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The Pot Wanted to Break: Living with the Annang of Nigeria
This story is about my adventures living in 1976 rural Nigeria. I saw my visit as an adventure because everything about the visit was unfamiliar. I knew nothing of the people and culture. I was planning to learn as much as possible during my time there. My story is a combination of ethnography and memoir. I can’t help but talk about the culture of the Annang, which is the reason I went to Nigeria. I was a young university professor bucking for promotion; the only way I could do that was to do research. Because I was an ignorant American, I made mistakes, but I also made good friends and I learned a great deal. Early in my stay, one of my major support people had a psychotic break. Since I was unfamiliar with the cultural expression of psychosis, I stumbled around trying to figure out what was happening, what caused it, and what I could do about it. Because this story is about one particular time in history, certain phrases and expressions, common to that era, remain unchanged.
Pamela J. Brink's Personal Memoirs
My Love Affair with German Shepherd Dogs
Pamela Brink has lived in harmony with German Shepherds since she can remember. She has fiercely loved them and lived with the heartbreak of losing them. In between, she has bred her dogs, trained and showed them in obedience and rally, and guided them to win prizes including a Best in Show. In short, her life has been blessed by the devotion of these marvelous dogs.
In a vivid chronicling of her life with her dogs, Brink begins by detailing her early years in the Phillipines where she came to love animals in general, her three-year imprisonment under Japanese guards, and later her life in the United States and Canada as she welcomed German Shepherds into her home and transformed not just their lives, but also her own in the process. While revealing the very different personalities and behaviors of her dogs over the years, Brink also divulges how she eventually became a breeder and trainer who produced beautiful dogs to show
professionally.
My Love Affair with German Shepherd Dogs chronicles the experiences of a breeder and trainer as she reveals the personalities and behaviors of the beloved animals that touched her life.
Our Family's Story of Survival as POWs in the Phillipines
"Our Family's Story of Survival as POWs in the Philippines," is a dramatic and engaging story told by three siblings who were prisoners of war in the Philippines as children. The structure gives the book a layer many don't have, and while some would be concerned three points of view might be redundant, the different styles and perceptions actually make the three views more interesting than one view would be. The "lead author," Pamela, does a good job of also mixing in research and detail where needed, since the other authors, particularly Bill, weren't aware that a book was in the future. The back matter – including Claire Wislizenus's account – enhances the story further. Readers will also appreciate the fact the book doesn't end when the family leaves the Philippines, but follows them to their adult lives. Poignant moments in the book aren't only the big ones involving human death and war, but the small ones. What is it about a dog's death that's so heartbreaking? The account of Jerry dying of a broken heart, as Bob put it, and of sitting by the gate waiting for the family to return in Pam's account, is one of the book's more poignant moments. Perhaps because it's an example of how love and loyalty are so tested by war and how it twists normal life. Bob's description of how it feels to be truly starving should be a wakeup call for readers who use the term so lightly, and the fact the lack of food had such extreme effect on the family in later years is telling. The footnotes and backup material give the book credibility, and while not necessary, are a huge help for readers who want to know more about this overlooked piece of history.
"Judge, 25th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards."
