No comments about Sunshine and Shadow.

3 comments about Papa Left Us But Mama Pulled Us Through.

1. Lloyd Lenard has written another excellent story. It is a truly inspiring story of a family and the courage they possesed to help them through tough times. I can't even imagine being as poor as Lloyd was. His mother is a shining example of a truly godly person. If you need to be inspired to greatness, this is the book you need to read. You will know you can do it too.



2. Brilliantly and poignantly written, Lloyd Lenard's latest book is an autobiographical account of his heart wrenching early years against the hard-scrabble background of poverty and despair in the North Louisiana backwoods.
   
   Deserted by his father (whom he nonetheless loved), but steadfastly encouraged by his mother to "make it out", Lenard endured the want, the lack of even basic necessities, the scorn and stigma of his peers, with a grim determination to rise to the top.
   
   His story faithfully chronicles the life and times from the late 20's through his naval service in the mid 40's.
   
   Although appealing to both men and women, every woman reader will love the young Lloyd Lenard, cheer him on, and rejoice in his eventual triumph. Keep a tissue handy.
   
   June Touchstone, Retired Newspaper Publisher



3. Mr. Lenard's autobiography is a book for all ages. For the generation beginning its search in life it serves as an example that anyone who keeps his/her eyes fixed on a goal can accomplish anything. To the mature generation it gives insights on life only maturity can understand and appreciate, but it will pry open the minds of all generations.
   
   The book is masterfully written. It has all the details of a biography written in the style of a fine novel. Mr. Lenard has the gift of choosing just enough descriptive language to paint a picture without losing the story in syrupy picturesque details.
   
   This is the story of how his mother held the family together in the face of the most heartbreaking difficulties; how from nothing he won a scholarship to L.S.U.; how during WW II he was chosen from just a few to attend the U.S. Navy's Officer Training at Notre Dame University; the story of his active duty in the Mediterranean Sea; his return to civilian life, and, how with nothing but ambition, he finished graduate school, married his lifetime partner, Sky, and succeeded in business, politics and as an author. This is a book for everyone which holds your attention. You don't want it to end.
   
   Dan Sawyer, Retired Judge

No comments about Awful Green Stuff and the Nakedness of Trees.

1 comments about Ouachita Girl.

1. No matter who you are or where you grew up, you will relate to the wonderful stories written and told by Linda Johnson. Her characters are innocent but curious and alive -- with each word I was there with them.

No comments about Memories.

4 comments about Look Back and Laugh.

1. I really enjoyed this book. It is a wonderful read.



2. Jeanne Desmond does a fabulous job sharing her life as a teen in the 1930's with the reader. Despite the hardships and tragic events experienced by Jeanne, she manages to tell the story with a sense of humor that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. I look forward to a book on the rest of her life!



3. "Look Back and Laugh" is Jean Desmond's often sad, sometimes funny memoir of life in the Northwestern United States during the 1930s. Desmond is a former model and a very prolific author, who now lives in the Los Angeles area. She tells her story in a cinematic way, which allows the reader to live the sights and sounds of the Great Depression along with her. The old idiom is true: truth is stranger than fiction. Truth can also be more tragic, and at times funnier, than fiction as well. Desmond's tale is both tragic and comic, but always touching. You will be memorized by this book.



4. Jean Desmond, the author of Look Back and Laugh died on July 24, 2008, in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.
   
   The Matriarch.
   GG.
   Jean.
   Blanche.
   
   May 7, 1919 - July 24, 2008
   
   The mother of three daughters, seven grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren, lived a long and adventure filled life.
   
   As The Matriarch, she taught her family to embrace life, take the knocks, get up and run again. The story of her early years is in her autobiography, Look Back and Laugh.
   
   Her last days were spent with family at her side recanting stories that were filled with laughter and sheer amazement.
   
   She taught that how one dies is every bit as important as how one lives. We continue to celebrate her life, rather than mourn and grieve over our loss. And that's the way she wants it.
   
   "I didn't know it couldn't be done, so I did it!" Jean Desmond

No comments about Snakes, Grapevine Swings and Slingshots.

4 comments about Edison: His Life and Inventions.

1. The invention of the first light bulb inaugurated a new age for man: Electricity. Just as Edison had to create the tools to make the first bulb, he had to create the industry to use it. He did, and in doing so he assembled the first research laboratory and gathered around him a collection of great minds -- a rich assortment of men with varying talents.



2. Glorifying and corny. Unconditional praise of Edison achievements. Though the authors are clearly well-read, too many facts are ignored in the account of the circumnstances that lead Edison to the accumulation of patents. Lacks any critic view and end up creating an image of an "american hero" that is as ridiculous as untruth. I quote, just as an example, "In fact, if it were not for Edison's peculiar mentality, that refuses to recognize anything as impossible until indubitably demonstrated to be so, the production of motion pictures would certainly have been delayed for years, if not for all time."
   Anyone seriously interested on the subject of the birht of cinema would recognize this as total nonsense or shameless manipulation of facts.
   A book to avoid by anyone interested in having a truthfull and independent view on history.



3. It is quite a shame, that this facsimile is so badly made. The pictures are really bad reproduced and why is it, that page 117 is not there. Instead page 113 is shown one more time. And in several places the text is distorted from the scanning.



4. This book is fine for what it is, but it consists merely of a reprint of the original text. None of the original figures or illustrations are included, and these are an integral part of the book.

No comments about I Still Remember the Twentieth Century.

No comments about The Green Years (Isis Nonfiction).