Dad: A Son Remembers

Dad was a proud member of the Greatest Generation. A navigator in the U.S. Navy during World War II, selected for his mathematical skills, he was assigned to transport ships plying the South Pacific Ocean. Even as a youth, his son quickly realized that Dad viewed the world as a place full of challenges and difficulties – interminable adversities that had to be anticipated, grappled with head-on, and surmounted. As a result, he had no patience for complainers, excuse-makers, or shirkers of responsibility. But more than anything, he couldn’t stand liars, prevaricators, or connivers; like many of his generation, Dad believed that “a man’s word is his bond.” He often said, “If you don’t give me ammo, I can’t fire the gun.”

Above all, he expected full effort in every action and could instantly tell if one of his children wasn’t giving their best. Throughout his 84 years, his staunch Catholic faith guided him, and by both example and word, he steadfastly imparted those principles to his six children.

Gypsy Moth

The primary goal of this book is, and always has been, to depict and illustrate the sanctity of human life, as well as the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.

To achieve this, the author immersed herself in the perspectives of various characters, capturing their voices, thoughts, and emotions. By doing so, she sought to bring their experiences to life in a way that resonates deeply with readers.

This book is not intended to be understood purely on an intellectual level but to be felt as a tangible and profound sensation.

Memoirs of a Fun Life

A cheerful tale of a lucky life. While intelligence can be useful, a touch of silliness often leads to more adventures and fun. Starting life with no grand ambitions or expectations means you’re never disappointed – instead, you’re regularly delighted to find yourself in fascinating situations.

Life sometimes feels like tubing down rocky rapids, where, with only the occasional use of a paddle, you somehow arrive in calm waters – unscathed and grinning from ear to ear.

My Grandpa

With meticulous detail, the author paints a vivid portrait of an intellectual family grappling with the complexities of modernization, globalization, and the clash of ideologies. As the narrative unfolds, you are invited to ponder the universal truths about family, education, life, and death, that transcend time and borders. You can also see the influence of Western culture, especially the U.S. culture in China during the early 21st century, while gaining insights into China’s miraculous rise and the forces that shape its destiny.

What did the heart and mind of an ordinary CCP member, a physics teacher, look like? How would a political dissident growing up in his family think of the government? What did Shanghai look like in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and how was it different from Shanghai in the 1930s? Why did the country embracing globalization and democracy collapse back to autocracy and totalitarianism in less than fifteen years, under Xi Jinping’s rule?

You can also witness the transformation of China from the 1920s to the early 21st century, as is seen through the lens of a CCP member’s experiences, as well as a political dissident’s narratives. Prepare to be swept away on an unforgettable voyage of discovery, as you uncover the hidden truths that lie at the intersection of family, culture, and history.

Long Ago Last Summer

Long Ago Last Summer is a Southern Gothic gumbo part Flannery O’Connor, part Tennessee Williams with a dash of Delta blues. An array of unforgettable characters come alive on the page: village idiots, eccentric aunts, beloved dogs, and at least one serial killer, Donald ‘Pee Wee’ Gaskins. Moore’s memoir embodies the profound paradoxes of Southern culture against a landscape dotted with antebellum plantations, shotgun shacks, suburban subdivisions, Pentecostal churches, and juke joints.

Praise for Wesley Moore’s writing:

“Long Ago, Last Summer is, like life, sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, full of unforgettable characters whose power to hurt rivals their power to love. Wesley Moore is a child of the complicated South, and it’s a joy to ‘grow up and grow old’ with this terrific writer. This collection is a ‘guided tour of the haunted houses and cobwebbed attics’ of his youth, but it’s also the story of a man who discovers, through tragedy, that ‘the world is a marvelous place, full of good, compassionate people.”

– Lee Robinson, author of Lawyer for the Dog and Lawyer for the Cat.

“I found in these pages something of what Faulkner meant when he wrote, ‘The past is never dead. It is not even the past.’ Reading this book was like walking in the wind or swimming. I was touched at all points and conscious everywhere. I was also reminded of Huck Finn’s raw wisdom when he said about his adventures, ‘All of this is true and most of it happened.’”

– Chuck Sullivan, author of Zen Matchbox and The Juggler on the Radio.

Challenge Alzheimer

Therese Truninger (1948) worked as an Activating Therapist in an old people’s home when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in December 2004, at the age of 56. Her husband Kaspar (1945) worked as a sales director for an international company. They got married in 1970 and have two adult daughters and six grandchildren.

In August 2005 Kaspar had to quit his job and started to take care of his love as a caring-husband at their long-time home apartment in Augst, Switzerland. He became a house man and took this new challenge as his own responsibility. In December 2010, the Memory Clinic in Basel, Switzerland concluded that home care for Mrs. Truninger was ‘just about tolerable/possible’.

In view of possible alternatives, the couple had already travelled several times to Thailand for longer periods of time and they had consistently had good experiences with the friendly people (the Land of Smiles) and the moderate cost of living. In January 2011, they emigrated from their home country Switzerland to Thailand.

With the help of a competent housekeeper and a most caring caregiver for Therese, they can still live on their own in their private environment.

A Handbook for Improving Student Achievement in Secondary Schools

Democratic values, student achievement, and effective citizenship are intrinsically linked. The research, however, is that students, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, have few opportunities to practice democratic citizenship in secondary schools.

Alongside current threats to democracy, this should concern us all: professional learning communities, teacher-leaders, parents, consultants, administrators, school districts, human rights activists, minority leadership, the justice system, local communities, university faculties, state education departments, and citizens in general.

Democratic citizenship is a superordinate goal – a composite of communicative abilities, freedom with responsibility, inclusiveness, career preparation, community mindfulness, evidence-based thinking, collective ownership, distributed leadership, and support for those in need. Student leadership, including school research (their own school and others), not only benefits the school generally, but helps prepare high school students for freedom, responsibilities, and opportunities as democratic citizens.

Such leadership has foundations: student-chosen teacher advisors, daily advisories, collaborative learning expertise, student-led assemblies, self-regulation, leadership credit courses, and virtual/personal connections with student leaders in other schools, districts, and countries.

Expanded contributions are student feedback on teacher performance, student-led (parent-student- teacher) conferences, after-school activities leadership, reciprocal teaching, and participation in school/district decision making. All under the auspices of improved language capability, teacher modeling and encouragement, a learning to learn focus, and gradual release of responsibility.

Endorsements

John Hattie

“There is never a dull moment reading this book. Centred on the principles of democracy, it points to the need for broad participation and thus calls for schools to do more, do better, and do wonderful things to ignite a love of learning. Orchard masterfully outlines seven key theorems to make his case; a compelling roadmap for educators to foster effective learning strategies.”

Professor Emeritus John Hattie, Melbourne Laureate

Michael Fullan

“Jack Orchard’s 'Handbook for Improving Student Achievement in Secondary Schools' is powerful, timely, and an action-packed message for us to get going in transforming secondary schools. Orchard’s Handbook is grounded, urgent, insightful, and deeply practical. Anybody in high schools can act on this agenda. Read this book with others, be collectively inspired, and get down to the excitement and frustrations of engaging in breakthrough change. The good news is that students, teachers (and eventually parents and communities) will be excited to join in and make the long-awaited transformation of secondary schools.”

Professor Emeritus Michael Fullan, OISE/University of Toronto

We're All Healing Here

She was not born with wisdom; she gathered it along the way. Refusing to let the world break her, she found the strength to rise above every challenge life placed in her path. She was never weak – she simply had to discover the power within herself.

Through pain and brokenness, she climbed the ladder of healing, searching for the true meaning of love. In the end, she realized that love begins with loving herself.

This book is my heart, pieced together for you to hold. Be gentle – we are all healing here.

The Reason I Breathe

The Reason I Breathe: My Journey with Autism Against All Odds is about my life raising twins, one of whom is on the Autism Spectrum and the navigating, fumbling, fighting and all the lessons learned that came along with it.

In this book, you will discover how I had to put my ego and fears aside and trust my gut instincts that something alarming was going on with my son Dwight’s development. Taylor, his twin sister, was the sounding alarm for me that my son was not progressing with his language and social skills as she had been. It felt as though Dwight was going silent overnight right before my eyes and distancing himself from the family.

Defying the words of my then husband and his family, I set out on a journey to seek answers and to secure resources and support that my son desperately needed. I was mocked and severely criticized from their father for wanting to find out what was happening to our son, despite that I kept going, and it forever changed the dynamic of our family.

This led me to building my own community of support, this led me to thinking outside the box by writing to politicians in order to secure the proper school placement and resources he needed, this led me to advocating to help other families in need of the same support but above all this led me to a strength and courage that I never knew I had when I left the twins’ father after many years of abuse, humiliation and the destruction of my self-esteem.

After taking a leap of faith and enduring some lean years, I was able to create an environment of love, peace and security for my family and I sat back and watched the twins thrive in our new life.

Phoenix Rising: My Journey with Bipolar Disorder

Sometimes, in the midst or in the immediate aftermath of the symptoms of bipolar disorder, it can feel as if one’s life is on fire. From the raging highs of mania to the desperate lows of deep depression, and every single difficult-to-discuss characteristic in between, this illness can be extremely destructive. The imagery of a phoenix is the perfect metaphor for someone touched by these unquenchable flames.

This publication is a contribution to the conversation about mental health. It’s another story. It’s another voice. It’s an attempt to get these issues out of the shadows. It’s an effort to make it okay to talk about symptoms like dark intrusive thoughts, hyper-sexuality, and the anguish of suicidal ideation, along with countless other manifestations. It strives to chip away at secrecy and shame, which can surround these topics.

This book is meant to serve as a tool for openness and hope. Remember, the phoenix always rises from the ashes. Keep rising!

The Holy Family of Nazareth and the Christian Family Today

In a world where family values are increasingly challenged, this profound work bridges the sacred past and the modern present. The Holy Family of Nazareth and the Christian Family Today delves into the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth – Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ – offering a richly detailed portrait of their simple life, profound humility, and unwavering faith. By placing the Holy Family within their familial, social, and religious context of their time, the book reveals the human, humble, and poor life they led – a life marked by deep attentiveness to God and steadfast obedience to His divine will.

Through biblical narratives, theological reflections, and historical context, the author demonstrates how the Holy Family’s experiences resonate deeply with our own. Jesus was a man among men, similar to us in everything except sin. His education was not abstract or theoretical but actual and real, shaped by real events like the flight into Egypt, the boy Jesus in the temple, and three decades of quiet family life characterized by His obedience to His parents. These moments provide living proof of a faith-filled upbringing, underscoring how humility and listening to God profoundly influenced His public ministry.

This work is divided into three parts: the daily life and divine calling of the Holy Family, the impact of Jesus’ upbringing on His mission, and the application of their timeless example to the modern challenges faced by Christian families. Whether addressing secularism, fractured faith, or the trials of contemporary life, this book invites families to seek patience, peace, and unity by turning to the Holy Family as a model and guide.

With wisdom and compassion, this timeless book reminds us that the lessons of Nazareth remain as relevant today as ever. Whether you seek to deepen your spiritual understanding or strengthen your family bonds, this work offers an inspiring and practical roadmap for navigating the complexities of life with love, faith, and grace while remaining anchored in divine truths.

By H. E. Bishop Sélim Sayegh, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Doketo: The 1960s Story of a Thoroughbred Racehorse

This story is about a thoroughbred racehorse named Doketo, who was owned and trained by the person telling the story. Doketo was a good racehorse, though not exceptional as he might have you believe. However, as the racetrack saying goes, he was better than an empty stall.

Life is like that. Friends and associates may not be exactly what you want, but in a very real sense, they can still be better than an empty stall. Doketo’s eventual owner learned this lesson as a 20-year-old boxer competing in the fiercely contested featherweight division of the 1954 Golden Gloves, where winners qualified for the Pan American Games.

The late veteran boxing judge Billy Oaths believed the young fighter had a strong chance of winning his division. His confidence came from the boxer’s previous bout, a stunning televised victory over a top-ranked U.S. featherweight in the opponent’s hometown just three months earlier. As the young boxer climbed the steps to the ring for his first Golden Gloves match before a large crowd, Billy called out, ‘C’mon, let’s get the ball rolling!’ The boxer, full of confidence, shouted back, ‘Don’t worry, Billy. This won’t last long.’

And it didn’t.

The referee stopped the fight in the first round, awarding a TKO win to the boxer’s opponent. While disappointed, Billy would likely have summed it up with the same racetrack wisdom: his boxer and Doketo were both better than an empty stall.