Life was simple for private detective Tom Statford. Sure, being the Keeper, the first, last and only line of defense between gods and mortals could make for interesting times, but a mundane existence in south-eastern Virginia kept things on the boring side of life. Boring, until bodies appear with all the trademarks of ritualistic homicide. Now, the Keeper must not only stop a psychopath, but also the end of the world. Easy enough, if the killer doesn't find him first.
This is a book about ordinary people—plumbers, artists and accountants, bakers and beauticians, teachers and lawyers—who have been able to receive communication from loved ones who have died. Included here are accounts from over 80 people across the country who have had contact with the dead through the diaphanous veil that separates them from the living. The book begins with the story of Annie’s deceased daughter speaking to her in the early morning hours. The communication was so transformative that she began to share her experience. Much to her surprise, she discovered that after-death communication is much more common than is normally assumed, and she began to connect with other folks across the country who had similar experiences. Each of the ten chapters is organized around a specific kind of after-death communication. Included here are chapters on dreams, verbatim conversations, and synchronicity through nature and various other physical manifestations, descriptions of the results of these occurrences, and advice on how to open up to after-death communication. This book inspires in the reader reassurance, courage, healing, and a sense of wonder. From the author: “The time is ripe for people to recognize the blessing of how frequently our dead beloveds return . . . to confirm the reality that consciousness continues beyond the grave and to remind us that there is much more to death than the physical cessation of breath and pulse. It is time to break the silence, time to stop keeping these powerful healing experiences to ourselves. It is time to allow the experiences themselves, and the positive effect they have on the living.”
The E.T. Chronicles is a startling and comprehensive examination of ancient myths and legends that describe extraterrestrial visitors and their encounters with humanity since the dawn of time. Organized into a chronology that starts with "in the beginning" and ends with the advent of civilization, it brings together myths from many cultures (including the Sumerians, the Greek, the Maya and the Aborigines of Australia) and explores them in the context of current scientific discoveries. The result is a mind-blowing re-visioning of human origins through close reading of ancient texts relating to: • creation• gods and goddesses• heaven• the gods and their toys (space ships or chariots?)• the quest for immortality Could it be that those ancient stories of the gods were more than just the product of someone's fanciful imagination? Is it possible that the writers, chroniclers, and scribes of our distant past actually record an accurate view of our origin? Could it be that we are really children of the stars?
Just like the tide, history flows through every corner of Old Dominions Hampton Roads region, and for decades it has been chronicled in the Virginian-Pilots column, Our Stories. These stories are now told by local historian and longtime columnist Paul Clancy, who offers up this unparalleled and uninhibited collection of articles and stunning historical images. Rediscover the history behind landmarks such as Fort Monroe, Sewells Point and Cape Henry and take in the view from the vantage point of those who witnessed history being made before their eyes: stories about the hurricane of 33, the old fairgrounds on the bay, the trolleys that ran to Ocean View, the semipro baseball teams that battled for glory, the harrowing and courageous struggle for racial equality and the soldiers and sailors who went off to war. This is the real stuff of Hampton Roads history.
From its beginnings as a trickle of icy water in Virginia's northwest corner to its miles-wide mouth at Hampton Roads, the James River has witnessed more recorded history than any other feature of the American landscape -- as home to the continent's first successful English settlement, highway for Native Americans and early colonists, battleground in the Revolution and the Civil War, and birthplace of America's twentieth-century navy. In 1998, restless in his job as a reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Earl Swift landed an assignment traveling the entire length of the James. He hadn't been in a canoe since his days as a Boy Scout, and he knew that the river boasts whitewater, not to mention man-made obstacles, to challenge even experienced paddlers. But reinforced by Pilot photographer Ian Martin and a lot of freeze-dried food and beer, Swift set out to immerse himself -- he hoped not literally -- in the river and its history. What Swift survived to bring us is this engrossing chronicle of three weeks in a fourteen-foot plastic canoe and four hundred years in the life of Virginia. Fueled by humor and a dauntless curiosity about the land, buildings, and people on the banks, and anchored by his sidekick Martin -- whose photographs accompany the text -- Swift points his bow through the ghosts of a frontier past, past Confederate forts and POW camps, antebellum mills, ruined canals, vanished towns, and effluent-spewing industry. Along the banks, lonely meadowlands alternate with suburbs and power plants, marinas and the gleaming skyscrapers of Richmond's New South downtown. Enduring dunkings, wolf spiders, near-arrest, channel fever, and twenty-knot winds, Swift makes it to the Chesapeake Bay. Readers who accompany him through his Journey on the James will come away with the accumulated pleasure, if not the bruises and mud, of four hundred miles of adventure and history in the life of one of America's great watersheds.
Richly illustrated with archival photos and reproductions of the artists' work, "Hamptons Bohemia" chronicles the evolution of a community and the colorful characters who have inhabited it, from Winslow Homer to George Plimpton. 176 full-color and halftone images.
