A Dimly Burning Wick is a powerful memoir of children's survival in the
ruins of Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945. In
this book, former schoolteacher Sadako Teiko Okuda shares her memories
of not only her own struggle in those first terrible days, but also the
terror and tenderness of children and teenagers who--even in their final
hours--gently cared for their siblings, parents, grandparents, and
friends. This moving book was released in English in 2008, with
translation by Beaverton resident Dr. Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun.

A Dimly Burning Wick was taken from an exceptional diary begun in
Hiroshima by Ms. Okuda within a day of the atomic bombing. Now 94, the
author was 30 years old at the time of the bombing, and began a
desperate search for her missing niece and nephew in the days
immediately following the devastation. In her diary, Ms. Okuda recorded
the stories of the children she encountered, who searched for parents
and siblings, brought water to dying grandparents, and sometimes
literally expended their last breaths trying to help their loved ones.
This document of the experience of children is the heart of A Dimly Burning Wick and sets it apart from other remembrances of Hiroshima.

On Thursday, 4 June, at 7:00 pm, translator Dr. Pamela Vergun will
discuss A Dimly Burning Wick, her experience of working with Ms. Okuda,
and insightful analysis of the current international situation. This
event is a benefit for Physicians for Social Responsibility. Tickets are
available at St. Johns Booksellers by phone or e-mail; will-call is
available. Tickets are $5, with ticket holders receiving $2 off the
purchase price of A DIMLY BURNING WICK. Physicians for Social
Responsibility will receive $3 from each ticket sold.  Click here to order tickets by e-mail, or call 503-283-0032.

Just in time for Fathers' Day--and for fathers in waiting--comes a childbirth book that wisely and compassionately addresses the role of man in the transformative process of birth.

Only a few generations ago, men were left to pace the waiting room anxiously while their children were born.  Times have changed, but many men are still at a loss when it comes to their part in the culmination of the process that they usually helped start!  This book offers men

• a clear understanding of their role in labor and birth
• simple concepts, tips, and tools to be a confident birth partner
• understanding of how to care for a laboring woman 

Written by a doula with 25 years of experience, Fathers At Birth will help each man develop the insight and skills he needs to be a companion who makes a difference. 

Writers' Dojo editor Kerry Cohen reads from Loose Girl, a memoir of promiscuity now in paperback. Entertainment Weekly said, "Cohen's brutal honesty about her relentless request for companionship is refreshingly relatable." Loose Girl
is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity
and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy.

Receive a 15% Dojo discount when you purchase Kerry's book at the reading!

Science fiction essayist Paul T. Riddell isn't the
first to compare magazine writing to public masturbation, but he's the
first to practice what he preached and quite writing.  Before he did, he
and cohort Edgar Harris (former sports editor of Science Fiction Age)
spent thirteen years covering such diverse subjects as assistance to
beginning writers ("I want to hunt down the idiot who came up with that
'writers make $37.50 an hour' story and let Whitley Strieber's aliens
make him/her squeal like a pig") to Harlan Ellison's cybernetic history
and how Canada formally apologized to the UN for the TV series Lexx.
Put down the Edmond Scientific catalog, grab a UNIT recruiting flyer,
and find out why Ellen Datlow referred to Riddell as ." . .unfailingly
incendiary."

Riddell is now a dealer in carnivorous plants--click here to learn more.

Barbara Bentley was swept off her feet when she met the handsome, well-spoken retired naval officer.  He proved to be a psychopathic con man who tried to murder Barbara and left her with finances as broken as her heart.  Then, from behind bars, he laid claim to alimony and half of Barbara's retirement fund!  Barbara's memoir, A Dance With the Devil, is a story not only of victimhood, but of victory--of fighting back both in her own life and in California's legal system, winning changes in the law that protect abused women from their convicted mates.

Lessons learned are lessons to be shared.  Through personal experience Bentley shows that inspiration is culled from mayhem, hope shines through darkness, and strength emerges with belief in one’s journey.  The book offers readers profound insight into
•    how a psychopath reeks havoc without conscience or remorse
•    how a psychopath targets women who are intelligent and financially stable
•    how the covert use of verbal and financial abuse sets up a “crazy-making” pattern
•    why trust must be earned in a new relationship and not given unconditionally
•    how understanding one’s self is the key to happiness
•    how one person can make a difference to themselves, family, friends, and society

Barbara Bentley will sign and answer questions about A Dance With the Devil during this casual lunchtime signing.