There has been very few times in the past that I have ever considered buying a coffee table book, most in my opinion just collect dust.

This book however is a wonderful pictorial account of Oxford Mississippi during the time when Faulkner still walked our streets. What I think is amazing is that some of the people pictured in this book as children still live in Oxford and are still an active and beautiful part of our local history.

This is an ideal gift for friends or family that have attended the University of Mississippi and have learned to love the small town personality of Oxford.

This book is understandably fragmentary because its interview-based format. As a pastiche of American life, this format is interesting and pretty effective. However, if your main interest in reading the book is to find out about innovative programs around the US, presumably with an eye toward participating yourself, is a bit difficult to get a coherent view of what's happening in each section. For instance, I would have preferred to have a bit more detail about how each of the organizations was started, what problems were overcome early on and which were still being faced -- there wasn't much pragmatic detail, there were a lot of impressions. There wasn't even contact information for the organizations in the book. The overall impression was more coffee-table book than a practical manual for change.

Here are synopses of the 12 organizations described in the book.

1) Doula Service, Univ. Hospital, in Stony Brook, NY.
'Doula' is a Greek word meaning servant, and today it means someone who offers emotional and practical support at the pre-natal, labor, postpartum stages. Talks about how doulas engage in this "ancient, humanizing approach to supporting birth".

2) Dine bi' iina', Inc., in the Navajo Nation "Dine bi' iina'" means "Navajo lifeways". It's a group of Navajo herders, weavers, and cultural activists, working to find ways to prosper while maintaining traditional ways of life. The titl machine that e of this section is "A Traditional Future".

3) Eau Claire Community of Shalom, in Eau Claire-North Columbia, SC
The Community of Shalom is a nat'l initiative of the United Methodist Church. It encouraged two churches in Eau Claire, one historically black, the other historically white, to work with each other and with other churches & community institutions to improve health care, education, housing, safety.

4) Proyecto Azteca, in San Juan, TX.
Founded by the United Farm Workers union, this organization ("Project Aztec" -- Aztec being both the name of the ancient people and a relevant acronym in Spanish) helps Mexican-American families escape from colonias and build homes. A "colonia" is an unincorporated rural development, usually without even basic utilities.

5) Southwest Youth Collaborative, in Chicago, IL
Grassroots collaboration of churches, social service centers, rec centers, and neighborhood organizations. Activities include a discussion group for female juvenile offenders, assistance for released offenders, discussion group for youth to understand issues of law/justice, and a variety of neighborhood youth programs.

6) Yaak Valley Forest Community, in Yaak Valley, Montana
150 familes living near Canada, often w/o electricity or plumbing, in the middle of a huge nat'l forest. The Council, created under the US Forest Service's Forest Stewardship program, supports forest protection, especially in the remaining roadless areas. Its story shows the value and vagueness of the democratic process in a highly charged debate involving issues of ownership, livelihood, freedom, wrestling with issues of public and private good.

7) Haitian Citizens Police Academy and Roving Patrol, in Delray Beach, FL
Many Haitians who have streamed into Florida in recent years. Naturally the arrival of many new immigrants causes various stresses on the existing community. The program profiled was started by the police dept and community organizations to embrace the newcomers as community members, in the context of community policing.

8) Alaska Marine Conservation Council, on the north coast of the state
The AMCC is a group of concerned residents who have successfully advocated for sustainable fishing practices, independent fishermen, native communities, a good example of change through consensus building, successful because informed by a deep familiarity with the complexities of maintaining a viable way of life in that region.

9) Communities in Harmony Advocating for Learning and Kids (Chalk), in San Francisco, CA Youthline is a toll-free phone service offering access to listeners, young staff trained for at least 80 hours to direct callers to help & information, supporting callers with conversation and encouragement. Essential idea is youth helping youth. The emphasis is on active listening, not giving advice.

10) alternatives federal credit union, in Ithaca, NY A credit union working within federal standards, Alternatives is member-owned, and driven by a commitment to social change through local investment. It provides low end," high-risk" members with mortgages, small-business startup loans, lines of credit, in financial education.

11) Handmade in America / small town revitalization project, in Western North Carolina America's small rural towns are struggling to survive and maintain their way of life in the face of megastores and franchises. Handmade in America works to revitalize local economies in an environmentally and culturally sensitive way. The Small Town Revitalization Project in Marshall, NC, develops citizens' ideas for promoting tourism, in developing small-business, etc.

12) the village of arts and humanities, in Philadelphia PA the village intends to rebuild community through creativity. By building housing, reclaiming lots as parks, youth theater, publications, and outreach efforts, village residents work on building community through the arts.

"Local Heroes Changing America" is an extraordinary collection of stories and photographs by some of America's finest photographers and writers. Having just seen the exhibition here in Chicago at the Terra Museum, I can only say that this book should be brought by everyone who wants to know if pictures and words together still have the power to inspire and create social change. They do, and this book, and the traveling exhibition, shows why. Buy one for yourself, and one for a friend. They will definitely thank you. If the exhibition is in your city, make it a point to go, and take others. Work like this, that speaks so powerfully and compassionately, should be widely and enthusiastically supported.