A MEMORABLE MEMORIAL DAY
‘DISTANT VOICES STILL HOPING TO FIND US’—Some readers may recognize this famous line from the poetry of W.S. Merwin who the world lost this spring, at age 91. To mark the week of Memorial Day, our special cover story is a collaboration between contributing columnist Martin Davis and Editor David Crumm. The two began a dialogue this week about the love of walking, the allure of sacred places, the timeless pull of memory—and our hope, against all odds, that we may all somehow discover a healthy community emerging in our world, once again. Please, read our cover story and share it with friends via email or social media. You’re also free to print out our story and share it with friends to spark conversation.
MEMORIAL DAY, 2019—So, what is this national holiday that historians argue helped to redefine Americans’ sense of our nation’s history? Is it really a memorial anymore? Is it the starting shot to vacation destinations? Or one of the biggest “blowouts” of the year for retailers? Stephanie Fenton’s Holidays & Festivals column covers all of those questions.
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WHAT’S NEW IN DETROIT? A TINY HOME RAFFLE
BOOMING WITH HOPE—Regular readers know about the historic milestone in the heart of Detroit surrounding a visionary “tiny homes” community sponsored by Cass Community, which has produced the popular book Tiny Homes in a Big City. If this is news to you, then you’ll want to jump back and read our cover story headlined: What’s Detroit Building Now? A community of tiny homes that could change the face of poverty in America. The nationwide excitement over this experiment led to a donor giving a full-scale tiny home—on wheels—to Cass for a raffle to raise funds for the ongoing project. (After all, Cass homes are permanent neighborhood structures, so this “tiny mobile home” fits the project best as the prize for a raffle.) Here is Cass Community’s home page with an article about the raffle, simply scroll down to find that headline news. Then, here’s a Crain’s Detroit Business magazine story about the raffle. And, here’s the story as reported by Channel 2 TV news in Detroit.
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Click the cover to learn more about the book.
‘THE GOOD MANAGER’
BOOKS ON THE MOVE, aka BOOVE—The UK-based book-lovers website BOOVE is a mash-up of Pinterest design and social media links designed to recommend new books to readers. James, aka Jimmy, Jackson is a TV critic for The Times in London and is as voracious in his reading as he is in video viewing. Occasionally, James sends lists of favorite books over to BOOVE—and we are celebrating that he selected two of our authors to feature in this BOOVE column headlined Become the Good Manager Everyone Loves by Reading These Books. Among James’ 17 recommendations are Robert Pasick’s Balanced Leadership in Unbalanced Times and William Donohue’s Critical Conversations as Leadership. Thanks for honoring our authors, James!
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RAMADAN MUBARAK!
OUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS are fasting during the month of Ramadan. As 2019 dawned, we made a commitment as a publishing house to help combat bigotry by reaching out to our Muslim neighbors in a friendly way. Please consider buying a copy of the new book Our Muslim Neighbors and become a positive model of change in your community.
This week, author Victor Begg was featured in an online interfaith dialogue in Florida. Here’s a link to that inspiring conversation.
Want to see all the holiday stories? Just remember www.InterfaithHolidays.com
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Faith & Film
Click to learn more about the May issue of Visual Parables.
ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.
Among Ed’s free reviews and columns are:
- BREAKTHROUGH—Ed writes, “This is that rare, and pleasing, faith based film that does not try to convert its audience. Veteran TV director Roxann Dawson has teamed with writer Grant Nieporte to bring Joyce Smith’s book to life. It is the true story of 14-year-old John Smith’s miraculous survival from a drowning.” (5 out of 5 stars)
ALADDIN—”Guy Richie directed and co-wrote (with John August) Disney’s latest transition from cartoons to live actors. The result is an enjoyable visual parable about power, friendship, truth and freedom, enhanced by some tuneful music,” Ed writes, recommending the movie for families. (4.5 out of 5 stars)- DIANE—”Written and directed by first time director Kent Jones, this is a little jewel of a film that focuses upon the life of a care giving older woman.” (4 stars)
- TOLKIEN—Ed writes, “Although not as satisfying as I had hoped, the film is still a must-see for those who love Frodo and his faithful companion Samwise Gamgee and all of the rest of their faithful companions.” (4 out of 5 stars)
- LES MISERABLES—Throughout his career as a film critic, Ed has reviewed eight other film versions of the classic novel. He now gives 5 stars to the newest mini-series version.
- PENGUINS—The latest Disneynature documentary provides an intriguing look for the whole family at the Adélie penguins who manage to thrive in the inhospitable Antarctica. (4 stars)
- SHAZAM—Ed writes, “There’s a lot of silliness to the pagan mythology-based plot, but also a lot of fun as young Billy Batson becomes a super hero and learns to become more caring for others.” (4 stars)
- GLORIA BELL—Ed describes this new film starring Julianne Moore to feeling like a female-focused version of the classic Zorba the Greek. (4 stars)
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