"One of trhe few well-written collections of surf related stories available today. A very enjoyable read." LongBoard Magazine Review Oct/Nov, 2000

I remember reading this story over and over in elementary school. It was a favorite for everyone in my class and would create fights over who got to borrow it from the classroom. One of my fondest memories of 2nd grade was performing a play of this story.

I was a little skeptical at first about using this sourcebook...; the authors, though published in over 25 scholarly and scientific journals, in embarking on this project began a task which frightened, and frankly stunned, many of their esteemed colleagues. The result, I am pleased to say, is a thrill-tastic plethora of enzymic wonder and amazement.

The South and its people have been subject to more than a double ration of misinformation and stereotypes despite the insistence or even obsession of southerners to tell about the South. A suitable corrective for these oversimplifications comes in the writings of John Shelton Reed. Reed, a University of North Carolina sociologist, manages an accurate, sympathetic, and amusing characterization of important southern "types." There's something for everyone here. This book, together with Florence King's SOUTHERN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN and some of Lewis Grizzard's works, gives a good introduction to Southern types. Of course a a warning is necessary: while Southerners, as Roy Blount, Jr. observed, like to act typical, they also take a sheer delight in being unpredictable just for the holy hell of it.

Reed knows his types: the Good Ole Boy, the Aristocrat, etc. These people the southern landscape and provide entertainment for each other. These are people who are apt to equate loving the Lord and SEC football, and favor Coke to Pepsi.

I suppose one could quibble about some types that he omitted, but this is a short and enjoyable book and well-worth the reading. Hell fire, podners: Professor John Shelton Reed is a wonderous writer who will bring you to a smile like good barbecue.

Big-time Asian money-men seek to buy into the American political system for their own nefarious purposes. No, it isn't another Al Gore fund-raiser -- it's THE SPIDER battling the Cult of the Cobra, with the fate of the nation at stake.

Great reading for PR, Advertising, Marketing professionals and Strategic Planners. One of the important titles to know and understand what is going on regarding Public Relations and Marketing Communications on a global platform. Demonstrates how to create powerful projects and how to make them work.

Mr. White has written an excellent book that no teacher should be without. I found that I agreed with him on so many issues facing teachers in the ballet world today, and immediately sought further studies with him regarding the Vaganova method. After my studies with him, I have carried his book in my bag as an excellent reference tool. The photographs of the basic positions and poses are excellent. The content covers many aspects of establishing a ballet school, including how to build the floor, the stereo equipment, etc. I highly recommend this book to all ballet teachers! A must read! Thank you Mr. White!

I'm more into photography than anything else, which is why I read this book. The photos are fabulous -- Tibet is so complex and fascinating and funny! Not just monks and solemn things, also farmers having picnic lunches with beer, kids playing, markets, festivals, fabulous costumes and headdresses. Really, if you want to see how extraorinary and intricate Tibetan culture was (before the Chinese, at least!) this is the book to buy. Fab fab fab!

I loved this book, and am enjoying it once again as I read to my girls. There are many wonderful pictures of Christian concepts, and the Christ figure, Gaal, is so very like the resurrection Christ. For instance, Gaal's white robes cannot be dirtied, but burn away any corruption that touches them.

The name, Gaal, means "Shepherd". Like it, many of the names in the book are Greek and Hebrew words. It is an enjoyable excercise as a child to try and guess the meanings, then look them up afterward. One more give-away, "Geburah" is Hebrew for "strength".

While there is an allegorical aspect to the names, this is no "Pilgrim's Progress". The story is creative and exciting, standing on its own even if everything were renamed. The allegorical names simply add another level of meaning to the story.

The main theological theme (don't worry, it is illustrated in the events of story, not preached) is Sin and Grace. Each of the main characters makes bad choices that cause grave harm to themselves and others. But Gaal works everything out so that they have a second chance.

As a "China Marine" I can state that this is one of the best books I have ever read about life as a Marine in China, the old 4th Regiment, as well as the Legation Marines and the "Horse" Marines.I knew Col "Jack" White for nearly 50 years until he passed away about 3 years ago. This book is a whole lot more than just about the Marines in China. Captain John White was captured by the Japanese troops on 8 December, 1941 and spent nearly four years as POW. At the time of his capture Captain White was on a train in charge of a detail bringing the bones of "Peking Man" to Shanghai for shipment to the Smithsonian Institute. The bones were contained in a USMC wooden locker box and the Japanese troops came through the train looking for loot. When they found nothing in the box of value, only old bones, they were discarded as junk on the tracks. For the rest of his life Col. White was considered an expert on "Peking Man" and often lectured on the subject. The book is really two books in one, the first half about life in China and the second half about life as a POW and their desparate daily struggle to stay alive. It is filled with stories of their efforts to outwits their sadistic guards, their attempts to have garden and grow some of their own food, their terible work details and the almost daily burial details. Jack stayed in the Corps after a long period in the hospital, made Colonel during the Korean War before retiring. He was a member of the Annapolis Class of 1931 and lived long enough to return for the 60th Class Reunion. His wife was one of the early female aviatiors and was a peer of Amelia Earheart and "Pancho" Gonzales. He came from a long line of military leaders. His two brother were West Point graduates, one retiring as a two star Army General, the other a two star Air Force General. Colonel Jack was the uncle of Astronaut Edward White, the first American to walk in space and who was later killed with Chaffee and Grissom in the fire that destroyed their space capsule during training for their next space mission. Colonel White was negotiating with a publisher to republish his book when he died. I would be very happy to share more information about Colonel John White with anyone who has an interest