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| Volume 46, Number 2, Fall 1998 |
By Ruth Winter
The AmFAR AIDS Handbook: The Complete Guide to Understanding HIV and AIDS by Darrell Ward (NASW) published by W. W. Norton.
Ward, a senior medical writer for the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Ohio State University, has authored a book on one of the most complex diseases for physicians to treat and one of the most bewildering for laypersons. He writes that his book is intended to help eliminate that bewilderment. It is written primarily for people with HIV, and their families and loved ones, but it should also be helpful to anyone who would like to understand the disease. In addition to helping people make sense of the complexities of HIV infection, its diagnosis, treatment and prevention, the handbook can aid communication between people with HIV and their doctors, make informed decisions about their medical care and daily life, and better evaluate new HIV/AIDS-related medical discoveries and issues debated in the media. In addition, Ward provides a good glossary and many useful sources of information and resources to obtain emotional and care giving support. Ward can be reached by 614-292-8456, by FAX 614-292-0154 and by e-mail ward.25@osu.edu. The PR department at Norton for review copies 212-354-5500 or FAX: 212-869-0856.
Unnatural Selection: The Promise and the Power of Human Gene Research by Lois Wingerson (NASW) published by Bantam Books.
Wingerson, editor-in-chief of HMS Beagle, asks in the book whether, having made terrible ethical mistakes earlier in this century when they thought they understood heredity but didn’t, scientists and society can get it right this time around—when perhaps we actually do begin to understand it. Delves into eugenics, evolution, diversity, and policy. She says the book owes a lot to our President for: (1) providing a personal example of the power of DNA testing and (2) distracting Congress so that it yet again has failed to grapple with these very important issues. Wingerson can be reached at: 212-462-1926 or (FAX: 212-462-1915 or e-mail at lois@hmsbeagle.com
Ice Reich by William (Bill) Dietrich (NASW), published by Warner Books
A former science reporter for the Seattle Times, Dietrich still does freelance science stories for the paper but left last year to concentrate on book writing. This is his first novel and it is based on a real-life Nazi expedition to Antarctica in 1938-39. It is a World War II thriller, an adventure and love story. It was inspired by his two trips he made to Antarctica under the National Science Foundation, in 1994 and 1996. A first draft of the novel was actually completed during the second trip, when he was an observer on the research ship Polar Duke. Dietrich says while the plot is inventive, the details draw on both extensive historical research and his reporting on Antarctic biology and microbiology. He says it is “fun, scary and romantic.” You can reach him by e-mail at wdietrich@email.msn.com. or by phone 360-588-0118. The PR for the book is Tina Andreadia at 212-522-6798.
Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Dinosaur Extinction and The Transformation of Modern Geology by James Lawrence Powell published by W.H. Freeman and Company.
What decimated life on Earth 65 million years ago? Powell, the president and director of the Los Angeles Country Museum of natural History, describes how scientists challenged and overthrew orthodoxy. He draws on information from many disciplines—vertebrate paleontology, micropaleontology, evolutionary biology, rare-metal chemistry, astronomy, magnetism, statistics, geological age dating, and the physics of nuclear explosions. He uses the sciences to weave the rich story behind the once outrageous suggestion that the dinosaurs died as a result of earth’s catastrophic collision with an extraterrestrial object, and the scientific melee that ensued. The cast of characters who took part in the bitter debates that followed clearly shows that scientists, too, are passionate, albeit sometimes flawed and stubborn, human beings. For a review copy, contact: purdy@whfreeman.com.
Rewinding Your Biological Clock by Richard Paulson, MD, and Judith Sachs published by W.H. Freeman and Company.
In 1996, Dr. Paulson, chief of Reproductive Endocrinology and Interfertility at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, performed in-vitro fertilization using a donor egg on a 63-year-old woman. Nine months later, Arceli Keh became the oldest person in the world to give birth. This, of course, raised tough biological, emotional and ethical issues. The book tells the story of 48-year-old Sarah, a typical woman who decides to become a mother after she is no longer physiologically capable of conceiving without modern technology. It is a step-by-step description of the techniques and the emotions involved. For more information, or to set up an interview with Dr. Paulson you can contact the PR at 212-561-8221 or by e-mail: purdy@whfreeman.com.
The 10 Smartest Decisions A Woman Can Make Before 40, by Tina Tessina, PhD., with Elizabeth Friar Williams, MS, published by Health Communications.
Tessina has twenty years of experience as licensed marriage and family therapist. She authored eight books including The Real Thirteenth Step: Discovering Confidences, Self-Reliance and Autonomy Beyond the Twelve Step Program. Elizabeth Friar Williams was a pioneer in feminist therapy who wrote the first trade book on the subject, Notes of a Feminist Therapist. It describes why some women seem as if they have it all together and informs readers how they can stop being led by life and create the futures they want for themselves. For a review copy call Kim Weiss Health Communications, Inc. 800-851-9100 ext. 212.
The World’s Most Intimate Cruises by Shirley Linde (NASW) published by Open Road Publishing.
Linde, the author of 35 books has been a ship reporter, travel writer as well as a health writer for many years. She is co-author of Dr. Atkins’ Superenergy Diet and No More Sleepless Nights. Taking a cruise for your health is not a bad idea. In her book, Linde presents a guide to more than 200 small cruise ships, including sailing ships, river barges, and freighters. Destinations include both off-the-beaten-path and popular ports of call. She includes the Caribbean islands to whale watch, Alaska’s glaciers and the Gulf of Thailand’s coral reefs. In addition to discounts and deals, she includes medical advice and how to have a good shore excursion. For more information about review copies, contact Jonathan Stein at 516-692-7172. Linde can be reached at 813-867-5096.
Unlikely Partners: Philanthropic Foundations and the Labor Movement by Richard Magat (NASW) published by Cornell University Press.
The book deals with a century of connections between two major American institutions. It illuminates curious if not improbable relations between these forces. Among the variety of ventures describe are: the status of black and female workers; the struggle of farm workers; the state of workplace health and safety; the union democracy movement, and the stake of union members in such new economic phenomena as the global market place. The book begins with the industrial and social contest in which the first great modern foundations were organized early in the 20th century. Among the case studies included are the union/foundation split of NAFTA; the confrontation between the Ford Foundation and the New York City teachers union on the issues of school decentralization and parental participation; and the Twentieth Century Fund that help to draft the basic labor legislation, the Wagner Labor Relations Act. Magat can be reached at 212-620-4230.