What does courage look like?

Dozier writes about the spiritual core that helped him withstand captivity

In the wake of wars, catastrophic storms and an ongoing pandemic—millions of us around the world are asking: What does courage look like?

That question is answered with inspiring true stories in the new memoir by retired Major General James Dozier, Finding My Pole Star. Forty years ago, in late 1981, Dozier’s name and photographs circled the globe as he became the public face of European terrorist groups’ rage about America’s global power. Please read this week’s cover story about the launch of Dozier’s new book—and share this story with friends. It’s a great book for individual reading and for small-group discussion.

We Are Caregivers

Caregiving Forum in Michigan Addresses Challenges and Solutions

OUR PUBLISHING HOUSE is part of an ongoing network of media and health care professionals promoting best practices for our nation’s more than 50 million caregivers. This week, we’re sharing a report from a statewide forum on caregiving held recently in Michigan.

Suzy Farbman:

The Remarkable Life of Charelvoix’s Steve Schaefer

IN HER GODSIGNS COLUMN, this week, Suzy Farbman tells the story of Steve Schaefer, who refused to let a tragic boating accident cut short the vitality of his life. As Suzy explains, a huge part of this inspiring story had to do with Stevie’s tireless mother Patty Runquist.

Our Authors Tackle Cancer

THE ONLINE MAGAZINE ‘Improve Her Health’ selected four of our authors’ books about surviving cancer, including Suzy Farbman’s memoir, to feature in the latest installment of that website’s ongoing series of caregiving recommendations.

The Annual Holiday Publishing Crunch Worsens

IN OUR FRONT EDGE PUBLISHING COLUMN, this week, our Director of Production Dmitri Barvinok forecasts an even tougher holiday publishing crunch this year. What does that mean? Publishers nationwide are pushing the release dates of new books into the early months of 2022—and book customers need to complete any holiday shopping much earlier this year.

HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS

Sukkot

STARTING ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 20, Jewish neighbors may have set up fragile, leafy, outdoor shelters called sukkahs to celebrate the ancient harvest festival of Sukkot. As Stephanie Fenton reports in this holiday story, there’s not a more appropriate festival to spark reflections on living within a global pandemic.

WANT TO SEE ALL THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just visit InterfaithHolidays.com

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Faith & Film

Click this image to learn more about the September 2021 issue of Visual Parables Journal, which includes discussion guides to movies such as Respect, Pig, Coda, Days of Glory and more.

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:

THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE—Ed praises the new film about the lives of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and says it’s likely to surprise many viewers.
BLUE BAYOU—Ed writes, “Actor/director Justin Chon throws light on a little-known aspect of ICE and its ruthless practice of deportation in this highly dramatic story set around and in a bayou near New Orleans. But be for warned—have on hand a handkerchief for the emotionally wrought ending!”
REMINISCE—Ed McNulty writes, “Writer-director Lisa Joy blends film noir with science fiction in this tale set in a near future Miami whose streets are being flooded as climate change causes the ocean to rise. Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) is the jaded detective whose specialty is the past.”
COME FROM AWAY—”The horrific events that occurred 20 years ago on 9/11 reveal the evil depths that humanity can sink to, but this filmed version of David Hein and Irene Sankoff’s Broadway play celebrates the heights to which humanity can rise.”
THE FATHER—Ed writes about the acclaimed film by French director Florian Zeller, co-starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.
DAYS OF GLORY—”Co-writer/director Rachid Bouchareb provides a very different perspective on World War II in this tale centering on four North African Muslims who enlist to free what they regard as their fatherland, France.”
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US—”Kate Winslet stars as Alex Martin and Idris Elba as Ben Bass. She is a daring-do photographer willing to take risks, whereas he is an overly cautious neurosurgeon, so their different temperaments fuel the conflict when the story kicks into high gear.”
RESPECT—”Director Liesl Tommy and writer Tracey Scott Wilson’s film biography of Aretha Franklin certainly deserves our respect—and gratitude. Covering about 29 years of the singer’s life, it begins with her as a 10-year-old rousted out of bed to entertain her father’s guests to the recording of her greatest hit album, Amazing Grace.”
PIG—”Director and co-writer Michael Sarnoski’s film about the reclusive supplier of truffles to Portland Oregon’s upscale restaurant presents Nicolas Cage with a role that rises far above what the actor has sunk into for a couple of decades.”
CODA—This 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama follows a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults (CODA for short). The movie is a remake of a French film and currently has a 96 percent approval rating from film critics—including Ed McNulty in his review.