My Flowers

This "utterly spectacular" book weighs the impact modern medical technology has had on the author's life against the social and environmental costs inevitably incurred by the mining that makes such innovation possible (Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises). What if a lifesaving medical device causes loss of life along its supply chain? That's the question Katherine E. Standefer finds herself asking one night after being suddenly shocked by her implanted cardiac defibrillator. In this gripping, intimate memoir about health, illness, and the invisible reverberating effects of our medical system, Standefer recounts the astonishing true story of the rare diagnosis that upended her rugged life in the mountains of Wyoming and sent her tumbling into a fraught maze of cardiology units, dramatic surgeries, and slow, painful recoveries. As her life increasingly comes to revolve around the internal defibrillator freshly wired into her heart, she becomes consumed with questions about the supply chain that allows such an ostensibly miraculous device to exist. So she sets out to trace its materials back to their roots. From the sterile labs of a medical device manufacturer in southern California to the tantalum and tin mines seized by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to a nickel and cobalt mine carved out of endemic Madagascar jungle, Lightning Flowers takes us on a global reckoning with the social and environmental costs of a technology that promises to be lifesaving but is, in fact, much more complicated. Deeply personal and sharply reported, Lightning Flowers takes a hard look at technological mythos, healthcare, and our cultural relationship to medical technology, raising important questions about our obligations to one another, and the cost of saving one life.

The former actress shares her sense of floral aesthetics, discloses the secrets of flower pressing, examines the portrayal of flowers throughout history in the arts, and discusses the use of flowers as beauty aids and home remedies

When Lester Desjarlais, a young Ojibwa boy, took his own life, what began as a routine inquiry into yet another Native suicide grew into a wide-ranging examination not only of his community but of the larger society which failed to save him. The 1991 inquest into his death, scheduled to last a day, broadened into one of the longest in Manitoba's history -- uncovering a tragic story of abuse, family suffering, and finally, tragedy. The author of this book, a journalist for the Winnipeg Free Press, covered the inquest.

Through my journey in life, I have gathered flowers of wisdom, of life's beauty and higher meaning, of existential pain, of eternal silence, of pure spirits. In this unique and insightful collection, Walid Touma shares his experiences and musings on life and its meaning. My Flowers invites the reader to explore their own truths and how best to live in a single moment. Each story is imbued with its own hues and spices, and the reader is certain to find a flower which echoes some part of their own journey through life.

My Soulful Home, A Year in Flowers offers detailed instruction for those new to floral arrangements and fresh inspiration to the experienced. Join award winning blogger Kelly Wilkniss as she seeks to elevate the every day with fresh cut beauty, illustrated with 105 gorgeous pictures.

This book was written to help people realize the value of flowers and how they can help us in our every day lives. I've presented the flowers in a fun way, flower reading, to give people not only the meanings of flowers, but also how colors, shapes and numbers. impact our moods and decisions.