Writer Dan Helpingstine will appear at the Davenport, Iowa Barnes and Noble at 320 West Kimberly Road on October 17 from 1-3pm to sign his historical book on the John Kennedy assassination. The book is entitled Dallas Forever Changed - The Legacy of November 1963. The book has been released by Pelican Publishing.
Unlike other works on the assassination, Dallas Forever Changed does advance any theories on who assassinated President Kennedy. Instead the book deals with the historical after effects of the crime.
For over 50 years, Dallas endured a tragic legacy that left it labeled as the "City of Hate." Immediately after the assassination, community leaders looked to find a candidate to oppose the local Congressman Bruce Alger because it was thought that Alger contributed to the city having a violent political image. He was defeated in 1964 and never held political office again. The city also did other things in an attempt to distance itself from the assassination.
However, the city could not help but embrace the legacy of the assassination. Visitors were often allowed to visit the Texas Theatre, the place where Lee Oswald was arrested. Tours of key assassination sites are offered by private guides. On one visit to Dallas, the author was shown a red business card by a taxi driver. In the middle of the card had the title, "The Lady in Red." Jean Hill stood within 30 feet of the motorcade when the president was shot. She can be easily identified because she wore a red coat.
The official version has Lee Oswald shooting from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. That sixth floor now houses The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Many city leaders decided one way to deal with history is take ownership of it in a way. The Sixth Floor Museum has artifacts and films of November 22, 1963 and also documents political and social events at that time.
The ongoing controversies regarding President Kennedy's assassination will never fully allow Dallas to divorce itself from the event. The struggles of Dallas symbolize how the country as a whole has had a difficult time coping with a tragic occurrence that changed history.
A Documentary Film Narrated by Blair Underwood
Written and Directed by Alex Storozynski
Executive Producer Eve Krzyzanowski
Based on the Book
There are more statutes of Thaddeus Kosciuszko in America than any historical figure except for George Washington. Every day, millions of New York TV and radio listeners hear about traffic jams on the Kosciuszko Bridge. Yet few know about this Revolutionary War hero and champion of human rights.
The Polish hero Kosciuszko gave his salary from the American Revolution to Thomas Jefferson and told him to buy slaves - and free them.  Kosciuszko fought for the rights of serfs, slaves, Jews, Native-Americans and women.
A military strategist, Kosciuszko's plan won the Battle of Saratoga - the turning point of the war.  He also built Fortress West Point, which Benedict Arnold tried to sell to the British in the most infamous act of treason in American history. When Kosciuszko spoke up for Native Americans, Chief Little Turtle gave him a peace pipe/tomahawk.
In 1791, when Poland passed the first democratic Constitution in Europe, Russian, Austrian and Prussian monarchs sent armies to crush this new democracy.  Kosciuszko led an army against the invaders to fight for rights for peasants, burghers and Jews.
His ally Berek Joselewicz, formed the first wholly Jewish military unit since biblical times and called Kosciuszko "a messenger from God."  Muslims, and even a black man named Jean Lapierre traveled to Poland to join Kosciuszko's multicultural revolution.
In his quest for liberty, Kosciuszko worked with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the French Revolutionaries while struggling against the tyranny of Russia's Catherine the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.  Napoleon called Kosciuszko "the hero of the North," and Russian Czarina Catherine offered a reward for anyone who could capture him "dead or alive."
Jefferson called, Kosciuszko "as pure a son of liberty, as I have ever known."
With a moving narration by Blair Underwood, the story is told through reenactments at West Point, Saratoga, Philadelphia, and Poland, along with dramatic readings by screen actors such as Olek Krupa.
It includes interviews with experts such as Former U.S. National Security Advisor Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, UCLA Prof. Gary Nash, Purdue Prof. James Pula, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Alex Storozynski.
Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a prince of tolerance whose principles still resonate today.
Stay Tuned, more PBS stations to be announced soon.
To learn more about Polish culture:
(Rock Island, IL)  The concept of  A BOOK BY ME allows children to interview Holocaust victims, World War 11 survivors  and other heroes and write about them.  The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities and the Holocaust Education Committee of the Greater Quad City Area will be celebrating their work at a Red Carpet event today,  Sunday August 23 from 2:00 - 3:00 at the Tri-City Jewish Center in Rock Island. In attendance will be the young authors, the illustrators and two "heroes" who are the subject of two of the newly published books.

One hero in attendance is World War II veteran Casimer "Casey" Celske who is one of the few surviving members of the celebrated World War II Special Forces unit known as The Devil's Brigade or The Black Devils. While part of the Special Service Force, Casey was wounded twice. The first wound came from shrapnel that hit his head, face and ears, splitting his helmet in two and knocking him unconscious. It killed the soldier next to him in the foxhole. Then in Anzio, Italy he was wounded in the leg when a bullet from a machine gun struck him as he crawled on his belly across a wheat field. "I was lucky," he insists. "I was wounded twice but I just kept quiet because I'd seen so many dead kids or ones with legs blown off. It was horrible."

It was during the attack at Anzio that the brigade got their nickname. Some say the diary of a dead Nazi soldier was found saying "The black devils are all around us every time we come into the line. We never hear them coming." Another German prisoner stated "They are treacherous, unmerciful and clever. You cannot afford to relax." The Black Devils were immortalized years later in Hollywood in a 1968 movie titled "The Devil's Brigade" starring William Holden. The film portrays the first mission of the Italian campaign, the seemingly impossible task of capturing an impregnable Nazi mountain stronghold called Monte La Difensa. Casey knew how to handle mules from life on the farm back in Wisconsin. He volunteered to bring a pack of four with supplies up the mountain in Italy. The plan was to lead one and have the other three follow but that plan didn't work all the time because mules can be stubborn. It was an extremely cold and tedious journey up the mountain.

A great victory was won when Monte la Difensa was in Allied hands and eventually the Allies took the other mountain peaks nearby. Afterward, they tried to catch up to Patton's Army who were at the Battle of the Bulge. They never did find them and Casey's unit was near the Czech border in the spring of 1945 when the news came that the Allies had won the war in the European theater. Today Casey is a decorated war veteran with a bronze star and two purple hearts. In 2013, the United States Congress passed a bill to award the First Special Service Force members the highly prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. By his side will be young author Halie Parkinson of Aledo, Illinois. She is proud to tell his story for young readers.

Another "subject" for the A BOOK by ME Human Rights Series in attendance will be Father Marvin Mottet of Davenport. Father Mottet worked tirelessly on civil rights issues and brought Reverend Martin Luther King Jr to the Quad Cities to speak. In addition, he had Mother Teresa come for an event. He is a social justice champion and his story will be documented by Sophie Jackson of Moline. She is the newest young author in the A BOOK by ME series.

Many young writers and artists will be attending to receive L'dor Vador awards. A major component of Judaism is passing traditions from generation to generation. In Hebrew this is known as L'dor Vador. The young people involved in the A BOOK by ME writing process have assured that important stories of the Holocaust, Human Rights and Heroes will be told to the next generation.

The celebration will include praise for the Scott County Regional Authority as the Jewish Federation received a spring grant allowing the Holocaust Education Committee to donate 2,900 copies of children's books about local subjects from the Holocaust Series. In addition, the celebration will include a number of smaller grants and the fact that over two dozen books in the series are now available on Amazon. To see those available, visitwww.abookbyme.com and see the link on the right hand corner. 

WHAT:  Red carpet event to celebrate young writers
WHERE: Tri-City Jewish Center Rock Island
WHEN:  Sunday, August 234rd 2 pm

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Davenport, Iowa - Friday, August 21, 2015 - iHeartMedia - Quad Cities today announces an exciting new radio format is coming to the market: ALT 104.5: the Quad Cities Alternative. The station officially debuts at 1:04pm today.

ALT104.5, The Quad Cities Alternative, is a new adult rock station merging New Music and Alternative, including such artists as Twenty One Pilots, Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys and Kings of Leon. ALT 104.5 debuts with 100% music, no personalities."We wanted to create a new radio station totally unlike anything else in the Quad Cities, and ALT 104.5 certainly will be!" according to iHeartMedia - Quad Cities SVP Programming, Jim O'Hara. O'Hara also invites listeners to comment on the new format by calling the ALT 104.5 Feedback Line: 563-344-7145.

ALT104-5 will be heard on-air at: 104.5 FM, on FM HD radios at 103.7-HD2, online at www.ALT1045.com and anywhere you go by searching 'ALT104.5' with the iHeartRadio app.

About iHeartMedia

With 245 million monthly listeners in the U.S., 87 million monthly digital uniques, over 75 million social followers and 196 million monthly consumers of its Total Traffic and Weather Network, iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. It serves over 150 markets through 858 owned radio stations, and the company's radio stations and content can be heard on AM/FM, HD digital radio, satellite radio, on the Internet at iHeartRadio.com and on the company's radio station websites, on the iHeartRadio mobile app, in enhanced auto dashes, on tablets and smartphones, and on gaming consoles.

iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's digital radio platform, is the No. 1 all-in-one digital audio service with over 600 million downloads; it reached its first 20 million registered users faster than any digital service in Internet history and reached 70 million users faster than any other radio or digital music service and even faster than Facebook. The company's operations include radio broadcasting, online, mobile, digital and social media, live concerts and events, syndication, music research services and independent media representation. iHeartMedia is a segment of iHeartMedia, Inc. (OTCBB: IHRT). Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.

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First time author's new memoir celebrates indomitable human spirit

DES MOINES, Iowa - At the age of 96, Desmond Halcomb Bragg has a lifetime of stories to tell. In his recently released memoir, he looks back at his journey and how he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds including being orphaned at the age of four, poverty, homelessness, and a tragic accident that left him paralyzed. Readers will follow Bragg on his transformative odyssey in "Started Out from Texas" (published by Xlibris).

Born in 1918, Bragg grew up in an orphanage in Beaumont, Texas, until he was sent to live with a foster family on a dairy farm at the age of 11. At 16, he dropped out of high school and left Texas for good on a freight train at midnight, in the middle of the Great Depression. Bragg was determined to seek out his fortune with nothing in his pockets but fifty cents and a biscuit. Now, 80 years later, Bragg recognizes that fortune has come in a variety of forms - a rewarding life, lasting relationships, nuggets of wisdom and incredible resilience.

"Started Out from Texas" chronicles Bragg's remarkable life from childhood to the present. Although personal in nature, the themes in this account are universal, a tribute to the indomitable human spirit and an authentic American story of a young boy who dared to follow his dreams. The author's courage shines throughout the pages of this book.

"Almost everyone faces some challenges growing up and the transition to adult life is still a difficult time in any person's life," Bragg says, "If a poor, uneducated orphan boy from Texas can make it, so can you!"

"Started Out from Texas"

By Desmond Halcomb Bragg

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 142 pages | ISBN 9781499080841

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 142 pages | ISBN 9781499080858

E-Book | 142 pages | ISBN 9781499080865

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Desmond Halcomb Bragg was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1918. He holds a bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctorate in education from the University of Wisconsin. He and his wife, Jean, have three children. They settled in Iowa and Bragg became a college professor at Drake University for 25 years.

MOLINE, IL?The award-winning documentary Letters Home to Hero Street, produced by Lora Adams of WQPT-Quad Cities PBS and Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, has received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination in the Historical Documentary category. A gala award ceremony will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on October 3.

Letters Home to Hero Street focuses on a young Mexican-American veteran's personal view of World War II as told through the letters he sent home to his family in Silvis, Illinois. He becomes one of eight veterans of WWII and the Korean War killed in combat from the same block-and-a half long neighborhood now called Hero Street, USA.  Frank Sandoval was just beginning a new job at the Rock Island Arsenal when he was drafted in 1942. He sent hundreds of letters to family and friends during the two years he was in the service and the 130 letters that remain tell the story of one man's dramatic and epic journey from Illinois to India. Killed on the bank of the Irrawaddy River in Burma on June 1944, Frank was one the first of the Hero Street Eight to fall in combat.

Reenactments in the film feature Eric Juarez, Maya Chavez, Cindy Ramos and Josh Wielenga, all from the Quad Cities. WQPT's Chris Ryder was the cinematographer.

The 25-minute historical documentary film was partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council and recently received a Silver Eddy and the Audience award at the 2015 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival.

Fourth Wall Films is an award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois. This is the second Emmy® nomination for Fourth Wall Films' Kelly and Tammy Rundle.

WQPT is a media service of Western Illinois University. For more information, visit http://wqpt.org/.

Book uncovers collection of poetry about struggles of mind, heart, soul

 

FENNVILLE, Mich. - Working through adult and childhood trauma, author Sidonamarie offers readers a glimpse into her mind, heart and soul with a compilation of poems that reflect her life. The poems in "By the Pond" (published by AuthorHouse) serve as a therapy in order to sort the chaos of her mind.

 

An engrossing collection of poetry, this book shows the author's journey of remembering who she is, who she has been and who she will fiercely fight with heart, soul, spirit and mind to continue to be. It is also a journey of the mind, working through chaos brought by trauma. While the heart of it is Christian-based, Sidonamarie believes that her poetry speaks to all. It shares her private struggle without preaching or forcing her ideas on anyone.

 

An excerpt from the poem, Can a Voice:

can a voice be the rebel

and not add to wars and their aggression?

can a voice speak the truth

and not add to the lawlessness?

 

A mixing of thoughts, ideas and dreams, "By the Pond" presents a new and fresh way of approaching and creating poetry and using it as a positive avenue through the dark times in life.

 

"By the Pond"

By Sidonamarie

Hardcover | 6x9 in | 110 pages | ISBN 9781504911498

Softcover | 6x9 in | 110 pages | ISBN 9781504911481

E-Book | 110 pages | ISBN 9781504911474

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

'In the Arms of God' shares true stories from author's experiences with God

 

BELLA VISTA, Ark. - Author Ira E. "Ed" Delk believes that whenever he has needed help, God has intervened in his life and been a constant presence. In his new memoir, "In the Arms of God: A Testimonial" (published by WestBow Press), Delk shares his experiences to showcase how God truly does work in mysterious ways.

 

"In the Arms of God" traces Delk's life from childhood to the present. The fifth child in a family of nine children, Delk enlisted in the Air Force and served during the Korean War. When he returned, he earned a J.D. from the University of Iowa and practiced law for 32 years before getting an MBA. When he retired, he and his wife moved to Arkansas.

 

Throughout these events, Delk says that in order to save his life or change his direction, God intervened in his life. In one example, Delk's physician, who usually prescribed pain medication for regular pains, changed his usual routine and ordered an x-ray on Delk's lower back. The x-ray found an aortic aneurism.

 

This event inspired Delk to look back on his other life experiences and see God' work. Through his book, Delk hopes to illustrate that God is present and relevant to daily life. He also hopes to encourage readers to examine how God has affected their own lives.

 

"In the Arms of God"

By Ira E. "Ed" Delk

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 52 pages | ISBN 9781490881805

E-Book | 52 pages | ISBN 9781490881799

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

 

About the Author

Ira E. "Ed" Delk served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He practiced law for 32 years in Sioux City, Iowa, and earned an MBA. He retired as senior vice president and general counsel of Midwest Energy Company. He has previously published "The Second Time Around," "Tess's Tale," "Deadman's Run," "The Plight of the Common Man" and "The View from the Hilltop." More information is available at www.eddelkauthor.com.

 

and follow @westbowpress on Twitter.

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New book offers rich glimpses into farm life in 1950s, 1960s

TEMPE, Ariz. - Lawn Griffiths has released a collection of true stories and essays titled "Batting Rocks Over the Barn: An Iowa Farm Boy's Odyssey" (published by Xlibris). The award-winning writer's latest book follows his incredible journey as a young Iowa boy who dared to chart his destiny beyond the rural landscape of the 1950s and 1960s.

 

"Batting Rocks Over the Barn" captures the rhythm of rural life through the eyes of a young boy who grew up to become a newspaper journalist and farm editor. As largely a non-fiction biography, the work is narrated by the author from real experiences on the farm leading up to college.

 

The book devotes considerable space to the writer's parents, his twin brother and sister, plus such other people as hired men, neighbors, teachers and others who came to the farm.  All are important because of their genuine place in the writer's formative years, especially in their teaching responsibility.

 

Pervading the book is the author's belief that, put together, the varied experiences, jobs and misadventures helped shape him to be an alumnus of the rural school of hard knocks.  Time and again, the author has zeroed in on single elements of his farm life like fences, grease guns and harvesting wild asparagus in the roadside ditches, the  death of the town's blacksmith and city kids' raiding of his father's melon patch.

 

"Batting Rocks Over the Barn"

By Lawn Griffiths

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 150 pages | ISBN 9781503572843

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 150 pages | ISBN 9781503572836

E-Book | 150 pages | ISBN 9781503572829

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

 

About the Author

Lawn Griffiths spent 40 years in daily newspapers as writer, editor and columnist, including 12 years with the Waterloo (Iowa) Courier, 25 years with Tribune Newspapers in Mesa, Arizona, plus freelance writing for the Arizona Republic. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1946, he grew up on a farm near Parkersburg, Iowa. He earned a bachelor's degree in science journalism from Iowa State University in 1968 and master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1972. He also served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay and the U.S. Army. Griffiths has earned more than 80 writing and community service awards.

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