books

Author shares insights for parenting in difficult circumstances

Stateside Staff — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:31:56 +0000

When you are a parent, you’re making choices for your kids day-in and day-out.

Life can throws plenty of curve balls to a family, whether health, financial, or emotional. So how do families weather life’s challenges and make the right choices?

Michigan writer Robert Omilian tackles those key questions in his book, No Fear, No Doubt, No Regret: Investing In Life’s Challenges Like A Warrior.

The book was published by Ferne Press of Northville.

It recently won the 2013 Pinnacle Award for Parenting Books.

His insights were hard-won as he walked alongside his son Alan, who was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. The disease unfortunately, claimed his life in July of 2010.

You can listen to the full interview above.

Four short and sweet books you should read this spring

Stateside Staff — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Let's cross our fingers and hope that spring is here to stay. As the grass gets greener and flowers begin blooming, why not welcome the warmer weather with some light spring reading?

Keith Taylor, a poet and writer, as well as a professor at the University of Michigan, has given us a few suggestions for our spring reading lists.

Don't worry, they're short.

"We should be getting outside, and working in the garden...we don't want to start reading Anna Karenina outside right now," Taylor said.

'Never Again' shares the story of an Ann Arbor Holocaust survivor

Stateside Staff — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:32:15 +0000

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual commemoration created by Congress to honor the millions of Jews who died in the Nazi Holocaust, as well as millions of others.

It is linked with the Holocaust Remembrance Day that Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion started 60 year ago.

Though the ranks of survivors are dwindling, those who are still here continue to share their experiences with the goal of preserving history and preventing future genocides.

This year's theme for the National Days of Remembrance is "Never Again: Heeding the Warning Signs," and encompasses the stories of many survivors, including Ann Arbor resident Miriam Garvil.

Michigan's Antiquarian book and paper collection

Stateside Staff — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:02:54 +0000

Many of us are book lovers.

An e-book reader is convenient in the sense that you can store dozens of books on it. It's also great if you're traveling and don't want to lug a big chunky book in your carry-on bag.

But if you believe there is no substitute for picking up a book, leafing through the pages, and exploring shelves of books, then the Curious Book Shop in East Lansing is the place to be.

Owner Ray Walsh carries the banner for wonderful old books, which includes the 57th Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show.

Everyone dies, so let's talk about it

Stateside Staff — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:03:18 +0000

We are all going to die. It's one of the sadder facts of life.

For most people, it's also one of the hardest things to talk about.

In 1986, Dave Kampfschulte's good friend was dying of lung cancer, even though he had never smoked a cigarette.

Dave's experience made him realize that we all could benefit from more preparation and conversation about death.

What do we lose if we choose not to have these conversations?

After 25 years of hospice volunteering, Kampfschulte has writen a book called I'm Dying to Talk with You: Twenty-five years of conversations on end of life decisions in which he discusses conversations we need to have with ourselves and with others about end of life experiences.

To hear the full interview, click the link above.

Stateside: An author's love letter to the Midwest

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:17:44 +0000

To Mike Draper, the Midwest is a mystery.

Draper is the author of “The Midwest: God’s Gift to Planet Earth,” a jovial investigation of the region and the major figures who have come from it.

Deemed by those on the coast as “flyover country,” the states of the Midwest receive the portrayal of a land populated only by farmers and fried food junkies.

But the image is a false one.

Without the Midwest, New Yorkers would have no planes in which they could fly across the country.

“The Midwest is viewed as the American Gothic farmland, which as a region, is only a minority of it. The Midwest has never been a primarily agriculture economy,” said Draper.

When doing his research for the book, interesting Midwesterners seemed to manifest themselves in every corner of the history books through which Draper flipped.

The Wright Brothers and Henry Ford reinvented the ways Americans could inhabit the world.

Using their literary prowess, authors like Ernest Hemingway and Mark Twain formed new standards for American fiction.

With such rich cultural icons as these, one begins to wonder how anyone could dismiss the Midwest as plain or timid.

It is a question Draper raises throughout “God’s Gift.”

And with its mysterious beauty, the Midwest provides its answers on every page of his book.

-Cameron Stewart

There are two ways you can podcast "Stateside with Cynthia Canty"

Stateside: Mitch Albom tackles 'time' in new book

Stateside Staff — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:06:49 +0000

As you hurry through your day, checking your watch, checking the clock, trying to squeeze more and more into your waking hours, did you ever stop and wonder...

What would it be like to live without an awareness of time?

How does that constant awareness of time passing, time running out, affect our very existence?

Mitch Albom got to wondering about these very questions.

The result is his latest novel, The Time Keeper.

Cyndy spoke with Mitch and asked him how he would describe his book.

Michigan author dreams up a deadlier Ann Arbor

Noah Adams — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:41:28 +0000

Ask Harry Dolan to take you for lunch at a restaurant he's written about, and he won't disappoint. In downtown Ann Arbor, Mich., on Liberty Street, the vegetarian restaurant Seva serves mushroom sliders and yam fries that both the crime writer and his characters are quite fond of. With any luck, you'll also catch the perfect song playing in the background — "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads.

Dolan's David Loogan crime series follows the editor of a mystery magazine who's always finding trouble.

Commentary: Walking 'Ink Trails'

Jack Lessenberry — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:38:18 +0000

Normally at this time of day I talk to you about some current political or economic shenanigans. And I could talk today about the continuing election-rigging scandal in Grand Rapids, or about the rising unemployment rate across the state.

Dog Heart: A book of poems by Alison Swan

Mercedes Mejia and Jennifer White — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:00:19 +0000

Alison Swan is a poet and an award winning environmentalist. She's adjunct professor at Western Michigan University.

Not too long ago Swan published her first collection of poetry, Dog Heart. Michigan Radio's Jennifer White sat down with Swan to talk about the new book.

Swan says she finds her inspiration from the wild places of Michigan.

Scott Martelle's new book, "Detroit: A Biography"

Jennifer White and Mercedes Mejia — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:45:21 +0000

Scott Martelle is a journalist and author. His new book Detroit: A Biography chronicles the history of the city from the 17oo's to the present day. He was also a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit News.

Martelle believes there was a point in history when Detroit had an opportunity to diversify its manufacturing.

Parents Making a Difference

Jack Lessenberry — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:08:03 +0000

Just over a month ago, I talked about an interesting controversy in the Plymouth-Canton Community School district, a middle-to-upper-middle area of western Wayne County.

The superintendent suddenly banned a popular novel, Graham Swift’s "Waterland", from the Advanced Placement, or AP English curriculum. "Waterland", first published almost 30 years ago, is a highly acclaimed book which has to do with storytelling and history, and which shows how everything is influenced by what came before.

Michigan school district decides not to ban "Waterland" novel

Jennifer Guerra — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:00:03 +0000

The Plymouth-Canton school district will not ban Waterland from its Advanced Placement English curriculum.

Graham Swift’s novel is the second book this year the Plymouth-Canton school district put on trial. The district considered banning Toni Morrison’s Beloved last month, but decided against it.

A committee voted anonymously in a closed meeting not to ban the books after hearing from teachers, students and parents during public meetings. (Since their votes are anonymous, we do not know if it was a unanimous vote.)

AP English teacher Brian Read, who has taught Beloved and Waterland for 10 years, says both books deal with the effects of trauma, and contain some mature content of a sexual nature. He says he and his colleague don't choose books because they're sensational, or because there's offensive material in it.

"We choose them because they’re really great works of literature and they really work well in our curriculum, they work well with other pieces that we’re teaching. So I’ll absolutely teach it again and I’m glad that I have that opportunity to teach it again."

Read says both books are worth fighting for, and he’ll continue to defend the books if they come under fire again.

Plymouth-Canton schools consider banning "Waterland" novel

Jennifer Guerra — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:08:10 +0000

Another novel taught in the Plymouth-Canton school district is up for discussion this week.

A Michigan school district considers banning two books

Jennifer Guerra — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:53 +0000

Two award-winning novels are at the center of a book-banning effort in the Plymouth-Canton school district.

One of the books up for review is Toni Morrison’s Beloved, a story about slavery, rape and the effects of trauma.

Meredith Yancy, 16, is reading the book in her Advanced Placement English Literature class at Salem High School. She says she didn’t have a problem with the book’s mature content.