Harrowing Experiences in Alaska Transform Young Bride Into Woman of Strength
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At the age of 23, new bride Deanne Burch accompanied her husband, Ernest “Tiger” Burch, to the Inuit village of Kivalina, Alaska, a barrier island 83 miles above the Arctic Circle. Tiger was conducting a study of the natives, but Deanne, a naïve city girl, was completely unprepared for what she was about to experience. Tiger would say that what happened to them was bad luck. Deanne calls it destiny.
In Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle, Deanne recounts in vivid detail her unforgettable story of the months spent in a remote Eskimo village.
“I think when something happens — the tragedy that happened to us in Alaska — you always live on the edge of it. You never forget what really happened,” Deanne said in a recent interview.
In Kivalina, Deanne lived on the edge of two worlds — the one she left behind and the one where she reluctantly participated in all aspects of the women’s lives. Skinning seals, cleaning and drying fish, and cutting beluga and caribou to store became her way of life. Plumbing, running water and electricity were not available. Loneliness was a constant companion until a few women befriended her.
During a span of six days, Deanne and Tiger narrowly escaped death during a camping trip, and Tiger suffered severe burns from a fire in their house. He spent three months in the hospital receiving treatment for seared lungs and horrific burns on his face and hands. His lungs never recovered from this ordeal.
When he was finally released from the hospital, he returned to the village with Deanne to complete the study. The life-threatening and harrowing experiences in Alaska transformed Deanne into a woman of strength who learned how to embrace challenge.
Over 50 years later, she remembers that young girl who left on an unknown journey that will live in her heart forever.
Author Deanne Burch was born and raised in Canada and attended the University of Toronto, obtaining B.A. degrees in liberal arts and social work. After the Alaska journey, she and her husband eventually settled in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, where they lived until his death.
Deanne spent 30 years as a professional international photographer who taught and lectured in the U.S. and Canada. She published several articles in photography magazines and journals. Since retiring in 2014, she devoted herself to writing short stories and children’s stories. Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle was published in March 2021.
Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle Publisher: Authority Publishing ISBN-10: 1949642593 ISBN-13: 978-1949642599 Available from Amazon.com
Gifted Storyteller’s Journey with Parkinson’s and Other Challenges of a Long Life
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When Parkinson’s disease descended like a dense fog on master storyteller John J. Clayton, he was forced to pivot his perspective, change his expectations and write from a place he calls “… both alive and not alive. Like a kind of ghost …”
Parkinson’s Blues: Stories of My Life begins with the arrival of the dark unexpected. In a Monty Python skit, someone in a drab living room complains about being nagged by ques-tions. “I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition,” he complains. Suddenly Michael Palin, in red 16th century costume, bursts into the room. “Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!” he shrieks.
Who expects the onset of Parkinson’s? Or cancer? Or stroke? Or the loss of a child? The terrible surprise—the life we didn’t expect—isn’t limited to Parkinson’s. It’s the existential condition of everyone’s life. In fourteen sketches, John J. Clayton links the experience of PD with the experience of childhood sickness, family battles, the struggle to make a good life out of a painful life. The sketches express the hope that we can grow spiritually in the midst of the terrible.
Through 14 eloquent stories — all of which underscore that Clayton’s gift and spirit remain fully intact — Clayton links the onset of Parkinson’s disease with other unexpected, and challenging experiences.
Parkinson’s Blues explores the anticipated pain and unexpected comedy of Parkinson’s in a manner that is deep, graceful and dignified.
Author John J. Clayton has published nine volumes of fiction, both novels and short stories. His collection of interwoven short stories, Minyan, was published in September 2016; his collection Many Seconds into the Future in 2014. Mitzvah Man, his fourth novel, arrived in 2011.
Clayton’s stories have appeared in AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, TriQuarterly, Sewanee Review, over twenty times in Commentary, in Notre Dame Review, Missouri Review and The Journal. Two personal essays have been recently published in Jewish Review of Books. His stories have won prizes in O.Henry Prize Stories, Best American Short Stories, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. His Radiance, a collection of stories, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.
Clayton grew up in New York City; received his B.A. at Columbia, his M.A. at NYU and his Ph.D. at Indiana. For much of his career he taught modern literature and fiction writing as professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has also written two books of literary criticism: Saul Bellow: In Defense of Man and Gestures of Healing, a psychological study of the modern novel.
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone 832.569.5539 Fax [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
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Climb Aboard The Western Star And Witness The Adventures Of A Lifetime
The year is 1979, and 12-year-old Annie’s life has been upended. Her parents have announced that their home for the next nine months will be a 53-foot sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean. The thought of leaving behind her pets, friends and a life she loves—plus coexisting in close quarters with her older brother—has left Annie spiraling through a kaleidoscope of emotions. Heartbroken at first, Annie turns to writing, and through her detailed journal of daily life aboard the Western Star, she reveals a remarkable transformation.
Girl Sailing Aboard the Western Star is the engaging, poignant result of Annie’s chronicle of her family’s adventures in the Atlantic. Readers get to experience through Annie’s eyes the raw, unfiltered angst of a girl on the cusp of being a teenager, as she grapples with feelings of isolation, resentment and uncertainty. Page after page, hints of new awakenings rise to the surface, as Annie learns how to trim the sheet, raise the main sail and navigate using a sextant. She also learns about the stars and constellations and about the amazing creatures living under the boat. The journal takes readers along as she snorkels, scuba dives and jet skis her way through The Bahamas, the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands.
Drawn directly from Anderson’s real-life story of living on a sailboat with her family, this charming coming-of-age tale shares Annie’s day-by-day emotional evolution, as she discovers new worlds above and below the deep blue sea and lives the adventures of a lifetime.
Author RA Anderson is a wanderer who has lived all over, from California to Belize, and currently, home is a town called Rome, in Georgia that is! She grew up on horseback and sailboats—“the most amazing way to grow up!”
A lifelong passion for creative writing and photography became her life. Her award-winning photographs have been featured in table books, magazines and front-page news, and her writing has been published in magazines, poetry books and children’s books. Her children’s series include If Pets Could Talk and Iceland: The Puffin Explorers.
Three boys—her heart and soul—call her Mom. She and her husband—whom she calls her “strength and passion”—are recent empty-nesters, leaving them more time to travel.
Girl Sailing Aboard the Western Star Publisher: My Favorite Books Publishing Company, LLC Release Date: January 1, 2020 ISBN-10: 1950590038 ISBN-13: 978-1950590032 Available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com
Trish Stevens Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
A Scholar’s Legacy Can Help Us Strengthen Our Faith
Dr. Pieter Noomen studied the Bible and other religions throughout his life. He received his doctorate in theology and pastoral psychology, was a senior minister of three protestant churches and a psychotherapist and staff member of a Los Angeles metropolitan church.
This great scholar realized that faith is a wonderful thing but sometimes people have difficulty believing wholeheartedly in something they can’t actually ‘see.’ Taking years to create, he set up a website that would allow others to take advantage of his 88 years of experience and wisdom learned.
Sadly, Dr. Noomen passed away but he left a legacy for anyone interested in learning how simple it can be to connect with our Higher Power. Visit www.wordsforall.org to get started on the journey of a lifetime!
An example from the insightful writings at wordsforall.org:
“What a trap to think that life can end. ‘Death’ is just a different configuration. All that is in existence can be changed. To be of use is why we all do have life. Usefulness is the only measure for behavior. Oneness, love, life, are all equal.”
Trish Stevens Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 281.333.3507 Main/Office 832.334.2733 Cell [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
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Words For All: Insightful Writings That Can Help Anyone Learn What Life Is Really All About
Dr. Pieter Noomen’s personal spiritual path widened, unexpectedly and quite sensationally, about 25 years ago at a time when he was unhappy with the way his life was going, especially certain events in his personal life, and he was getting older. At that time he became familiar with the insights of Dr. Peter D. Francuch, who communicated with what he called ‘the Positive State.’ Noomen read about, and met, others who experienced a direct, personal connection with the ‘One Who Is Life’ — and that is when his own life changed significantly. He shares his experiences and offers access to the Source of that information in his writings on the website at www.wordsforall.org.
Noomen posits that directly or indirectly, life stems from one common source and that to connect with that source is the highest level of existence we can achieve on earth.
Over the course of many years, Noomen experienced transformative “visits” on the spirit level — and he freely shares the universal and eternal facts of life that were com-municated to him on his website, www.wordsforall.org.
As he explains on his website, “I can only say that the information came from a pres-ence on my innermost spiritual level I was in communication with for some time. The words seem the result of my spirit merging with the spirit of life It/Her/Himself.”
Visitors to Noomen’s website can read about the 12 components of life through his 12 booklets: Oneness, Love, Life, Fire, Space, Connectedness, Progression, Effect, Free-dom, Joy, Differentness and Harmony. Throughout his writings, Noomen avoids using the name of any deity, such as God, and instead uses what he refers to as The Seven Names, each of which relates on a human level to the situation at hand: One Holy, Love, Truth, Proper, Healing, Manifestation and Energy.
A series of lessons on the site shares 147 thought-provoking questions and the illumi-nating answers that came to him during his extensive communications with the All Spir-it.
“In death,” Noomen writes, “everyone will, without exception and in a purely personal way, find out whether or not there is another dimension of existence.” The reflections shared on Noomen’s website invite readers to not wait until the end of their earthly lives for the answer.
Born in the Netherlands, Pieter Noomen completed doctoral studies in theology and pastoral psychology at the Free University of Amsterdam and was senior minister of three protestant churches. Later he worked as a psychotherapist and as a staff mem-ber of a Los Angeles metropolitan church. He was involved in mental health issues like suicide prevention and hospice. His personal spiritual path widened quite sensationally 25 years ago when he was drawn to the insights of Dr. Peter D. Francuch (1934-2001), who wrote about his communications with what he called the Positive State. This led to Noomen’s interest in experiencing a direct, personal connection with the One Who is Life. Noomen is retired and resides in Hollywood, California.
Steve Holtman
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
281.333.3507 Phone
832.569.5539 Fax [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
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New App Immerses Thrill Seekers In Fastest Sport On Ice
Port Orange, Florida ― Winter sports fans who crave the speed and intensity of the bobsleigh can now experience the thrills from the pilot’s seat with the Bobsleigh 360 app for Android and iOS.
Users can experience the precision of the team’s climb into the sleigh, the struggle of the push-off, and mind-bending speeds approaching 90 mph as the bobsleigh races down an Olympic bobsleigh track, banking through 15 to 20 heart-stopping turns.
Bobsleigh 360 app features:
• 360-degree video of actual bobsleigh runs
• User-controlled viewpoint during the run
• Support for 2D and VR viewing
• New runs and tracks added as they are available
Bobsleigh 360 is based on a first-of-its-kind VR training tool developed by Raydon Corporation, a military simulation training company, in Port Orange, Florida. Raydon created the training tool to improve the safety and performance of bobsleigh teams. Bobsleigh 360 gives coaches a 360-degree view of a pilot’s high-speed run, where every millisecond counts. It can be viewed on a tablet or on a VR headset for a fully immersive experience. The Latvian bobsleigh team, silver medal winners at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, has incorporated the tool into their training regimen in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Raydon has donated the training tool to Latvia and other countries.
For more information, please visit: www.bobsleigh-360.com and www.raydon.com.
