January, 2010

Community Building

Text of a recent Toastmasters speech Michael gave at Taft Camp–
Community Building
I don’t know how many of you remember studies of early Western Civilization, but on the pages of a history book that’s circulating I read a passage describing the early Greeks. As founders of the first known city, the Greeks recognized the importance of [...]

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave

Title: Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave
Date Read: January 19, 2010
Book title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave
Author: Frederick Douglas
Book Publisher: Barnes and Noble Classics Series (1845/2003)
Non-Fiction / 126 pages
Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave was the 2nd book I read in 2010.
Why [...]

Lessons From Prison

Date Read: January 6, 2010
Book Title: Lessons From Prison
Book Author: Justin M. Paperny
Book Publisher: APS (2009)
Non Fiction/ 200 pages 
Lessons From Prison was the first book I read in 2010
Why I read Lessons From Prison: 
Justin Paperny, the author of Lessons From Prison, was confined with me at Taft Camp for about one year.  While he was [...]

Fourth Quarter Report–2009

It feels good to have completed the fourth quarter of 2009.  On the first day of this year I set clearly defined goals, and through my daily journal entries, along with the three previous quarterly reports that I published, I kept readers current with the progress I made toward each.  Now, on the last day [...]

Black Boy

Date read: December 31, 2009
Book Title: Black Boy
Book Author: Richard Wright
Book Publisher: Harper Collins/1944
Nonfiction/ 419 pages
Black Boy was the 21st book I finished reading in 2009
Why I read Black Boy:
My friend, Steve Urie, recommended that I read accomplished nonfiction writers.  Although Steve said that he was not a fan of Richard Wright, he told me [...]