Farm Memoir

In 1985, the shocking murder of a family of five in a quiet country house in Essex rocked the nation. The victims were Nevill and June Bamber; their adopted daughter Sheila Caffell, divorced from her husband Colin; and Sheila and Colin's twin sons, Nicholas and Daniel. Only one survivor remained: the Bambers' other adopted child, Jeremy Bamber. Following his lead, the police - and later the press - blamed the murders on Sheila, who, so the story went, then committed suicide.

In the early hours of 7th August 1985, five members of the Bamber family were shot dead with a .22-calibre Anschutz rifle. Sheila Caffell, who was known to have struggled with mental illness, was at first thought to have murdered her twin sons and adoptive parents and then to have turned the gun on herself. Forensic evidence, however, told a different story and raised such questions as how Sheila could have received two shots in an act of suicide. A year later it was Jeremy Bamber, the only survivor, who was convicted of the callous murders of his entire family.

This sequel to If You Leave This Farm chronicles the life adventures of this young Mennonite lady who, after choosing to walk away from her fathers farm at age 29, is now free to make her own choices as an adult. Amanda shares the joy of discovering the world away from the farm, of falling in love, and about her decision to eventually leave the Mennonite church. But that freedom and joy is tainted by the continuing intertwined and overpowering conflicts that result from unspoken and unresolved expectations in her family of origin.

Learn the magic that happens behind the scenes when the doors suddenly open and unforeseen opportunities arise in the big city. In a half century of innovative ventures, the brash New Yorker never let dyslexia slow his creative mind and penchant for free thinking and deal making, even though he was functionally unable to read until he was in his fifties. Discover how he created the greatest men’s fashion development of the era—the leisure suit—and how it subsequently fell off a cliff.

I discover a "lost" aunt, separated from our family due to racism and discrimination against the disabled. She had a mental disability due to childhood meningitis. She was taken away in 1942 when all Japanese Americans were considered the enemy and imprisoned. She then became a "ward" of the state. We believed she had died but 70 years later found her alive and living a few miles from our family farm. How did she survive? Why was she kept hidden? How did both shame and resilience empower my family to forge forward in a land that did not want them?

In the 1970s, more than a million young people moved to farms and communes all over the US. There was a war on, and they wanted no part of it. This is a book about those days and one of those communes, told by Peter Gould, one of Vermont's master storytellers, known for decades to fans of Burnt Toast, Gould & Stearns, A Peasant of El Salvador, and Write Naked.

Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl delivers a treat as delicious as oatmeal cookies hot out of the oven - a memoir of a happy childhood. In charming and memorable vignettes, Carol Bodensteiner captures rural life in Middle America, in the middle of the 20th Century. Bodensteiner grew up on a family-owned dairy farm in the 1950s, a time when a family could make a good living on 180 acres.

In telling the story of five generations of her family and its farm in the Arkansas Delta, Margaret Jones Bolsterli brings together her own research, historical perspective, and family lore as it reaches her from the days of her great-grandfather down to her nephew. The result is a family saga that is at once universal and personal, historical, and timeless.

In 1910, when Olaf F. Larson was born to tenant livestock and tobacco farmers in Rock County, Wisconsin, the original barn still stood on the property. It was filled with artifacts of an earlier time - an ox yoke, a grain cradle, a scythe used to cut hay by hand. But Larson came of age in a brave new world of modern inventions - tractors, trucks, combines, airplanes - that would change farming and rural life forever. When Horses Pulled the Plow is Larson's account of that rural life in the early 20th century.

These stories begin with brief family histories that bring the Peltier and the Scottish Keillor families together. John was the fifth of the 12 children that Wilburn and Barbara Peltier raised on the flat salt grass prairie of Southeast Texas after they married. The life they created for their family on their rice farm and cattle ranch provided fertile ground for the life experiences that are shared in these settings. At the age of 19, naïve and fresh from the farm, John was drafted into the US Army. After surviving boot camp and medical corpsman training, he found himself in Vietnam.

Hop aboard a hippie bus and journey with 300 New Age settlers on their way to Tennessee to begin a new life and a new lifestyle, a meaningful lifestyle the world can afford - to live collectively, build a town and live simple, live close to nature - a remarkable experiment in collective living as thousands of high-minded people with heart join forces, pool resources, and attempt to create a gracious, meaningful, sustainable lifestyle.

From New York style icon and fashion insider Amanda Brooks, a charming and inspiring meditation on life in her newly adopted home, a farm in the English countryside. In search of a quieter, simpler life away from the hustle of the city, style icon and longtime New Yorker Amanda Brooks moved...

The philosophy found in this work is the product of a childhood on a tobacco and cattle farm in central Kentucky, education at various schools, and a three-decade career in the US Navy while simultaneously contributing as a husband, father, and grandfather. The remainder of this book will be separated into phases reflective of the major changes in my life: the farm, schooling, and a navy career continuum from junior officer through flag officer. The lessons learned in earlier phases were often exported and applied later.

Peter Brandt, a litigator at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), has been at the forefront of some of the toughest cases of animal abuse in the last 10 years - including supervising a team of lawyers working to protect the interests of farm animals. In this revelatory and often surprisingly funny memoir-cum-manifesto, Brandt describes his growing awareness of the extent of the cruelty of animals in concentrated animal feeding operations (a.k.a. factory farms) and the manifold harms to human health, local communities, and the environment for those who live near them.

Miss Unlikely takes you through Betty’s unconventional childhood, the surprising pageant journey, an incredible year as Miss America, a fairy-tale wedding, and everything in between. She offers wisdom on school, boys, self-esteem, choices, disappointments, insecurities, mentors, cyberbullies, and more. Behind-the-scenes moments and previously untold stories show how her faith and family ultimately carried her through difficult times. Betty’s personal and sincere account will remind you the only way to get where you want to go is through God’s unique plan.

“An enchanting book—please read.” —Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE; Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace In this touching audiobook memoir about the relationship between father, daughter, and animals, Carole George explores life after adopting thirteen pet Karakul lambs...

Madness is as much about a personal reckoning as it is about the future of our planet. A must-listen for those seeking to understand the roots of our ecological challenges and how we might overcome them.

George Topp believed in God, but often relied on himself when making and carrying out decisions. He was not inclined to ask God for help, but May 3, 2004 was the day that he found out he powerless. That day on his farm near Grace City, North Dakota, started out like any other. He had a half-dozen cows left to calf, and he was also seeding barley. Everything was going fine, until his truck would not start.

Als Erich Baumeister (13) im Herbst 1994 in einem Waldstück auf dem Anwesen seiner Familie spielte, stieß er auf ein teilweise vergrabenes menschliches Skelett. Er berichtete seiner Mutter Julie von diesem verstörenden Fund, die ihren Ehemann Herb daraufhin ansprach. Er erklärte ihr, das Skelett habe seinem verstorbenen Vater gehört, einem Anästhesisten, dem es zu Forschungszwecken gedient habe. Er habe nicht gewusst, was er damit tun solle, also habe er es im Garten vergraben. Julie glaubte ihm.

This audiobook is narrated by Max Armstrong, one of America's favorite farm broadcasters. Max traveled thousands of miles by air and ground to hear the stories of the men and women of the Heartland. Armed with endless curiosity and a winning personality, Max visited farmers and producers at their kitchen tables, tractors, and combines.