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And This Is How I Lived: stories from overlanders, immigrants, settlers, and pioneers who made new lives in difficult places

Some stories stick in your mind. These forty-five are favorites of author/editor Carolyn Wing Greenlee who tells why she remembered them and the often surprising circumstances that led to their publication. Among them are eye-witnesses who take you on the Oregon/California trail, inside a Chinese laundry, into a Victorian family living near a quicksilver mine, visiting lonely Chinese railroad workers, and into the lives of those who settled where mountains still bear their names. Here are accounts of ordinary people making their homes in unfamiliar places. Often they were adults recounting experiences they had as children. What did they choose to remember? What did they choose to tell?

Available in paperback only on Amazon

Things Seen In The Desert

Things Seen In The Desert by Jim Lyle

Sixty-nine poems and thirteen essays on life in Texhoma and love in general shared generously with humor, horror, insight, and honesty.

Review Quotes

Jim’s power and authenticity derives from the true grit of those years spent growing up in the Oklahoma Panhandle and a gravitation toward an ethical paradigm as distinct and uncompromising as his early frontier forebears…Read his work. It will by turns enrage and delight you. Of this you can rest assured, however, it will inexorably alter the way in which you view your world and the human condition. — Calder Lowe, Executive Editor, “The Montserrat Review”

Jim’s words are imbued with a richness of living and a variety of experiences. They resonate with the truth of one who’s been there. — Audry L. Lynch, Ed.D., Author, “Steinbeck Remembered”

On The River of Grace

On The River of Grace by Liller Burk Cotter

When your life blows apart, what do you do? Scream? Hide? Hate? Give up and die? Twenty-eight year-old Liller Burk crawled into the lap of God. This is her journal–the first torn and broken year alone in her cabin at Maincamp, thirty-seven miles from the nearest town in the Alaskan wilderness. This is her grief and fear, and her joy learning to trust her Heavenly Father as He gently guided her to a place of comfort and healing.

Journey with the Wagon Master

Journey with the Wagon Master by Joseph Newton Borroughs

Joseph Newton Borroughs was only fourteen in 1856 when he started from South Carolina with his brother, the Wagon Master. His mind was on the adventures ahead. He got them. In the two years it took to get to California, he drove his own wagon, managed his own cattle, encountered howling wolves, armed robbers, rowdy travelers and his own heart. Fifty years later, he wrote this book.

Joseph balances memories of awkward, winsome youth with the wisdom of age while maintaining the suspense and wit which make his story genuinely engaging and delightful.

Approved by The Oregon/California Trail Association

Speaking for Fire

Speaking for Fire by James Bluewolf, illustrations by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

In this tale presented in lyrical storytelling style by author James Bluewolf, and lavishly illustrated with cut-paper designs by award-winning artist Carolyn Wing Greenlee, readers witness the persistence of life after destruction and the importance of cooperation, community and the value of the individual voice.

Speaking for Fire DVD front coverAlso available as a DVD.

 

 

Wildflowers in the Snow

Wildflowers in the Snow by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

The gentle title and cover of this book belie its fierce heart and ten years of struggling to find a voice after generations of fear and silence. Speaking through the voices of her ancestors and the Chinese who labored to build this country, wresting through issues of womanhood, aging, ailing parents, difficult relationships, seeking and questioning God, discovering the blessings of adversity, celebrating the joys of grandchildren and creative gifts, Carolyn explores identity, life, and voice, not just for the Chinese, but for all who pioneer new lands, sacrificing to make a better place for those who are yet to come.

Review Quotes

Hers is a singular, tenacious, gritty, authentic, tender, and alluring voice which captivates the heart and engages the soul. Wildflowers in the Snow is not so much a collection of poems as it is an irrepressible summons to live our lives spiritedly, compassionately, and courageously. — Calder Lowe, Executive Editor, “The Montserrat Review”

Carolyn has perfect pitch in her writing…the outsider using sleek illuminations to light her way home… — Jay Bail, Editor, “The Book Reader”

A Gift of Puppies

Also available on Kindle

A Gift of Puppies by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

…In this book, you will read about the feelings of many puppy raisers, and you will hear from others, such as breeder custodians, that are all important contributors to the life cycle of a service animal. You’ll understand their joys and heartbreaks, what it is like to take a cute bundle of fur into their homes, to deal with shredded shoes and little puddles on the carpet. You’ll count the shadows of developing puppies on a sonogram as they grow inside their mother. You’ll join puppy raisers when they drop off their mature dog for training, and you’ll experience the joy of watching a very special and highly educated Dog make a difference in another person’s life.

So, turn the page quickly and join us for a very special adventure. And, perhaps you’ll want to join this very special volunteer lifestyle and make a difference in a puppy’s life and that of a very lucky human.

G. Morgan Watkins
Acting President and CEO
Guide Dogs for the Blind
July 2010 – December 2011

Other books with Guide Dogs

A Gift of Dogs

Steady Hedy

A Gift of Dogs

Also available on Kindle

A Gift of Dogs by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

This book is not only about guide dogs, remarkable as they are. It’s each person’s unique story of making peace with what has been called the Nation’s Number One Most Feared Disability.

As a sighted person reading this book, you may catch a glimpse of what it’s like for the blind and visually impaired, and marvel at their tenacity and determination to overcome the adversities they have faced. If you are blind or visually impaired, you may find comfort, a sense of community, and possibly hope in the knowledge that others have gone before you into the dark and have found their way — some with patience, some with humor, some kicking and screaming, and some with delight. Each of these solitary journeys is unique, but they all have one thing in common — a gift of dogs.

Other books with Guide Dogs

A Gift of Puppies

Steady Hedy

Steady Hedy

Also available on Kindle

Steady Hedy by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

In this intimate and honest memoir, Greenlee shares surprising lessons and adventures she encountered after the devastation of her sudden and profound loss of vision. She takes readers past the gates of Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California, and into the 28 days of intensive training that’s required to graduate with a guide dog. Surrounded by a supportive community of staff and students, Greenlee faces the bondage of her Confucian upbringing and finds freedom far beyond mobility with a guide dog.

Other books with Guide Dogs

A Gift of Puppies

A Gift of Dogs

Eternal River, Vol III

Also available on Kindle and iBooks.

Eternal River, Volume III: The Next Thirty Years by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

from the Foreword by JoAnn Levy

It’s hard to know where to start praising this book. Within its pages we find a family saga, a scientific treatise, personal confession, spiritual declaration, California history, entrepreneurial inspiration, and the loving testament of a devoted daughter whose humility likely prevents her from acknowledging, and possibly even recognizing, what she has achieved here. …

This account of one American family, of the immigrant experience, and of the power of story, connects all of us to the great good fortune of living in this country. And of how much we owe those ancestors courageous enough to leave family, country, and culture behind to forge a new life in the New World and make possible the good fortune for those to follow.

JoAnn Levy, Author
They Saw the Elephant
Daughter of Joy

Read the complete Foreword

Read the complete Introduction

Instant download of ePub/Kindle files so you can read ER3 on any device or app: iPad, Kindle, Nook.

Eternal River, Volume III: The Next Thirty Years, is part of the Wing family memoirs, which include:

Son of South Mountain & Dust

Inside the Oy Quong Laundry

Eternal River, Vol I: The Early Years

Eternal River, Vol II: The Claremont Years