The On The Bookshelf Podcast

Dr. Tom Cooper brings the complex and fascinating stories of a dozen diverse  people across the ages who made difficult decisions that made the word a better and safer place. "Doing the Right Thing: Twelve Protraits in Moral Courage" tells of John F Kennedy & the Cuban Missile Crisis; Queen Esther & a Persian genocide against the Jews; Socrates who chose death as a teaching moment; John Adams, forced to choose between helping our ally France in their Revolution which had become a Reign of Terror; William Wilberforce & his desperate attempt to end slavery in the British Empire; Marie Curie, radiant and at risk; Mohandas Gandhi, who chose non-violence and gained independence; Harry Truman, forced to chose whether or not to use the most lethal weapon ever devised; Rachel Carson, balancing her life with ecology; Edward R. Murrow vs. Joe McCarthy; Nelson Mandela, speaking truth to power; and Malala Yousafzai, standing up against oppression despite her youth.

Terry and I have been friends since junior high in Daytona Beach. Her teaching career has spanned two states and secondary students then college students. After retirement, she became an author! This is the companion interview to the review of "Scarlet Hem" already posted. Our mutual friend Kevin Redmond can be found, as will another mutual friend, Mickey Middleton Busby.

Wanna make your downtown a pleasant and vibrant public place again? It doesn't take vast amounts of money, just wise choices and asking the neighbors what they want from that public space. 

It's R-rated but the story packs a punch in other ways, addressing parents who make bad career decisions, lie to spouses and children, and commit adultery. These actions can have serious consequences not only to your immediate circle of family but to many others with whom you come into contact.  We aren't likely to be super-powered like these protagonists, but we can learn from their mistakes nonetheless.

Mark Gardner's 2016 book about Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders in action in the Spanish -American War (The 3rd War for Cuban Independence) in 1898