So Far, So Good beautifully lays out life like a mosaic-opportunities of acclaim and fortune among moments of deep heartbreak, regret, and personal disappointment, all culminating in a life destined for purpose. If you have ever felt alone, uncertain, or overwhelmed, or questioned why God has allowed difficult circumstances to become part of your personal narrative, Jody's story is for you. Every word on these pages comes with the hope that as you read them you will find healing and comfort in knowing you are not alone.
The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.
A powerful memoir from actor, writer, producer and proud Torres Strait Islander Aaron Fa'Aoso Aaron Fa'Aoso has earned a living as a professional footballer, a Kings Cross bouncer, a remote community health worker, an acclaimed actor and—most recently—as the owner and manager of his own media production company. Aaron's story is all about what it means to be a successful Indigenous man in the twenty-first century. With generosity, humour and emotional insight he examines how the death of his father, when Aaron was only six, led to his being raised by his loving but fiery mother and his even fiercer grandmother. How belief in himself as a warrior, and as a descendent of a long line of warriors, made him – literally and metaphorically, for better and for worse – into a fighter. However, Aaron's career, and his role as an emerging leader, were both hard-won in the face of many setbacks and heartaches. In 2008, a month after Aaron married for the second time and just as his acting career was flourishing, his new wife took her own life. In the dark times that followed Aaron eventually found strength and meaning in his family, and in his beloved Torres Strait community. Aaron talks frankly about mental health, racism, the personal impact of alcohol, as well as the consolations of belonging to Country, and the challenges facing remote communities. So Far, So Good is a rich and vivid reflection on life and a celebration of Torres Strait culture.
"Ursula K. Le Guin, loved by millions for her fantasy and science-fiction novels, ponders life, death and the vast beyond in So Far So Good, an astute, charming collection finished weeks before her death in January, 2018. Fans will recognize some of the motifs here—cats, wind, strong women — as well as her exploration of the intersection between soul and body, the knowable and the unknown. The writing is clear, artful and reverent as Le Guin looks back at key memories and concerns and looks forward to what is next: 'Spirit, rehearse the journey of the body/ that are to come, the motions/ of the matter that held you.'"―Washington Post "Le Guin’s farewell poetry collection, contains all that created her reputation for fiction—sharp insight, restless imagination, humor that is both mordant and humane, and, above all else, that connection to all creation, that 'immense what is'."—New York Journal of Books “It’s hard to think of another living author who has written so well for so long in so many styles as Ursula K. Le Guin.” —Salon “She never loses touch with her reverence for the immense what is.” —Margaret Atwood “There is no writer with an imagination as forceful and delicate as Le Guin’s.” —Grace Paley Legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin was lauded by millions for her ground- breaking science fiction novels, but she began as a poet, and wrote across genres for her entire career. In this clarifying and sublime collection—completed shortly before her death in 2018—Le Guin is unflinching in the face of mor- tality, and full of wonder for the mysteries beyond. Redolent of the lush natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, with rich sounds playfully echoing myth and nursery rhyme, Le Guin bookends a long, daring, and prolific career. From “How it Seems to Me”: In the vast abyss before time, self is not, and soul commingles with mist, and rock, and light. In time, soul brings the misty self to be. Then slow time hardens self to stone while ever lightening the soul, till soul can loose its hold of self . . . Ursula K. Le Guin is the author of over sixty novels, short fiction works, translations, and volumes of poetry, including the acclaimed novels The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. Her books continue to sell millions of copies worldwide. Le Guin died in 2018 in her home in Portland, Oregon.
Pete Nadherny was the CEO of his own business in Cincinnati when he learned he had a brain tumor. His wife and the author of this book, Kathy, was a bank executive who traveled every week as part of her job. About their story So Far, So Good, she writes: "When Pete found his brain tumor, we both realized that 'this changed everything.' Both of us quit working. Pete's prognosis was grim. He had a grade IV Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumor with an estimated life expectancy of six to eleven months." So began the journey captured in this memoir. "Pete had two brain surgeries, participated in a clinical trial, had six weeks of radiation, over thirty MRIs, had blood clots and nearly died once of pneumonia. Pete's attitude toward his illness was amazing. He was a fighter, always focused on living, not dying." When people asked how he was doing, he would say, So Far, So Good. "Pete lived twenty-five months and we had an amazing adventure together. Details of Pete's treatment and our trips are captured real time in the carepage entries we made to allow those following us to stay current over these twenty-five months. The carepage entries are included in the book. Our site had over 26,000 hits over those twenty-five months. Pete's death on Jan 26, 2008, was described on our carepage. The other dimension to this memoir is the spiritual journey Pete and I experienced as Pete faced his own death." So Far, So Good is a love story about two people coping with an awful disease together, "deepening our love for each other along the way." Proceeds will benefit the University of Cincinnati Brain Tumor Center, UCBrainTumorCenter.com http: //SBPRA.com/KathyBeechem
The author wrote his memoirs, So Far . . . So Good . . . The Other Lowell Thomas Story in 2000 and had them published. This book is a sequel to that one. It is not intended to be marketed. However, should anyone care to purchase a copy, the offer would not be refused. This book is intended to be primarily for family use and distributed to close friends.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.
So Far, So Good! is about Theodore (Ted) Doege, born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1928, the second of five children in the family of Arthur and Erna Doege. In 1937, the family moved east to the small town of Bronxville near New York City, when Reverend Arthur Doege became president of Concordia Collegiate Institute, a small, Lutheran Church-affiliated high school and junior college. Attending Bronxville High School and then receiving a scholarship to Oberlin College, Ted graduated in 1950 and briefly was a Burlington Railroad section hand. Drafted into the Army in late 1952, he became a parachutist, after discharge enrolling as a medical student at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 1957, Ted married medical school classmate, Ann Elizabeth Edmondson, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. At the University of Rochester, Ted also received training as a pathology Fellow. From 1958 to 1967 he held positions at the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta and the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1967, Doctor Doege was appointed Visiting Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai, Thailand, after which he returned in 1970 as an associate professor in the College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago. From 1977 until he retired in January, 1996, Doctor Doege directed or advised an American Medical Association science group responsible for environmental, public, and occupational health issues.
GOOD CAMEL, GOOD LIFE is a tale of hot yoga survival. In this joyful story, a neophyte yoga practitioner finds enlightenment of body, mind, and soul over the course of a 60-day intensive yoga challenge, running concurrently with a major life challenge. This is an ambitious, funny, touching story to be enjoyed by all, particularly anyone facing a challenge of daunting proportions or looking to ahead to figure out "What's next?" GOOD CAMEL, GOOD LIFE will provide the inspiration to begin tackling your own next big challenge!
The fourth book in the Stanoli saga plumbs deeply into the social, political, and religious behaviors of key figures in and around the family over multiple generations from the United States to the old country and back. The main present-day character can be summed up by how he endeavors to live his life, tackling his days by reassessing his own deeply held beliefs, getting out of his comfort zone, and trying things he typically wouldn’t try. He is similar to his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather as a soul-searching thinker, conserving the customs with which he was raised. As the saga unfolds, some personalities seem born evil; others lean toward virtue. Some are eternal optimists, finding happiness even in the dark. Some are risk takers, putting their reputations on the line. The Stanoli patriarch was fond of saying, “There is nothing greater than loving God and loving your neighbor,” but such wisdom is not always simple through the twists and turns of modern life.
