Other Books

PROJECT HISTORY

Mary Lee McKimmey found herself spending more and more time with an elderly neighbor, getting closer by the day, and soon became the lady's primary caregiver. Harrowing and often poignant stories emerged from their relationship on almost a daily basis. I knew Mary at the time and she began sending me long, detailed, beautifully penned emails describing their times together. I shaped those emails into the manuscript for The Red Shoes and eventually produced the book.

PROJECT

As our population in America ages there is more and more demand for qualified caregivers to help provide the basic support that an elderly person needs when their own powers of personal management begin to fail. Often such caregivers are children, relatives, or other friends of the person in need. When that is the case, it is critical that the caregiver not lose sight of their personal limits and crossover into the dangerous area of sacrificing themselves for the sake of another. Noble as that may sound, it is a recipe for disaster, not only for the caregiver and the people who depend on them, but for the elderly person in need as well. The Red Shoes is based on the true story of one caregiver who was both privileged and challenged to be to provide support for an elderly widow, living alone, during the last year of her life.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/mary-lee-mckimmey/the-red-shoes/ebook/product-17515419.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/mary-lee-mckimmey/the-red-shoes/paperback/product-21177967.html

PROJECT HISTORY

My precious Italian mother has been feasting in the passion of feeding others for over 80 years now. It all began when she was a small girl when a bootlegger friend of the family, the only guy with money during the Depression, gave her a toy, but functional, stove and kitchen set. From cookies to fudge to homemade potato chips and cakes, Adeline was hooked. After grooming her culinary skills as a homemaker, feeding me and my other family members, she took over the kitch at the Spinning Wheel Supper Club. Now retired, she continues to create new taste sensations in the kitchen on a daily basis. Asked recently by her doctor, "Just what is your secret?" Adeline answered, "Just cook something every day and you'll live a long and happy life!" The Love of Cooking is her story and was produced by Heritage Press in 2009 based on Adeline's audio diary.

PROJECT

I can still remember the day, when as a child I decided that what my Italian mother did in the kitchen was both magical and oh so important, but most of all fun! Like a magician, I’d see her mixing flour and water and eggs, sprinkle something into the dough, kneed the thick, tasteless lump of goo, set it aside, covered, to rise, into the oven, and an hour later a loaf of bread would miraculously appear! The whole house was filled with the most inviting aroma—the scents of love, family, security, and belonging. I knew way back then that my life would, in one way or another, be centered on what I saw my mother doing day in and day out in our kitchen in a modest home, in a working-class neighborhood, on Romayne Avenue, in Racine, Wisconsin, where I grew up just before the onset of and during the terrible Great Depression.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/richard-bencriscutto/the-love-of-cooking/paperback/product-21741744.html

PROJECT HISTORY

John Fecondo was my mother's "significant other" for more than ten years when they were both in their 80s. John was a proud WWII veteran, a Navy gunner and B17 crew member. His war stories were endlessly fascinating. When he became ill, I knew they had to be recorded for posterity while that was still possible. The result was, My WWII Service Story, which also serves as John's memoir. He passed in 2012.

PROJECT

I was in high school when the rumors of war began to spread. We all knew it was our duty, to ourselves, to our families, to our communities, to our country, to serve the cause of democracy and restore peace to a shattered war-torn world. I had to wait until my 18th birthday, in May of 1943, but by July I was able to begin serving in the Navy.

The unparalleled global violence, death, and destruction that followed involved countless millions of individual lives, each with a harrowing story to tell. This book tells my WWII story, but in the telling it is apparent that it took everyone pulling together, each providing a unique and valuable service, to finally defeat the forces of tyranny and restore peace and democracy to the Western world. My name is John Fecondo.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-fecondo/my-wwii-service-story/ebook/product-17522805.html

PROJECT HISTORY

I met David Biegemann in a Starbucks and soon found out that he was the proprietor of Pop More Corks, a wine concession in downtown Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Other than David's engaging personality, nothing special so far, until he got up to leave. He was handicapped by a stroke, but nothing in his manner or attitude gave that away. I stopped into his wine store and overheard him conducting a wine-tasting. His engaging stories were much more than about wine, as is mesmerized patrons knew only too well. After a series of interviews I was able to edit and produce the book, Pop More Corks, sharing not only David's deep knowledge of wine, but his even deeper wisdom and insights about the human soul and human condition. 

PROJECT

David Biegemann is the proprietor of Pop More Corks, a wine & cheese concession nestled on the northeast side in the downtown area of the popular resort town, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He learned his trade during a distinguished career as a restauranteur & wine salesman. His extensive knowledge is not, however, what makes shopping for just that right bottle of wine such an engaging experience at Pop More Corks. Some difficult life lessons have aged David’s soul, like a fine cured wine. Somehow, initial discussions centering on spirits often seem to drift into other areas along with the bouquet of a Merlot or Bordeaux being sampled by customers. On the pages of Pop More Corks you’ll be able to walk a while in David’s shoes and experience the enchantment when opened wine spills over into an open soul refreshing both palate and spirit.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/david-biegemann/pop-more-corks/paperback/product-21280889.html