Book Review - period ended 10.15.2006

Book Review / Self-Denial /// A Castle in Tuscany: The Remarkable Life of Janet Ross / The Australian / Sydney / Australia / Oceania /13-Oct-06//... Ross combined heady and intense activities with a curious Quaker-like denial. Benjamin suggests she allowed herself a half cigarette after lunch and the same after dinner. She seemed to have a masculine style of conversation - forthright, peremptory, occasionally dogmatic - and like all expatriates who have made another country their true home, there is the whiff of condescension towards the tourists with their Baedeker travel guides. ...

Book Review / Peace Activities / Conflict Resolution / New book helps those seeking to promote peace in daily life / Journal and Courier / Lafayette / IN / USA /4-Oct-06//... MacNair directs the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis in Kansas City, Mo., the research arm of Consistent Life. A Quaker, she majored in Peace and Conflict Studies at Earlham College in Richmond. She is the author of several books, including a college textbook titled The Psychology of Peace: An Introduction.

Book Review / Faith in Action / Mental Illness / Raised-a-Quaker / West Virginia woman weaves dark tale of the sex industry / Hagerstown Morning Herald / Hagerstown / MD / USA /15-Oct-06//... "Coming from a strong family, I always felt my stay in that world was temporary.". Rodd's parents are Quaker. She was home-schooled until sixth grade. Her parents have always put their faith into action. Mom is an environmental activist. Dad clerks for West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher.

Now Rodd has a family of her own. Husband Deane Kern is a seventh-grade English teacher in Loudoun County, Va.; he also is a writer. They have two sons, Loki, 3, and Zion, 1.

Rodd said she has a few goals for "Surviving Mae West." For one thing, she wanted the book to offer a model for people who suffer following trauma.

"I would ultimately hope that maybe (military) veterans would read this and see themselves in it," Rodd said. "Tess has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. It doesn't have to be sexual — that was important for me as a writer. Trauma is trauma. I wanted to speak to their experiences, and to respect people with PTSD."

But another goal of the book was to show a young woman exploring her life.

"With men, it's different. You can bike cross-country or hitchhike on railroad tracks. But with women, it's more dangerous," Rodd said. "If you want to be an adventurous young woman, what can you do? Stripping is one way to do that. It's bizarre, but it's safer to work in a strip club than to bike cross-country, if you're a girl." . ...