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Shattered Dreams--Lonely Choices: Birthparents of Babies
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Finnegan, Joanne, PUBLISHER: J F Bergin & Garvey, Dreams of pregnancy include the expectation that nine months of waiting will end with a joyous event. But, each year, a "shattered dream" occurs for thousands of couples who receive the news that their child will have a disabling condition severe enough that they may question if they are the best parents for their child. Societal expectation is that parents will raise their child or, if the condition of the child is detected prenatally, abortion is offered as an alternative. Parents who explore other options face scrutiny and, sometimes, condemnation--"lonely choices." Joanne Finnegan shares her personal experience and that of several families she interviewed who, like herself, explored options other than raising their child with a disability. Parents express with candor the overwhelming pain they felt when receiving "the news," the frustration when searching for options, the "no-win" feeling of decision making, the resolve with a final decision, and finally, life after the decision. Parent quotes also address issues such as spiritual dilemmas and interactions with friends, family, their other children, and medical professionals. Words of advice for new parents include how to build support systems and gather information, how to search for an adoptive family, and arranging the details of communication between adoptive and birth parents. Interviews with adoptive parents, poetry, and extensive resource lists complete the book. Written as a gift for other parents to help them cope with the pain and loneliness of decision making, this book will also be a valuable resource for medical professionals, adoption and social workers, counselors and spiritual advisors, and friends and family of theparents. It is a helpful as well as a deeply therapeutic book, providing a strong lesson in how to manage during this stressful time, from receiving "the news" about the baby's condition and prognosis, to weighing the factors involved in the various decisions. Should one take the baby home from the hospital? If not home, then where? Foster care, respite care, guardianship, and other forms of substitute care are mentioned. The author also examines decisions about finances and support services, family issues, finalizing an adoption plan, living with the decision, regrets, and future pregnancies.
From Butler to Buffett: The Story Behind the Buffalo News
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Light, Murray B. / Buffett, Warren E., PUBLISHER: Prometheus Books, In , a twenty-three-year-old entrepreneur named Edward H. Butler arrived in Buffalo, New York, to found a newspaper eventually called "The Buffalo Evening News. Under Butler's aegis the "News became one of the most successful newspapers in America, growing along with the thriving city at the end of the Erie Canal, which was expanding rapidly as immigrants poured in and America urbanized. About a century later, in , Warren E. Buffett, recognizing the value of the paper, bought "The Buffalo Evening News, and to this day, despite competition from large media conglomerates, "The Buffalo News (as it is now called) remains a successful independent publication. There is no better person to tell the story of the "News than Murray B. Light, who held senior editorial positions at the paper for over 30 years. Beginning with the founding of the newspaper by Butler, Light provides a wealth of historical information and many in-depth, behind-the-scenes profiles of key persons who influenced, the course of the paper. Chief among these is founder Edward H. Butler, a dynamo of energy, whose enthusiasm, innovation, and high standards are still felt to this day. His son, Edward Butler Jr., also played an important role, extending the reach of the "News into radio and television. Almost as influential as the senior Butler was Alfred H. Kirchhofer, whose workaholic personality, staunch Republican Party connections, and active involvement in the Buffalo community became legendary. Regarding the current owner, Warren Buffett, Light has many interesting insights into his famous low-key, hands-off style of management. He assumed ownership of the "News at a critical time, bolstering its financialstrength while encouraging complete editorial independence. Light also devotes a chapter to current publisher Stanford Lipsey, a longtime associate of Buffett, highlighting his leadership in the wake of the bitter court dispute with the "Courier Express. Along the way Light offers interesting comments on newspaper trends and on many longtime and widely read reporters and columnists, such as Ray Hill, Bob Curran, Lee Coppola, Jeff Simon, Alan Pergament, Donn Esmonde, Janice Okun, Larry Felser, and many others. This detailed memoir of the persons and events that had a formative influence on a major independent regional newspaper will interest both newspaper professionals and readers in the Western New York community, as well as many outside the area.