Articles on PR for People

Book Review: How the Irish Saved Civilization

The book is chock full of interesting information, if only the reader could easily grasp it. The writing is competent but unnecessarily complex, convoluted, and confusing. There are great gems in this book, but it takes hard work, mining and excavation, to separate what is precious from the dreck.


Debbie Kiederer: Making Her Mark

This past fall Debbie Kiederer celebrated the 21st year of her company, ChalkDust Consulting. The company focuses on digital technology, ecommerce and tool selection for enterprise clients in Beauty/Fashion, the nonprofit sector, or for companies selling consumer products. ChalkDust is able to work successfully with a company of any size, so long as the relationship is highly collaborative, innovative, and committed to achieving excellence.


Book Review: White Fragility - Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

My childhood in Yonkers instilled me with a multi-ethnic, multi-racial view of life. My very first teacher, in kindergarten, was a woman of color. Throughout my life I have had friends and colleagues who are people of color. So why do I feel as though it is so difficult to talk about race? Furthermore, why did I have stiff resistance to reading this book?


Book Review: How the Other Half Lives by Jacob A. Riis

Jacob A. Riis documented the squalor and misery of those who lived in lower Manhattan during the end of the 19th Century through to the early 20th Century. 


Book Review: Kings Row by Henry Bellamann

Published in 1940, Kings Row is out of print and hard to find, which is surprising for a book that was hailed in a movie trailer as the best book of the year. The movie version, released in 1942 with an all-star cast, included Robert Cummings, Ann Southern, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Betty Field, and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In fact, it has been suggested that this film is considered to be Ronald Reagan’s finest work before he later ventured into politics. 


Tribute to Linda Jay

Linda Jay March 22 1939 to October 22 2022


Book Review: Death Comes For The Archbishop by Willa Cather

Ochre and yellow, half shades of green between the sea and groves of olives, old, old tamarisks, and the rainbow flowers of quivering red tubes, Willa Cather conjures New Mexico as a dream that turns out to be true.


Dancing to the Beat of One Drum

If you ask Sabrina Blais how she got to Ghana, plan on learning about an unexpected odyssey attesting to life’s curiosities. She knew little about the Ghanaian culture and even less about the small nation’s history or the role that it played in West Africa.


Book Review: Lost Secrets of Qumran: The Last Ark by Guy Morris

The Last Ark (Lost Secrets of Qumran) by Guy Morris is a book worth reading more than once. Thrillers that stand the test of time have two things in common: the historical context is engrossing, accurate and mind-bendingly wonderful, and the cast of characters is composed of American good guys, most of whom are equal parts charming and courageous, and a bit outrageous too.  


My Two Joes

My Two Joes is a tribute to our heroic veterans. What I learned from the two Joes is you can’t always remove yourself from scary situations. No doubt about it, right now there is a heightened level of fear and anger in America. It is as if people are losing their heads. When adrenaline increases, you witness more flight or fight reactions.  Fear that manifests in small ways develops into paralysis: email goes unanswered, phone calls are not returned and business transactions are delayed. Fear churning into anger rears its ugly head in drive-by shootings, road rage, mass killings and hate crimes. It’s okay to admit the truth: we are living in scary times.