No one has uncovered more stories that are "positively Connecticut" than Diane Smith, whose award-winning "Positively Connecticut" television feature has taken her to the highways and back roads of the Constitution State, discovering the people, places, and event that make Connecticut special and its history so colorful. Following in the footsteps of the highly successful book Positively Connecticut, Smith has selected sixty more vignettes about Connecticut's dreamers, doers, characters, and heroes both celebrated and unsung. Illustrated with hundreds of color photos, her book is fun reading for Connecticut Yankees and visitors alike . . . positively!
TV reporter and news anchor Diane Smith collects her favorite vignettes from her long-running "Positively Connecticut" segment. Richly illustrated throughout with more than 200 color photos, this makes a perfect gift or memento for anyone in love with the true spirit of the Constitution State.
Experience the birth of the first support group for sexual minorities with developmental disabilities! Reflecting an unprecedented development in the disabled and sexual minority communities, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Retardation: Stories of the Rainbow Support Group describes the founding, achievements, and history of a unique group providing support for people with developmental disabilities or mental retardation (DD/MR) who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. In this pathbreaking book, group founder John D. Allen describes the Rainbow Support Group's beginnings in 1998 at the New Haven Gay & Lesbian Community Center in Connecticut and the ways in which it has been shattering myths and stereotypes surrounding people with mental retardation ever since. From the author: “Not only are people with DD/MR full human beings with the same needs and desires for intimacy and healthy sexual expression as people without intellectual disabilities, but the group is evidence that some people with DD/MR have an understanding of sexual orientation as well. Acknowledging that people with mental retardation are sexual is a new development in the human service field, but one that is still in the pre-Stonewall days regarding those who are gay. Although people with mental retardation are given unprecedented freedom to make personal vocational decisions, there is an unfounded expectation that they do not have a sexuality—let alone a homosexuality. Members of the Rainbow Support Group discuss the same concerns as other gay people, but in a support system that recognizes their unique perspective.” This insightful book shows how membership in the Rainbow Support Group addresses the very real fears and concerns of its members, including: being forced into heterosexual social situations, since that is the only available option for socialization dealing with being “outed” to peers and staff—since many DD/MR people are not their own legal guardians, this can lead to removal of privileges, various kinds of abuse, and other negative consequences in their day-to-day lives being ridiculed by unsupportive staff being excluded from family functions because of their sexual orientation It also illustrates the purely positive aspects of membership in the group, which provides: a place to learn appropriate ways to meet others, hear messages about safe sex, and feel empowered to advocate for their own intimacy needs an increased chance of finding a like-minded partner (although the group is certainly not a “dating service”) an avenue for members to connect with others like them and with the larger gay community in the area events to participate in, such as holiday parties, field trips, movie nights, and gay pride celebrations The author continues: “What is exciting are the positive outcomes displayed once an individual enters the group. Members quickly develop a sense of ownership and wear rainbow-emblazoned clothing to meetings. Everyone has joined the host community center to begin receiving regular mailings and event discounts. Supervising staff report that members perform better at work, have fewer behavioral issues, and experience a greater feeling of contentment. For people with mental retardation, just to be able to say the words 'gay,' 'lesbian,' 'bisexual,' and 'transgender' in an affirming environment is a cutting-edge breakthrough. What the group has accomplished and will hopefully continue to illuminate is the understanding that people with DD/MR are entitled to a whole life experience, including discovering and enjoying their sexuality.”
Reflecting an unprecedented development in the disabled and sexual minority communities, this book describes the founding, achievements, and history of a unique group providing support for GLBT people with developmental disabilities or mental retardation. In this pathbreaking book, group founder John D. Allen describes the Rainbow Support Group's beginnings in 1998 at the New Haven Gay & Lesbian Community Center in Connecticut and the ways in which it has been shattering the myths and stereotypes surrounding people with mental retardation ever since.
The collaborators of A Guide to Haunted New England track the spirits of the “Constitution State” through its storied history. The emerald sheen illuminating the Sabbatarian burying ground, 8 Mile River’s misty figures which emerge at the Devil’s Hopyard, and flying demon skeletons on Charles Island—these bizarre haunts are uniquely Connecticut. In the ghostly lore of the state, the ambient ramblings of the Leatherman still ring out in the caves of Harwinton’s forests and the former residents of the Hale Homestead continue to roam the attic at night. Join authors and Paranormal United Research Founders, Thomas D’Agostino and his wife Arlene Nicholson, as they recount bone chilling mysteries from Putnam, Canton, New London and many more shadowy corners of the Nutmeg state. Includes photos! Praise for A Guide to Haunted New England “Fun, charming . . . includes not only locales with reported ghosts, but also sites with macabre (though not haunted) histories.”—True Crime Librarian “Anyone interested in exploring the haunted, macabre and abandoned throughout New England knows they can count on D’Agostino to find out more about the site’s history, past sightings and how to find them.”—Mobile RVing
Seasons of Connecticut is a beautiful, four color celebration of the Nutmeg state by a veteran television and radio reporter who has told the stories of the people and places of Connectiut for twenty years. The sixty stories included in this book will make people feel good about living in Connecticut, and make others want to visit, revealing the beauty and the personality of the state throughout the year.
Head to the witch's dungeon in Bristol or stop for a bite to eat at Skee's Diner in Torrington, circa 1920. If it's funny, little-known, or out of the way in Connecticut, travelers will find it in this guide. 9 maps. 19 illustrations.
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