The Way It Was

Whether you are continuing your journey with me via these Spirit Animal Tales or whether you missed my first volume, The Voice of Coyote, and are leaping unwarned into this spiritual realm, I welcome you. These are tales that ‘I’ have been blessed with, passed to me from various Spirit Animals, mainly Coyote. They are filtered through ‘my’ experiences; people, places, things, & incidences that brought me to where I am today. There is no conscious effort on my part to accurately recreate any person, place, thing, or incident. If anyone has a button or two pushed, that’s probably meant to be. That said, the path lies before & may you enjoy. Peace! This one is for my beloved companion & wife, Linda for Uncle Ike, and for the ever-wandering WhiteDog Doug Hodges

For many families living in South Russia, Canada was seen as the promised land, a place to escape famine and the communist regime. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, migration from the Motherland was fraught with both fear and promise, the potential for a better life in a new land. The Way It Was is a true chronology of Ron Teichreb’s family, which emigrated from Russia to Saskatchewan where they lived in tune with the land as homesteaders. It’s a story of a hard life softened by glints of joy, seen through vignettes detailing life’s many milestones, such as births, marriages, and deaths. Hijinks and resilience are common themes that the author shares when telling of his boyhood spent growing up on a small farm, playing sports, and exploring other pursuits. Eventually, he introduces the reader to his adulthood, career, and, finally, retirement in Saskatoon.

The classic football memoir, now available as an ebook ‘An absolute magical player. I loved him’ Sir Bobby Charlton ‘A god to those of us who aspired to play the game’ Brian Clough ‘The man who taught us the way football should be played’ Pelé Sir Stanley Matthews was the most popular footballer of his era and the game’s first global superstar. He was the first footballer to be knighted, the first European Footballer of the Year (aged 41), and he played in the top division until he was 50. His performance in the ‘Matthews final’ of 1953, when he inspired Blackpool to victory over Bolton, is widely considered the finest in FA Cup history. Here, in his own words, and showcasing his unique humour, is a sporting gentleman who epitomised a generation of legendary players: Sir Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse, Billy Wright and many more. The Way It Was: My Autobiography is filled with characters, camaraderie, drama and insight, and is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how football, and society, have changed over the last century. It is a fascinating memoir of a great footballer, and the remarkable story of an extraordinary life. Praise for The Way it Was ‘A ticket to a different era, when the game wasn't saturated with money and men like Sir Stanley upheld sporting ideals’ The Times ‘There is a heartfelt, elegiac quality [to] The Way It Was... it is only a pity he is not here to see it published’ Independent ‘Brings vividly to life some of the greatest games of the time and features his perceptive analysis of the characters who illuminated the age’ Independent ‘A gracefully crafted autobiography filled with entertaining anecdotes reflecting an age when the game was uncorrupted by greed’ Birmingham Post ‘A fascinating and amusing insight into the inner workings of football during its golden era’ Daily Telegraph ‘It is impossible to imagine any of today’s football stars ever producing a memoir half so interesting’ Mail on Sunday

This book is a memoir of my boyhood, the 14 years between 1934 and 1948, Memory is the way we allow the past to live in the present. But the past is not experienced in a vacuum. Memories have locations in a particular time and particular places. Th is brief memoir is attempt to share my boyhood as shaped by the Great Depression of the 1930s and the World War II years of the 1940s. In the writing of these pages it became evident to me that indeed the experiences of my childhood have greatly shaped the person I am today. It is hoped that this modest memoir may at once be an enjoyable read as well as encourage the reader to recall his or her own childhood days and reflect upon how that time may have shaped their lives.

Poet), who became wife, companion, and partner in further adventures in travel and letters. But Barney Crile was and is much more than the prince of a famous family. He is the author of several books and 462 scientific papers, an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and known for his advocacy of conservative approaches to surgery, especially breast cancer. The last caused him some problems with other surgeons, but in this case, as in others, he was in.

The island of Gigha is a small gem, the most southerly of the true Hebridean islands, lying just off Tayinloan on Scotland's Kintyre peninsula. Gigha's good harbours, fertile land, mild climate and strategically useful position have given it a fascinating history. Catherine Czerkawska relates the sometimes turbulent story of the people of Gigha, from the settlers of prehistoric times, through successive incomers including the Celts, the Vikings, and the McNeill lords of this island. A few years ago Gigha was the subject of the largest community buyout in British history, and she brings the story up to date, in examining the relationship between a contemporary island community and its own rich past. The author, like so many people, fell helplessly in love at first sight with Gigha and returns to it time and again. This book explores just what it is that makes the island such an enchanting place.