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One recent eveing at Northern Lights Book Store and Cafe in St. Johnsbury, Vt., 70 people heard two local women who participated passionately in that movement. The authors read from their book, Deep In Our Hearts: Nine White Women in the Freedom Movement.
The book is an eloquent and powerful one that takes us back to one of the most tumultuous periods in American history; the erly days of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Freedom Summer, voter registrations, lunch counter sit-ins and the rise of Black Power and the women's movement. Deep In Our Hearts is a collection of essays, that take us into the lives of a group of young women who were transformed by the Civil Rights Movement.
The audience listened as Penny Patch looked back and read softly. "I understand well that what was between us will never be again, but still, that experience remains at the core of who I am. The fact that some of us had deep friendships that crossed all racial lines is simply a miracle. For short periods of time, in those early yers, we leaped over all the history and all of the minefields between us."
Perched on a stool and sipping warm tea to sooth a sore throat, Theresa Del Pozzo read from the book. "My involement with the movement began as a moral reaction to the blatant injustice of segregation and the denial of basic human rights of African-Americans. Along the way I got an education in the intricate patterns of racism and began to experience what I think as the small-c culture of the African_American community: the wisdom, dignity, strength, humor, gentleness and creativeness of its everyday life and people. The experience of living within the black world changed forever the person I was to become and the way I live my adult life."
Listening to the authors as they told their stories one could not help but admire their courage and admire this courageous book. They stand as powerful testaments to a time when the goal of universal justice was truly in sight and to the hope that a new generation of blacks and whites will take up the challenge to make the world a better place.
Marvin Minkler of the North Star Monthly
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Kennedy's collection is accessible, informative and a pleasure to read and mull over.
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I was approx 20/800 with high astigmatism and am now 20/20!! Recommend my doctor in Denver (I did a lot of research)if you can make it. Dr. Spivack at the Spivack Vision Center Englewood Colorado "spivack.com"
After reading the author's history of refractive surgery it becomes evident that eye surgery now a reality would have been considered science fiction less than a generation ago. Appropriately the book ends on this positive note, "With time and endless effect, one generation's prayer becomes the next generation's answer." If you choose to have laser eye surgery, just warn your chauffeur that postoperatively you may become preoccupied with reading every sign, license plate, and billboard in sight. Those of us who have experienced a blurred world can truly appreciate the out-of-this-world difference a laser and a highly skilled ophthalmologist can make--a world in focus at last.
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This novel, loosely based on the life of jazz great Bix Biederbecke, is one of the seminal tales of the gifted but tragically self-destructive artist. Rick Martin, the young man with a horn, is consumed by music but destroyed by bad booze, evil women and by his own impossible musical ambition.
There is a school of thought, of which this novel is emblematic, that true geniuses are tormented or even driven mad because they apprehend things that are beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals and become frustrated in trying to realize them fully and/or express them in terms that we can comprehend. (I saw this theme repeated most recently in the excellent movie Pi). It makes for some entertaining fiction, but it's a load of piffle.
GRADE: B-
Check out the excellent film version of the novel: -Young Man With a Horn (1950)(directed by Michael Curtiz and starring: Kirk Douglas, Doris Day and Lauren Bacall)
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It is my opinion that Roy Masters is one of the greatest psychologists alive today, and ranks with the greatest thinkers on the nature of man who have ever existed. I have found that his books, tapes, and radio program contain some of the most practical and effective information available anywhere, and I strongly urge anyone who yearns for deeper meaning and happiness to listen to what he has to say.
This may sound overly dramatic or full of exaggeration. Yet, for better or worse the modern world is saturated with a flood of self-help gurus, psychological theories, life-improvement systems, methods of enlightenment and so forth, which can be extremely confusing to say the least, overwhelming, disillusioning and dangerous at worst.
Finding Roy Masters was a huge, incredible sigh of relief. Finally - a scientific, practical, and common-sense message that stands out like a beacon of light, with clear and obvious sanity in a confusing world.
I began studying his books and tapes over about eighteen months ago, and have been practicing his meditation exercise for almost as long. Since that time my own life has been transformed. And I am not the only one by far - hundreds of thousands, some of whom I have met personally, have been helped by this message, the teaching, and simple method - heroin addicts who have been cured, alcoholics who have become dry, survivors of severe childhood traumas who have become healthy again, all the way to people who for some unknown reason just feel vaguely unsatisfied with their lives.
Having explored more teachers and systems than I would like to admit, I know for a fact that this system "works," that the results are real, and the changes are permanent. I know many teachers get endorsements, but I have thoroughly investigated many of these teachers and moved on.
At the same time, Mr. Masters is one of the most misunderstood thinkers on the planet - and in all fairness, the message is easily misunderstood. He is a thinker, not a writer, and his books tend to be rambling, stream-of-consciousness, and a lot to swallow. His speaking style (from his audio tapes and radio shows), while extremely eloquent and articulate, pulls no punches - he speaks plainly and really "tells it like it is." So of course, many are offended by his message - he has been called everything from a "woman-hater" to a "racist" to a "Bible-thumper," all of which, I know, are simply not true. He gives no respect to sacred cows, and sacred cows are numerous.
I do not have space here to explain Mr. Masters' system to any degree of justice, but here is a thumbnail sketch:
Normal Freudian/psychoanalytic and modern psychological systems are designed to "cure" people of mental afflictions; it takes people who are "sick" and makes them "normal" again.
The system of Masters does this, but also more: it does not stop with the goal of "normal," or ordinary psychological health - it aims higher, to a state of clear, objective awareness, (dare I say "self-actualization"?) a state of being which is free of anxiety, guilt, fear, confusion, tension, and so forth. This is no "mystical" state of consciousness in the ordinary sense, but more a state of deep confidence, honest joy and love, and clear common sense. It is nothing far removed or exotic - this is our natural state - the state that children have until their parents and societal influences drum it out of them.
So, how is this state "attained?" Well, if you were to pursue psychoanalysis, teachings of Jung and the individuation process, or even traditional therapy, it would cost hundreds and thousands of dollars to see a therapist, which depending on the therapist (and the client), may or may not be effective.
The system of Masters is one of self-knowledge. The "technique" he recommends requires a total investment of a few minutes a day and around twenty dollars. That's all. No other person - Masters himself or any kind of doctor or psychologist - needs to get involved or provide additional instruction - but if elaboration is desired, he is personally available through his talk-radio program for FREE (what other psychologist that you know will do this?) or through additional tapes and books.
I would recommend starting with "How Your Mind Can Keep You Well," and the accompanying tape "The Classic," which outlines the basics of his system. These are really all you need to know. His additional books go into more detail still: "How To Conquer Negative motions" and "Understanding Sexuality" are more in-depth aspects of his teaching; there is also "The Hypnosis Of Life"for coping with everyday stress and pressure; "Eat No Evil" foreating disorders, their causes and cure; "The Adam and Eve Sindrome" for probably the most incisive exposition of the male/female relationship I have ever read; "How To Conquer Suffering Without Doctors" for emotional roots of physical illnesses - and several other books as well.
Again, if you really want to get his message, don't get put off by the writing style or dismiss him as a ranting moralist, traditional preacher, etc. It will take some open-mindedness and a sincere desire to understand in order to hear what he is saying. His teachings are wholly original and self-generated; although it is rooted in spiritual traditions they are unlike any other body of thought I have come across at all. Which is strange to say, because in retrospect it all seems like common sense.
The present state of science, which requires no ether-based space, should not be completely dismisssed without stronger scientific basis. The author tends to make such sweeping inferences. For example, he states that it is essentially senseless to regard light as moving due to its own action. He does not, however, explain why. There is no reason why electromagnetic radiation can not be thought of as a continually propagating, interexchanging electric and magnetic wave in vacuum, since it is not being subject to external force.
To support the notion that ether propells light, the author sites that light passing through a solid will slow down and then speed up again when it transitions on into the air. This is a classic case of technically incompetent thinking. The fact is that the photons of light do not move slower in a solid. The concept of "slowing down" of light in a solid actually refers to the "net" motion of light through the material. The "net" speed is slower than for light moving in air or vaccum because photons collide with atomic bonds which in turn absorb the photons, enter into a higher energy state and then drop back down in energy, releasing a photon in the same direction of propagation.
Another case of flat-out erroneous thinking is in the author's stating that time slows down at high velocities of motion. Actually, this is not true. The basis of a portion of relativity theory termed "special reltivity" is that at high relative speeds, an observer will "measure" a slower rate of time passing in the other relative frame of reference. This is only an effect of relative observation and not an actual time rate differential.
The trick in understanding Roy Masters' and negotiating the web of confusion that he weaves is to consider one central point he has repeatedly made. This is that he is either crazy or absolutely right on the money in the bold and controversial things that he says. But it is not an issue of either/or. He is both. Some things he says are well stated and insightful. Some things are full blown neurotic rambling. This book would be a classic case of the latter.
It should perhaps be best said that Roy Masters is an unwitting egomaniac. His pathology requires that he constantly make matter-of-fact emphatic statements on a wide range of subjects. I would recommrnd to his listeners that they consider the possibly that some, or even much, of what he says to be incompetent and irrational commentary of someone with pathological self-confidence.
Roy Masters presents in this book his unique vision on how the universe came into being, and much of what he says makes a lot of sense. In his days, Einstein was criticized for his 'idiosyncratic' theories by other scientists, I suppose that every original thinker has to endure gall being spewed in his direction. What I see here is a beautiful theory, and I would love to see the scientific community do research on it.
What surprises me most is the very 'un-scientific' emotional outbursts against Roy Masters for writing this book, calling him 'an unwitting egomaniac'. If I were a physicist I definitely would take this theory very seriously and begin to investigate it instead of launching unfounded emotional attacks, because if his theory is right, it will have far reaching consequences.
I cannot attest if all the statements made by Masters are 100% correct, I only have a basic knowledge of physics. But I love his theory, it makes sense, and I definitely take it seriously. To do otherwise would be very foolish and unscientific, after all, isn't the truth of a statement tested by trying to prove it wrong? So, instead of coming up with unfounded, dumb emotional attacks on Roy Master's persona, try to come up with proof that he is wrong. Test his ideas, nature does not lie, people do.
This book testifies to a bold and original thinker, you do not have to be a student of physics to be able to read and understand this book, the author explains everything as clear as possible, and he does not try to confuse the reader with his words, as many other scholars attempt to do. Using words as a means of intimidation and self-aggrandisement, ah well, this is an entirely different subject. So, do yourself a favour and get this book, it definitely is worth a 5 star rating.
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