Doc Talks

“Doc Granger’s biography is a fascinating series of stories that chronicle a life well-lived. Doc is the kind of strong, savvy, spiritual man who has helped make the American Dream a reality.” - Susan D. Brandenburg, Author of Sharecropper’s Son – The Story of Doc Garland Granger “Doc’s competitive nature inspires me. He is someone with great vision, and he gambles to get what he wants—he’ll go right to the edge! He’s not afraid of anything, and he loves to build something from nothing. He builds people as well or better than he builds businesses. He saw more in me than I saw in myself. Without him, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” - Nadine Gramling “Doc just sits there and talks quietly to people until they see things his way.” - Eddie Sparks “He gave us a boat called The Foxy Lady! Imagine that . . . the Baptist Church and The Foxy Lady! That was a lot of fun! With Doc’s help, the church was able to sell The Foxy Lady for $60,000, but for a while, it certainly caused a few waves!” -Dr. O. R. Rice SHARECROPPER’S SON – The Story of Doc Garland Granger His mother named him Doc, and though she never did say why, the name has served Doc Garland Granger very well for 94 years. Born in a sharecropper’s shack, Doc spent his childhood laboring in the cotton fields and tobacco patches of Robeson County, North Carolina. When, at age 17, he left the farm and set out to make his fortune, Doc carried with him enduring faith in God, indomitable entrepreneurial spirit and innate “tobacco patch wisdom.” With only a 4th grade education, the tall, handsome, sinewy son of a sharecropper was destined to become an icon of the steel industry, a successful hotelier, restaurateur, and real estate developer, a highly respected member of the Masonic Temple, a yachtsman, philanthropist and philosopher. Sharecropper’s Son is the inspiring story of a man who achieved success despite facing insurmountable challenges. Doc Granger is a man whose legacy of love is laced with laughter; whose homespun intelligence is like money in the bank; and whose heart has always been big enough to forgive, forge ahead and live life to the fullest.

Miller culls sources as varied as soldiers’ memoirs, heroic and romantic literature, and philosophical discussions to get to the heart of courage—and to expose its role in generating the central anxieties of masculinity and manhood.

On September 11th, 2004, life turned upside down for Doc and Cindy Blackmore. They had just sent their youngest child off to college and were looking forward to their empty nest when Doc was injured in a bicycle accident while on a hunting trip in the Rocky Mountains, leaving him paralyzed from the chin down and dependent on a ventilator. Their journey during the next five years was physically and emotionally difficult, but spiritually uplifting. During their journey, Cindy sent out emails to an ever-growing distribution list. What began as a way to keep friends and family updated on Doc's condition turned into a spiritual touchstone for hundreds or possibly thousands of people across the country. You will find laughter and tears in these pages. The author's prayer is that you also find faith and strength in them. It is exactly as the title indicates-a journal of their journey! Cindy Gittemeier Blackmore was born in 1960 and married Darwin Blackmore in 1980. They resided in Cairo, MO, where Cindy still lives today. They had three children and were married 24 years when Darwin was injured in 2004. Together they gave many witnesses to proclaim their faith in God and to show others how God provided for them. Darwin died in 2009, five years after the accident. Cindy continues to share their story.

"If you ain't got no proposition, you ain't got no sermon neither." This was the battle cry of Isaac Rufus Clark, one of the most influential and colorful professors of homiletics in the black church in the twentieth century. Clark taught at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta for twenty-seven years (1962-1989). In Teaching Preaching, Katie Cannon, one of Clark's myriad preaching protégés, conceives her role as purely "presentational": "to bring Clark face to face with a reading audience, allow him to explain the formal elements of preaching from the inside out." Teaching Preaching is an invaluable resource for ministers who struggle from Sunday to Sunday to find their ethical voice in the preparation of each and every sermon.

Widely regarded as the one essential book for every science fiction fan, The Year's Best Science Fiction (Winner of the 2004 Locus Award for Best Anthology) continues to uphold its standard of excellence with more than two dozen stories representing the previous year's best SF writing. The stories in this collection imaginatively take readers far across the universe, into the very core of their beings, to the realm of the Gods, and to the moment just after now. Included are the works of masters of the form and the bright new talents of tomorrow. This book is a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.

A landmark global history that makes us rethink how the Cold War ended and our present era was born This book offers a bold new interpretation of the revolutions of 1989, showing how a new world order was forged—without major conflict. Based on extensive archival research, Kristina Spohr attributes this in large measure to determined diplomacy by a handful of international leaders, who engaged in tough but cooperative negotiation to reinvent the institutions of the Cold War. She offers a major reappraisal of George H. W. Bush and innovative assessments of Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl, as well as Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand. But, she argues, Europe’s transformation must be understood in global context. By contrasting events in Berlin and Moscow with the brutal suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Beijing, the book reveals how Deng Xiaoping pushed through China’s very different Communist reinvention. Here is an authoritative yet highly readable exploration of the crucial hinge years of 1989–1992 and their consequences for today’s world.