Bliss Wiant went to China in 1923 with the lofty goal of some day introducing hymns to Chinese Christians that would not sound foreign to them. It was a goal that occupied much of his life. The locale of his work was Yenching University, which was arguably the premier institution of higher education in China. There he established a department of music, and enabled students to discover and develop their musical talents. There also he taught students who had never before seen a western musical score, to sing and to love Handel's Messiah and other great music of the west. In less than 10 years after its first performance, the reputation of the university chorus was such that it was invited by the government of China to present the Messiah in Nanking, the national capitol, as the finale to a two-week exposition of the arts.

A major milestone in the pursuit of his life's goal was reached in that same year (1937), when a hymnal (English Title, "Hymns of Universal Praise") was published. This was the culmination of years of collaborative effort involving scores of individuals. Not only was the hymnal a uniquely inter-denominational achievement, it also included for the first time, a substantial number of original, indigenous hymns.

Wiant's work in China produced in him a great love for the people as well as a deep admiration for their culture, which he saw both as misunderstood and unappreciated in the U.S. Consequently he devoted much of his energy in the years that followed to being a cultural ambassador, representing China to his own countrymen. An important manifestation of this was his work and that of his wife, Mildred, in translating into English a number of the Chinese hymns that first appeared in Hymns of Universal Praise. Several of these are now found in hymns used in the U.S., in effect closing a circle begun when Wiant went to China in 1923.

"Lati knew his stuff and before the sun was high we were on the trail of a small herd. These elephant had fed into thick thorn scrub. We could hear them up ahead, close, but we couldn't see them as visibility was close to nil. I reached for some dirt to sift through my fingers and track the breezes. The elephant were almost stationary, languidly browsing. Judging from the contented purring of their stomachs, they had no idea we were there. We inched closer, the heat and the tension oppressive. Twenty yards; ten yards; ten feet. We could see them, but couldn't make out one end from the other, nor could we see any ivory. Big gray slabs of wrinkled hide was all that was discernable, and even that seemed to pulse and dance out of focus in the heat and thorn. Lati touched my shoulder, motioning to back off. At mid-day the breeze was bound to give us away. We backpedaled, guns ready...."

The countries of East Africa were getting independence in the 1960's and the Teachers of East Africa Program, run by Columbia University, was one vehicle used to expand the staffing of the secondary schools so these countries could quickly muster the manpower necessary to run their own affairs. I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the teachers, and this book is the story of my four years spent in Tanzania: teaching, hunting and touring. In the process I had many wonderful experiences with the people, some close calls with the elephants, climbed an active volcano, presided over a polling station in the first Presidential election in Tanzania, and hunted with ear gatherers.

I tried to skim Dan's book after we returned from Africa. But it's not the sort of piece you should skim. I really enjoyed all of it, but especially the writer's voice and consciousness -- young, male, enthusiastic, brash, reflective, smart, brave, appreciative and oh so full of life! I loved it!

Dr. Rudy Martin, retired, Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington.

I want to add that Dan's writing brought back for me the absolute beauty and wonder of East Africa.

Dr. Gail Martin, retired Antioch University, Seattle, Washington

The Great Depression of the 1930s was a challenging time for most families- especially those in the "Dust Bowl" states such as Oklahoma. This is a true story of a young boy born just three months before the "Crash of 1929", told with reflections on his growing up in Ada, Oklahoma, during the 1930s and 1940s as his and other neighborhood families struggled for survival and then recovered as the nation began to experience the "Happy Days are Here Again!" promised by a new president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The book covers the childhood and youth years- ending with high school graduation when writer recognizes that he has "miles to go before I sleep". Young Oliver "hawked" newspapers in Ada's downtown business area as a seven-year old, moved on to paper routes and other jobs and learned important life skills through family, church, work, Scouting, neighborhood activities, and especially, as he became "the eyes" for a loving, blind grandfather who, despite that handicap, ran a small neighborhood store and taught the young man how to "see with the mind's eye".

People and events remembered from childhood days are sometimes part fact and part perception. The people existed and the events occurred. The blending of reality with the thoughts and impressions left in the mind of a young child become the memories of an adult and are shared so that today's generation and future generations will know what life was like in that era. These are reflections on the joys and trials- neighborhood incidents, play, the murder of a neighbor, falling in love- memories of one person from the generation which was the smallest in number of all recent generations and one which is rapidly disappearing.

Readers will laugh, cry and rage as Elizabeth Feinman, passionate about her job, her students and the issues of the day, tumbles from grace the more deeply involved she gets in trying to improve all three.

Set in a junior-senior high school in the nineties, this story reveals what passes for standards and discipline and how a school administration, eager for national attention, can cook the books, shut down criticism, avoid critical evaluation and rid itself of whomever it cares to. The narrative, which spans four decades, touches on raising the mantel for women, introducing sports to girls and adapting to societal changes. It then follows a school district's efforts to rid itself of a thorn in its side.

As Ms. Feinman stands up to career ending challenges, readers will no longer believe that teaching is easy; teachers don't care; top-down management improves what goes on in classrooms; tenure protects teachers; and that a strong professional association is unnecessary if teachers are good at what they do.

What's Shaking The School reveals the school community through the eyes of a seasoned educator and school leader. With candor and caring, humor and pathos, the experiences of one elementary principal shed light upon other questions we have all pondered:

How do students at school react to home situations, outside events, teacher personalities and curriculum?

What do young people want to know about maturation?

How do they view the adults who work with them?

What is the most positive, powerful thing that can happen for a child at school?

How do parents react when their child is affected by school situations?

How do teachers and administrators cope with curriculum changes, student challenges and "difficult" parents?

Are all those hours teachers spend over report cards really worth it?

How does the school secretary keep smiling?

Is there any power in the principalship?

How one person dealt with the forces that impact our schools is the main theme of What's Shaking The School. This school principal kept a daily journal as she worked through her twelve years in two large Victoria schools. Memos, letters, student work and journal entries give immediacy and integrity to this very personal account of a role everyone has opinions about and few actually understand. Neither a manual nor a simple collection of amusing anecdotes, What's Shaking The School will appeal to anyone who has pondered the real work of its appointed leader.

What's Shaking The School reveals the school community through the eyes of a seasoned educator and school leader. With candor and caring, humor and pathos, the experiences of one elementary principal shed light upon other questions we have all pondered:

How do students at school react to home situations, outside events, teacher personalities and curriculum?

What do young people want to know about maturation?

How do they view the adults who work with them?

What is the most positive, powerful thing that can happen for a child at school?

How do parents react when their child is affected by school situations?

How do teachers and administrators cope with curriculum changes, student challenges and "difficult" parents?

Are all those hours teachers spend over report cards really worth it?

How does the school secretary keep smiling?

Is there any power in the principalship?

How one person dealt with the forces that impact our schools is the main theme of What's Shaking The School. This school principal kept a daily journal as she worked through her twelve years in two large Victoria schools. Memos, letters, student work and journal entries give immediacy and integrity to this very personal account of a role everyone has opinions about and few actually understand. Neither a manual nor a simple collection of amusing anecdotes, What's Shaking The School will appeal to anyone who has pondered the real work of its appointed leader.

The Turn in the Road is the lively account of the business life of a driving instructor capable of 'thinking outside of the box'. John Dennè's forty year career started when he joined BSM in 1962. As well as teaching novice drivers, he taught high performance driving, disabled drivers, and drivers of trucks, buses, aircraft refuellers and industrial plant. With the Road Transport Industry Training Board he was responsible for training and testing driving instructors and compiled the first comprehensive training manual detailing the task.

As a consultant he ended up in Hong Kong where he spent almost ten years responsible for redesigning and developing the training of bus drivers for the Kowloon Motor Bus Company. Upon returning to the UK he was recruited by the AA in order to help design and establish the AA's Driving School where he remained in a senior management position until his retirement in 2002.

John was also the Managing Director of Transport Training International Ltd. and provided driver and instructor training services to the Seychelles and Mauritius.

More and more nations seek to compete in this world and need efficient transport systems. Many of them are ex-British colonies that continue to adopt our driving procedures.

When you're ready, move away.

When the grammar school in which I was teaching was amalgamated with the local secondary modern school to become a comprehensive school of over a thousand pupils many problems were caused by the less able 14 year olds who were sent to the former grammar school and labelled 8th. stream. I took over as their form teacher and had to develop a different approach to teaching. During the years course in 'The Education of Maladjusted Children' I had to decide whether or not to risk changing the direction of my teaching career so radically.