Book Description
This digital document is an article from Chief Executive (U.S.), published by Chief Executive Publishing on August 1, 2003. The length of the article is 2181 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Global Heavyweight: Marilyn Carlson Nelson waited nearly a lifetime to become CEO of Carlson Cos. Now she plans to take the top travel services firm to greater heights.(Profile)(Biography)
Author: David Saltman
Publication: Chief Executive (U.S.) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2003
Publisher: Chief Executive Publishing
Issue: 191Page: 40(4)

Article Type: Biography

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This collection of poems assembled by award-winning writer Marilyn Nelson provides young readers with a compelling, lyrical account of the life of revered African-American botanist and inventor George Washington Carver. Born in 1864 and raised by white slave owners, Carver left home in search of an education and eventually earned a master's degree in agriculture. In 1896, he was invited by Booker T. Washington to head the agricultural department at the all-black-staffed Tuskegee Institute. There he conducted innovative research to find uses for crops such as cowpeas, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, while seeking solutions to the plight of landless black farmers. Through 44 poems, told from the point of view of Carver and the people who knew him, Nelson celebrates his character and accomplishments. She includes prose summaries of events and archival photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Carver's Life in Sanpshots of Poetry
This biography that won both a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor is an awe inspiring book. Nelson tells the story of George Washington Carver's life through a series of poems that act like snapshots in a photo album.She begins with a poem about Carver and his mother being stolen from their owner when they were slaves.John Bentley is sent after them but can only find baby George who he returns to the Carvers who raise him with his brother Jim.The poems go on to tell of Carver's search for education, his resourcefulness, and his spirituality.Different poems describe his artistic abilities, his studies of botany, his appreciation for all of nature, his artistic nature, and his dedication to his students and all of his people. The book traces his life from its beginning in slavery to his years in college and as an instructor at the Tuskegee Institute.Nelson's poems describe the life of an amazing genius who is too often overlooked as simply the inventor of peanut butter.Each poem acts as frame in the film of Carver's life.The poems work together to tell the story, but each poem can also stand on its own as a photograph of a moment from an amazing life.The historical footnotes in the text help to clarify the poems and the photographs of Carver, his family and friends, his creations, etc. help to create a better understanding of this incredible man.

Carver's poetic life
First I have to say that Marilyn Nelson is a wonderful person. And I think she is one of the best poet's of her generation. Her poetry is great, and her book, _The Homeplace_ is one of those books that everyone should own. But even great poets can write mediocre poems. This collection is a series of short poems, usually a dramatic monologue of some sort, that together are supposed to make up the story of George Washington Carver's life (it includes pictures and little biographical footnotes). Pretty much the same thing she did for The Homeplace. It worked in The Homeplace, but not here. The problem isn't so much Nelson's skill as a poet (few are better than her), rather it is Carver's life. It just doesn't make good poetry, or at least not 60 poems. I understand Marilyn wants to tell us about Carver, but perhaps prose would have been a better way to go about it (that and this book seems to be marketed for young children--I don't think they can fully appreciate the nuances of Nelson's poetry or Carver's life). That said, there are several good poems in the book, "Clay" and "Cafeteria Food" being my personal favorites. Well, not every collection is going to be great (look at Frost's later books), so I eagerly await the next book from Marilyn Nelson, be it poetry, essays, or fiction.

excellent!
i really enjoyed this collection of poems by george washington carver! i have plans to be a teacher when i finish college and i think that i will use this book in my teaching plans! the poetry is basic at times so that most any student will be able to understand and yet it has a deepness that will require some thought on behalf of the students. i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry, history, or teaching. i have put this book on my wish list with hope that someone will but it as a christmas gift for me. that is how much i liked carver's work. kudos to mrs. nelson for putting the collection together and getting it published. i can clearly see why carver a life in poems won the newberry award.

Entrepreneurial Alchemyýs Best and Greatest Advocate
As a person coming from a hard-core science and engineering background, I never thought that poetry had any `value'.I never once saw in poetry insight into the nature and state of affairs of human beings.So I was very surprised when I read Ms. Nelson's Carver, A Life in Poems.Ms. Nelson presents us with poetry so rich in texture, so layered in meaning that these few lines of prose convey much, much more information than hundreds of pages of dry text.The book skillfully combines anecdotal historical footnotes with powerful poetic prose to tell the story of the most influential man in American agricultural history.

Carver the man overcame severe hardship and the prejudices of others to achieve great things.Living in a time when opportunities were few and far between for American Blacks, and slavery was a vivid recollection, Carver blazed a trail that few have been able to even approach, let alone top, since then.Even though he dealt with his share of racism, not every person not of African-American ancestry was unkind to him.Given the least of all of his peers, black or white, Carver went on to achieve the most in life.In spite of the hardships, the racism, and even the slights and insults of his own people, he left behind a legacy of good work, compassion, and technical accomplishment that stands the test of time.As such, Carver takes a solid place among the great minds of antiquity- from Imhotep, Egypt's greatest builder, to Confucius, China's greatest thinker and statesman.

Although Carver's array of inventions is impressive, his ingenuity and knack for turning what others see as worthless into something valuable, as in the poems `Chemistry 101' and `The Wild Garden' and `God's Little Workshop', is truly astounding.Carver had tremendous impact in a host of scientific disciplines- agronomy, botany, chemistry, and plant pathology to name a few.For me, Carver's life demonstrates the importance of a creative and spiritual base.Carver could not have developed the hundreds of practical uses for the `goober', or peanut-the plant that African slaves brought to the United States, and that White farmers fed to their animals before eating themselves- if he did not have a highly developed creative side.Moreover, his unyielding faith in the Creator, and his reliance on his faith in times of great peril and suffering, enabled him to endure what I and most other people would consider to be the unendurable.Carver's creativity and great spiritual faith gave him the inspiration to make practical use of those things that others considered worthless.In many ways, Carver was the unassailable prototype of the entrepreneurial alchemist- he created something of value out of literally nothing.Professor Carver's many achievements clearly demonstrate the importance of the study of economic botany.

I would like to add that four of his most important contributions to agricultural science- resting the land, crop rotations, application of riparian sediments and the use of legumes to replenish the vital nutrients of intensively cultivated and depleted soils, closely parallel the ecological practices of the great agrarian societies of Asia and Central and South America.The Native Americans, and their Asian compatriots, were well aware of the benefits of these practices, and had developed strong, stable and successful agricultural methods which in turn allowed for the flowering of some of history's greatest civilizations- the Inca, the Maya and the Aztec cultures.In fact, as F H King pointed out in his groundbreaking work, Farmers of Forty Centuries, at the beginning of the 20th century, the farmers of Asia had been using these techniques continuously to maintain and perpetuate the cultivation of the same plots of land, feeding increasing numbers of their people, for over four thousand years.In effect, these ancient farmers had developed sustainable farming practices and projected them four millennia into the present.In this way, I see Professor Carver as not only the Father of the Peanut industry, he is, and rightly so, The Father of Sustainable Agriculture in America.

It is both refreshing and heart-warming to me to know that an African-American man of science can also be a Renaissance Man in the fullest sense of the word.Gifted in the arts and gifted in the sciences, Carver blended art and practicality in a way I can only hope to partially attain.From this book, I humbly receive a new and invaluable hero, a new and awesome role model- Professor Carver, Jack of All Trades, Renaissance Man Extraordinaire- a true man of the people, a true Titan of Science.

Thought-provoking!
This group of poems tells so much in so few words...tells of a life (George W. Carver's) lived with integrity and courage. The poems brilliantly paint a portrait of the noble human spirit that shines thru when an individual rises above pettiness, self-centeredness and dishonesty.I believe the author must share some of the good values evidenced in Carver's life - else she could not write as she does.Hopefully, all readers of this treasured book will be empowered to let their OWN good values shine forth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

You don't have to be a Monroe fan to enjoy this book!
This is a fascinating collection of stories by agreat cross-section of writers.My favorite story was the touching and funny "Destiny" by PatriciaWallace.Ms. Wallace has written numerous outstanding horror and mystery novels, including the Sydney Bryant private eye series.

Thisoffbeat anthology should find a permanent place on many bookshelves. ... Read more

Book Description
Everyone has heard of 3M, General Mills, and Pillsbury, but did you know that companies such as Best Buy, Digital River, Chun King, and the Greyhound Bus Company began in Minnesota as well? In Enterprising Minnesotans we read stories of the diverse men and women throughout Minnesota's rich history who have created exceptional businesses. Here are portraits of people driven by an entrepreneurial spirit to found enduring enterprises from 1849 to the present, including Cargill, the Mayo Clinic, Andersen Windows, Ecolab, Schwan's, and Leeann Chin, Inc.

Meet visionaries such as Cadwallader Washburn of Washburn-Crosby (eventually General Mills), James J. Hill of Great Northern Railway, Colonel Lewis Brittin of Northwest Airlines, and Earl Bakken of Medtronic. Experience the adventurous spirit of James Madison Goodhue, who established the Minnesota Pioneer newspaper, and African American journalist John Quincy Adams, founder of the Appeal, now the Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder. Find out how Rose Totino, a daughter of poor Italian immigrants, advanced from running her own pizzeria to perfecting the production of frozen pizzas, to becoming a multimillionaire top executive with Pillsbury. Learn about the strength of entrepreneurial families like the Daytons and Fullers, and partnerships such as Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis, who turned their own successful careers as musicians into an influential R and B production company, Flyte Tyme Records.

Through fascinating stories, Enterprising Minnesotans honors the creativity, tenacity, and boldness that enabled these men and women to transform their dreams into success.

Stephen George is a management consultant and business writer based in the Twin Cities. He has written four management books and corporate histories of Dain Rauscher and Pella Corporation.

Marilyn Carlson Nelson is the chair and CEO of Carlson Companies, a company founded in 1938 by her entrepreneur father, Minnesota native Curt Carlson. She was recently named one of the "most powerful women in business" by Fortune magazine and is a member of the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame.

Published in cooperation with the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. ... Read more

Product Description
Winner of the American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prize ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

translation of ethereal poems by contemporary Scandinavian woman poet
Light and sometimes dimness is like a participant and sometimes like a record or register for what happens, which can be any part of life--desire, remembrance, an interchange with someone or just a look at someone, a private moment. From the prose-poem "The First Spring's Shadow"--"A sun that pling, pling leaps out between the dark trees and hits the chrome of the bicycles...What isn't clear is the shadow..."; from "Right There in the Smoke"--"spoons, teacups, knives/drop/out of my hands/and fall into lead white/out of every/fixed meaning..."; and the opening of "The Move"--"Can everything burn, can everything give light..." Not every poem explicitly mentions light, subtly hints at its import, or almost imperceptibly uses it as a metaphor. But in every poem, most evidently in those where light figures, Pedersen sets a tone and finds a careful balance intimating that there are dimensions something like a thirteen month out of ordinary time giving sensible life a special fullness and poignancy. ... Read more

Book Description
Leo Connellan was a man of both contradictions and single-minded passions. He rose at four everyday to write his poems in the solitary darkness of early morning, poems he would read out loud to his wife later in the day. His was a life of romance: he hitch-hiked across America, recited his poetry on the steps of Saint Mark's with Allen Ginsburg, and stayed at Frieda Lawrence's ranch. Yet, he fiercely embraced his working class Irish American roots and for many years he earned his living as a typewriter salesman.

Connellan was born in Portland, Maine in 1928 and by the time of his death in 2001, he had published 13 stunning books of poetry and was nearing the end of his term as Connecticut's second Poet Laureate.

Down the Dark Pine Green is a celebration and a contemplation of Connellan's life and work. Contributors include Hayden Carruth, Robert Creeley, David Shippee, Vivian Shipley, Richard Wilbur and others. ... Read more

Book Description
MIRACLES Every Day

One man is led to his family records by the otherworldly sound of a trumpet in a dusky graveyard. Another researcher, without maps or knowledge, miraculously finds records saved from a World War II bombing. A family, after losing work to a computer crash, discovers a disk containing the lost information, though no one in the house had made a copy of it. Others, in the quiet of the night, receive answers in their dreams.

These are just a few of the many examples of the heavenly help that dedicated genealogical researchers have received. Miracles associated with family history work happen too often to be tossed off as mere coincidence or luck.

You will receive strength to pursue your own research as you read these true accounts from people who have been assisted in their work to bring their families together from beyond the veil. In no human effort has there been more generous cooperation from the spirit world than in family history research.

Families Lost and Found, compiled by popular authors Lee Nelson and Marilyn Brown, is a witness to a work that is more important than many people may realize. These narratives provide a testimony that we are not alone, especially as we search to find our lost families. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
The fragmentary plays of Euripides are a body of texts still regularly increasing in number and extent. They are of very great interest in themselves, apart from the significant aid they give to the fuller appreciation of the surviving complete plays. This volume contains: Alexandros (together with Palamedes and Sisyphus), Oedipus, Andromeda, Antiope, Hypsipyle, Archelaus (415 to about 407 B.C.). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More Amazonian bungling!
Yet again the folks at Amazon have bungled matters.The other "review" of this book is in fact a review of (or a puff for) the Penn series of translations of Greek tragedy, not of Euripides' "Selected Fragmentary Plays," a scholarly edition offering Greek texts, English translations, and detailed notes on several of Euripides' fragmentary plays.It should also noted that the book in question is the recently published---and long-awaited---second volume of a work whose first volume appeared in 1995.Eventually, there will be a Loeb Classical Library edition of the major fragments of Euripides, but it is unlikely to replace these volumes of Collard et al., for their very full notes will remain invaluable.

a return to classics
I went to Columbia, with the most prominent 'great books' curriculum still in existence. 25 years later, I'm finding myself re-reading and discussing many of the titles. The Penn Greek Drama series is a handsome library of new translations that give fresh takes on the classics. It's useful to have Euripides on the shelf when you return home from the recent bravura performance by Fiona Shaw as Medea--it settled an argument too on how it 'originally' ended. ... Read more