
Before Vietnam Vet H. Lee Barnes entered the field of higher education, he worked in various law enforcement positions and as a construction laborer and a casino employee. He is a hiker and biker who loves to tour the highways of the southwest and occasionally rambles down its inviting back roads…just curious to see what’s around the next corner.
For more information on this award-winning author, please visit: www.hleebarnes.net.
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Kirkus Review: “…offers a moving memoir of his time at war in Vietnam…Nearly 50 years later, Barnes writes that “Vietnam is the only thing in my life that isn’t fiction.” In the grand scheme of things, not much happened at Tra Bong; “the life of a trooper out here meant little, except to those who were out here.” But with sharp and unsentimental prose, Barnes makes it matter a great deal. A war remembrance of beauty and unadorned brutality.”
McKinney, TX, – Howard Stephen Berg is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for reading more than 25,000 words a minute and writing more than 100 words a minute. But it’s not just his reading and writing skills that make him a well-known figure; it’s his brain-based learning strategies that make it possible to comprehend and retain the information. Since his strategies can be learned by anyone, the possibilities are mind-boggling!
Berg once completed a 1,100 page book on Cleveland’s Morning Exchange and achieved a perfect score on recall – what makes it truly astounding is that he was retested three years later on the same book and again had perfect recall. As a guest on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, he memorized a 200-page book, reading at the rate of 13-14 pages/minute, and scored 100% accuracy on an extensive test given by the author.
Berg has created more than 14 other accelerated learning programs that include speed math and memory. His Time-Warner book Super Reading Secrets is in its 28th reprint and his Nightingale-Conant program, Mega Speed Reading, grossed over $65,000,000 and earned him recognition as a leading expert on brain-based learning. He has been honored by both Who’s Who Among Emerging Leaders and 2,000 Notable American Men; two leading books that track outstanding professional performance.
Known as the world’s fastest reader, Berg’s talents are attributed to the cutting-edge, accelerated learning techniques he developed that turn information overload into information assets. His methods have not only enabled the unemployed to get back to work sooner by teaching them additional skills that make them more marketable, but by continuing to apply these skills they will stay on top of the information their success depends upon! He makes life easier by cutting learning time in half – giving everyone the opportunity to succeed but with more time left for the things they enjoy.
Howard Berg is an entertaining celebrity who has appeared on over one thousand radio and television programs including Neil Cavuto and Jon Stewart, and is the spokesperson for the Sony E-Reader along with Justin Timberlake, Peyton Manning and Amy Sedaris. He ‘walked the talk’ by completing a four year Psychology program in one year using his brain-based learning techniques, leading the way for many others to follow as evidenced by the testimonials on his website at : www.speedreadprogram.com.
W. Berry Fowler, Founder Sylvan Learning Centers: “Maximum Power Reading is not only one of the most effective ways an individual can increase their reading rate, it’s easy to learn. I congratulate you on your success and the success of your students.”
Maurice C. Thompson, Jr. Past President & Chairman of Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics: “I feel you have moved one step beyond speed reading to speed learning, bringing the discipline into the 21st Century.”
Claire Herthum Major, President ASTD Baton Rouge Chapter: “Evaluations showed 100% exceeded or met expectations…”
Albuquerque, NM, – ‘Just as talking about sex won’t make you pregnant, talking about funerals won’t make you dead’ – says Gail Rubin, author of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die (Light Tree Press). Rubin uses gentle humor to convey vital information about funeral arrangements that most people don’t learn until faced with a death in the family.
With chapters named Over My Dead Body, I Got It At Costco, and It’s My Party and I’ll Die If I Want To, Rubin has overcome society’s last taboo with a book like no other – a great resource minus the morbidity! Rubin’s book provides the information, inspiration and tools to plan and implement creative, meaningful and memorable end-of-life rituals for people and pets while taking the fear out of the subject of death.
Given the fact that only 24% of us pre-plan a funeral and less than 46% tell our family our final wishes – it’s evident we plan our finances, families and retirement, but rarely plan our funerals. Without end-of-life planning, all of life’s other plans can come undone. For this reason an annual event, Create a Great Funeral Day (that occurs every October), was started twelve years ago to remind people of the many benefits of planning their own end-of-life event.
Rubin’s new book, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, goes one step further with resources to help reduce family conflict, avoid stress at a time of grief, prepare directives, obituaries, eulogies, ethical wills, cards and thank-you notes, and save readers thousands of dollars in the process. She also presents background on many religious traditions and creative non-religious rituals – especially helpful for interfaith families.
This Doyenne of Death speaks to groups on funeral planning issues using comedy films to lighten the conversation. A Certified Celebrant and event planner, Rubin has been interviewed on television affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, as well as on public radio. Her book was a finalist in the Family & Relationships Category of ForeWord Magazine’s 2010 Book of the Year Award; has been featured in Entrepreneur.com’s article ‘Weird Companies That Work!’ and quoted in a Kiplinger Retirement Report article ‘Selling a burial plot is a grave decision.’
Once a year, like the characters in Harold and Maude, Rubin attends funerals of strangers. During her second annual “30 Funerals in 30 Days Challenge,” she covered each one with a video and wrote about them on The Family Plot Blog. Rubin shares the creative ways people celebrate the lives of those they love and emphasizes that funerals are a life cycle event much like a wedding (and better if planned more than a few days ahead). Rubin sees this as a healthier way of dealing with death – “we know it’s going to happen to all of us some day so let’s make it more comfortable to talk about and plan for.”
Jacqueline Marcell, Author, Speaker, Radio Host: “…an upbeat guide book that brings a light touch to the “icky” subject everyone tries to avoid. Gail is our perky party planner (ok, so it’s for a party no one wants to go to) but hey, her humor will keep you reading and learning what most don’t learn until a crisis or a death–which is a really bad time to find out!… I think it is a must-read for Baby Boomers…and well, any adult still breathin’! Gail was a dynamic guest on my Internet radio program.”
Sylvia Martin, Marriage & Family Therapist: “Rubin approaches a taboo subject in a humorous, sensitive, compassionate manner. She has done her research fully and presents easy to follow, practical steps to take in funeral planning. ..It’s no secret that 67 per cent of American adults are overweight…These bigger bodies need bigger caskets for burial and that has implications for boomers with bad backs who may be pallbearers… This is a very readable book on a difficult subject. I was impressed with her humanism, psychological awareness and empathy.”
Sheryl Inglat, Comfort Keepers: “Rubin has taken a highly emotional subject and turned it into a topic that’s easy to chat about …Her perspective and casualness of the subject of death brings an acceptance most people can’t typically speak of openly. Most valuable to me, as a Gerontologist, were the notes on religious ceremonies – from Hindu to Mormon to Native American and everything in between. What a great resource!”
Boca Raton, FL, – “In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” – Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
“Meet the new generation of consciousness-raising. Gabe’s simple, yet profound message can be a life-changer.” – Alan Colmes, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
What more can one say after hearing the casually existential cliches, carpe diem, “live every moment like it was your last” or ‘live like there’s no tomorrow?” Blogger and Miami Herald columnist, Gabe Berman wants us to “live like a fruit fly.”
Berman reminds us of that cheerful thought; we are all dying. We’ve been dying since the moment we were born–which in the world of fruit flies seems enviable since they only get to enjoy a life span of a few weeks. Berman wants us to stop wasting time, to make peace and happiness our top priority. Sure, we’ve all heard this hundreds of times, but ask yourself: are you really embracing every moment?
Unconventional and endearing, Live Like a Fruit Fly: The Secret You Already Know (HCI Books –$14.95) makes the sage advice “Seize the day” feel like a revolutionary concept . . . a contemporary twist on an age-old maxim.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE LIKE A FRUIT FLY? Fruit flies are born, begin attending to their fruit-fly agendas almost immediately, and then succumb to old age before witnessing a single change of season. Likewise, we live and die in the virtual blink of an eye.
Live Like a Fruit Fly is a call to action. Through anecdotes, insightful musings, candid stories, and hopeful messages, it emphasizes the importance of following your passions as well as being grateful through Active Appreciation, the gentle but concentrated art of meditating on ‘thank you’ for everything that has happened, is happening,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gabe Berman is a native New Yorker who settled in South Florida after graduating from the University of Miami. An epiphany, a passion, and a trail of breadcrumbs led him out of Corporate America and into a writing career. His columns appear regularly in The Miami Herald and on Alan.com. Visit the author at: www.livelikeafruitfly.com
Available wherever books are sold or to order directly from the publisher, contact: (800) 441-5569 or www.hcibooks.com.
LIVE LIKE A FRUIT FLY The Secret You Already Know $14.95 ISBN: 978-0-7573-1569-5 August 2011
Palm Beach, FL, – Americans love traditions and every family has a favorite. Any time is the perfect time to read a mysteriously ‘creepy’ tale to children – one that is garnering acclaim and attention at schools around the country. We are talking about Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes, and the Good Luck Circle (Health Communications, Inc.) by Frank McKinney. The wild tales in McKinney’s brilliant novel were inspired by thousands of one-mile trips to school with his daughter Laura on their daily trek through a dense grove of trees, past an eerie nature preserve and over a rickety drawbridge.
It is the story of Ppeekk (pronounced ‘Peekie’) Rose Berry, who is forced to walk to her first day of school after moving from rural Indiana to sunny Florida. Ppeekk has an unexpected chance encounter with a mysterious little man who leads her to find King Frederick the 9th, a flattened, 3-inch, dead Shiner fish who comes to life in her hands. She aptly names him “Dead Fred,” and is soon introduced to his brilliant underwater kingdom of High Voltage.
She discovers that Dead Fred has been dethroned by Megalodon, a fiendish 50-foot prehistoric shark who uses his entourage of vicious crabs, blood-red remora fish and three ghastly creatures to threaten and extract the imagination and joy of children everywhere – and bring the kingdom of High Voltage to an abrupt end. As she and Dead Fred learn to love and trust one another, he enlists her help in trying to save High Voltage from the evil beast.
Ppeekk and her friends use all their resources, including themselves as human bait, to lure Megalodon and his rogue army into the fight of their lives in a heart-pounding adventure that takes place in the middle of a fierce and deadly Category 5 hurricane.
This best-selling author’s first venture into young reader fiction has reached number five on Amazon.com’s top-selling young reader books for teen adventure/thriller. Visit McKinney’s interactive website to see how Dead Fred is charged with enthralling magic and page-turning suspense at: www.dead-fred.com.
Frank McKinney has been profiled on Oprah (2x), 20/20, CBS Evening News, USA Today and Travel Channel. His seemingly bottomless well of creativity and imagination is exemplified in Dead Fred. He is a five-time international best-selling author, philanthropist and visionary. Please check out some of Frank’s colorful TV appearances at: http://frank-mckinney.com/franks_greatest_hits.html .
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Steve Alten, NY Times best-selling author of the MEG series: “An engaging and uplifting tale with more interesting characters than a Narnia adventure.” Randell L. Grant: “I had a wonderful time reading this along with my 10yr old Johanna. We made it even more fun by making different voices to go along with the many characters. Johanna didn’t want to stop reading and was disappointed to have to wait until the next night to continue. To hear her yell with joy when Dead Fred came back to life was so special. The book tells a story about the challenges we all face in everyday life – from interacting with each other in the family, making new friends, overcoming adversity, life’s triumphs and the fact that there are always new challenges (Megalodon’s) down the road.” William Harbison: “I believe that Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes and the Good Luck Circle is one of the finest children’s books ever written. The love that Frank McKinney has poured into this book is incredible! It is exciting and fun for kids as well as adults! I would highly recommend Frank’s masterpiece Dead Fred!”
Las Vegas, NV, – Acclaimed author, syndicated columnist, and entrepreneur Farrah Gray offers readers Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out (HCI) as a tool to help them get ahead – even in our current poor economy. Raised in the projects on the south side of Chicago, Gray defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14.
Gray began his entrepreneurial, personal and civic development as a stellar young citizen at six years old, selling homemade body lotion and his own hand-painted rocks as bookends door-to-door. At age seven, he was carrying business cards reading “21st Century CEO.” He went on to foster companies as diverse as a venture capital fund to food manufacturing.
His rise from poverty to international renown as an entrepreneurial icon and preeminent power speaker has inspired millions around the world and his story is now available to readers in Reallionaire; Get Real, Get Rich; and The Truth Shall Make You Rich. Gray’s books have been translated into Russian, German, Polish, French, Korean, Indonesian, and Vietnamese, with book sales in Africa, Australia and Europe, and in Central and South American countries. Gray’s books have also become required reading in university classrooms at Harvard and Princeton, among others.
Gray has extensive experience advising readers about personal and professional matters. He is a syndicated columnist with the National Newspaper Publishers Association of 200 weekly newspapers reaching more than 15 million readers. As an AOL Money Coach, Gray gives daily leadership, personal and professional development, diversity, strategic planning, creativity, and financial management advice to millions of AOL subscribers.
His sense of social responsibility motivated him to create the non-profit organization The Farrah Gray Foundation, which focuses on inner city community-based entrepreneurship education and provides financial assistance for students from at-risk backgrounds to attend historically black colleges and universities. He donates his speaking engagement honorariums, which can be upwards of $15,000, and the proceeds of his book to his foundation.
At the age of 21, in recognition of his ingenious, economic mind and distinguished commitment to values such as leadership, integrity, and scholarship, Gray received an Honorary Doctorate degree of Humane Letters from Allen University. He holds a Key to the City from Dallas, Shreveport, and Cincinnati. He has also received Proclamations from the governors of Illinois and Nevada, the mayors of Louisville, Kentucky, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Wilmington, Delaware, and St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Dr. Gray’s Awards include The National Urban League Whitney M. Young Jr. Entrepreneurship Award, The Alabama A & M Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Award, The Davidson College Love of Learning Lifetime Educational Achievement Award, Central State University Award of Appreciation for contributions made in the area of entrepreneurship, NV Magazine Vision Award, and the American Red Cross Award of Appreciation.
Reallionaire is available online and in bookstores everywhere. Learn more about this inspiring figure at: www.Farrahgray.com
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Bill Clinton, (Former) President of the United States of America: “I know Farrah Gray and we have discussed his future. His motivation determines what he will do. His attitude determines how well he will succeed at making a difference.”
O: The Oprah Magazine dubbed Farrah Gray an “all-star” with “priceless advice.”
Suze Orman, New York Times Bestselling Author: “You are just the best and the real thing.”
Good Morning America: “Farrah Gray is the ultimate American success story.”
ABC 20/20: “America’s Reallionaire.”
CNN: “Farrah Gray, the youngest African American of his generation to make his mark on Wall Street and to become a millionaire.”
MSN.com placed Farrah Gray on its 2010 Young Tycoons List along with Mark Zuckerberg.
New York, NY, – For anyone who loves Hollywood memorabilia, is an entertainment junkie, and loves to eat and cook – they will treasure Frank DeCaro’s The Dead Celebrity Cookbook: A Resurrection of Recipes from More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen (HCI Books). Frank compiled favorite recipes from some of Hollywood’s biggest names; including Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Taylor, Sonny Bono, Liberace, Michael Jackson, John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Humphrey Bogart, and Peter Falk, just to name a few.
“I love these dead celebrities! They’re the stars I grew up watching, and they deserve to be remembered even if they were more talented on screen than they were in the kitchen. Frank clearly worships them as much as I do, and after reading The Dead Celebrity Cookbook you will, too.” -Rosie O’Donnell
“Celebrities die–eventually–but their recipes live on, thanks to Frank DeCaro’s thorough and thoroughly delicious book. DeCaro’s dry wit is tasty, and judging from these yummy concoctions, most of these celebs died really happy!” –Michael Musto, Village Voice
Inspired by a “Dead Celebrity Party” during his college years, DeCaro thought the one thing missing from the event was the food of the dead. Since then, he’s been collecting recipes of the stars and lucky for us, he’s put them together in, THE DEAD CELEBRITY COOKBOOK: A Resurrection of Recipes from More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen (HCI Books – October 2011- $19.95).
DeCaro, who is best known for his nearly 7-year stint as the movie critic on The Daily Show with John Stewart, and now heard weekdays on his own call-in radio show, gives us a giggle while feeding us treats from Tinsel Town like: Liberace’s Sticky Buns, Mae West’s Fruit Compote, John Ritter’s Favorite Fudge and Bea Arthur’s Vegetarian Breakfast.
THE DEAD CELEBRITY COOKBOOK is here to remind you that before there were celebrity chefs, there were celebrities who fancied themselves as chefs. They were whipping up culinary delights, and sometimes sharing them with us on shows like Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas or even Johnny Carson. DeCaro gives us some entertaining and informative commentary before each section of recipes in chapters that include: “Talk Show Chow,” “An All-Night Oscar Buff,” and “I Lunch Lucy,” a whole section dedicated to the red-haired TV goddess.
Says DeCaro, “I miss those days when celebrities still had mystery about them, and a glimpse inside their radar ranges seemed, for any fan, like a window into the world of glamour and excitement, which is why I put together this book.” This book delivers recipes that the stars are dying for you to make.
Best known for his years as the flamboyant movie critic on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Frank DeCaro is heard each weekday morning on his live national call-in program The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. A writer and performer, DeCaro pens the “Icons” column for CBS Watch magazine. The author of the pioneering memoir A Boy Named Phyllis, DeCaro previously wrote the “Style Over Substance” column for The New York Times. Visit the author at frankdecaro.com and on Facebook, and follow him at twitter.com/frankdecaroshow.
Available online or at bookstores or to order directly from the publisher, contact: (800) 441-5569 or www.hcibooks.com. THE DEAD CELEBRITY COOKBOOK: A Resurrection of Recipes from More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen Frank Decaro ISBN: 978-9-7573-1596-1– $19.95 — October 2011
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Brini Maxwell, author of Brini Maxwell’s Guide to Gracious Living and creator of felixpopuli.com: “I adore this book so much I find myself on the horns of a dilemma–make the recipes or kill myself so I can be in the sequel.”
Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough,, bestselling authors of more than twenty cookbooks including Lobsters Scream When You Boil Them and 100 Other Myths About Food and Cooking: “Hankering for star-powered recipes? With this laugh-out-loud encyclopedia of Hollywood culinaria, Frank DeCaro brings out the real ‘celebrity chefs’ in spades. Or with a spade.”
Lisa Lampanelli, comedienne: “Frank DeCaro has the most delectable treats I’ve ever tasted — and the recipes aren’t bad, either! My dying wish is to have one of my recipes in The Dead Celebrity Cookbook II. Anyone for the Queen of Mean’s ‘So-Good-You’ll-Slap-Yo-Mama Chicken ’n Waffles’?”
Bob Smith, author of Remembrance of Things I Forgot: “Frank DeCaro’s two obsessions–food and the famous–have been hilariously united in The Dead Celebrity Cookbook. Reading Frank is like breaking your diet with your funniest best friend.”
SAMPLE RECIPE FROM THE DEAD CELEBRITY COOKBOOK Peter Falk 1927-2011 He was one of the great ones–appearing in films as disparate as The Princess Bride and Wings of Desire in the same year, 1987. But no matter what Peter Falk did (and he did a lot), he will always be remembered as the police detective in the rumpled raincoat on the mystery series Columbo. The character, one he played for more than thirty years beginning in 1971, is one of TV’s most indelible portraits. Among Falk’s most beloved films were the cult hit The In-Laws, the one-two Neil Simon punch of Murder by Death and The Cheap Detective, and six pictures with his buddy, the director/actor John Cassavetes, including the 1974 classic A Woman Under the Influence. The Emmy- and Oscar-nominated actor published his memoir Just One More Thing in 2006, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. Falk was diagnosed with dementia two years later. Just one more thing: His pork chops are as toothsome as he was.
Peter Falk’s Pork Chops 6 pork chops 1 medium onion, finely chopped ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup white vinegar Salt and pepper, to taste 1 teaspoon thyme 1 cup water ½ cup liquid from jarred vinegar peppers 1 cup (or more) vinegar peppers 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Preheat oven to 350°. Brown pork chops in olive oil in a heavy frying pan and remove to a casserole. Cook onions until translucent in same oil and add to casserole. Deglaze pan by adding white vinegar and stirring up all brown bits. Add to casserole along with all remaining ingredients except vinegar peppers. Bake for 1½ hours. Add vinegar peppers and cook 15 minutes more. Remove pork chops and peppers to a warm serving plate. Add 2 teaspoons corn starch to pan drippings to make gravy. Pour over pork chops and peppers and serve.
Cutting Room Floor (sidebar): You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but Idris Elba, the hulking British actor best known as Stringer Bell on HBO’s The Wire, has said that his edgy detective character on Luther owes a debt to Falk. Luther, a childhood fan of Columbo and creator Neil Cross, explains that both the classic American mystery show and the smoking hot BBC crime series are “howcatchems” not whodunits, and no one did that better than Lt. Frank Columbo.
