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A Good Read

February 19, 2012

Filed under: Book Review,Bucknell,Journalism — Tags: , , , — admin @ 10:31 pm

There are all kinds of book reviews. Those that wax poetic about sentence structure and pacing and the finer points of writing, without giving you any indication what a book is about.

Then there are those who  tell you the whole story and never tell you if the book is worth buying.

For me, book reviews should be short and to the point.

If you are looking for a good read,  pick up a copy of the “The Lost Saints of Tennessee” by Amy Franklin-Willis. –  a debut novel in the best Southern literature tradition.

The genre is really beside the point. I don’t really read a lot of fiction and I’m not from the South, but I can honestly say, when I got to the last page, I didn’t want the story to end. To me that’s the mark of fine writing.

It’s good to know Ms Franklin-Willis is already working on the sequel.

 

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It’s Been A While

February 3, 2012

Filed under: Coaching,Health,Management,observations — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:15 pm

It’s been a while since my last post.

I’ve been inundated with non-mail, and since no-one asked I’ll just let you that while the blogosphere apparently hasn’t missed me, I’ll offer an excuse anyway.

Newton I. Riess, August 15, 1920 - October 30, 2011

My Dad passed away at the end of October. I was 6,000 miles away from him at the time and quite frankly, I just haven’t felt like writing anything for a while.

I’ve mentioned my Dad several times in postings, both for his use iPads and iPhones at 91 and just because, he was my dad and influenced everything I wrote in some way.

He led a remarkable life as part of ‘The Greatest Generation,’ and in future posts I’ll tell you more, but for now I just wanted to let any faithful readers know where I’ve been and at least start down the road to more regular contributions again.

Thanks for your understanding and since I try to focus on management tips I will offer one bit of advice. If you are a manager and an employee loses someone close to them, keep in mind that the impact can last much longer than just the immediate aftermath of the funeral.

In some cases it can take years before productivity returns to normal.

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