The Cold Vanish: Seeking The Missing In North America's Wildlands by Jon Billman

Hardback: Until a person is found, you do not know if they are dead, their remains entombed forever under a rockslide or hidden in a crevasse, scattered by wolves or, more likely, birds. What then, when you open Schrödinger's box, and there is no cat inside at all - what if it is empty?

These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidents, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with search and rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands. 

On 4 April 2017, a young cyclist named Jacob Gray left his bike on the side of the road, disappearing into Olympic National Park in northwestern Washington. In The Cold Vanish (2020), John Billman follows Jacob's father, Randy Gray, in his courageous and life-halting search for his son, exploring exactly what happens when someone goes missing. 

Braided around this narrative are accounts of those who fill the vacuum created by a vanished human being: a bloodhound handler, backcountry search and rescue experts, the world's foremost Bigfoot researcher, psychics, and countless others who dedicate their time to assist family members desperately searching for loved ones or, at least, a sense of closure.

By delving into the voids left behind by the missing, this book embraces the faulty memories of those who search and the histories of the lost. But, at its core, The Cold Vanish (2020) is about now and tomorrow, when another person will be lost to the wilderness. These are the stories that should give you pause every time you venture outdoors, lest you be next.

P/S Twenty percent of author royalties generated by sales of The Cold Vanish will be donated to the nonprofit Jon Francis Foundation, a Minnesota-based outfit that helps families of persons missing in the wild.

About the author: Jon Billman is a former wildland firefighter and high school teacher. He holds an MFA in Fiction from Eastern Washington University. He is the author of the story collection When We Were Wolves (1999). Billman is a regular contributor to Outside and his work has appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All-Story. He teaches fiction and journalism at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula, where he lives with his family in a log cabin along the Chocolay River.

Follow Jon Billman on Twitter @jonbillman.

Happy Sunday

In Praise Of The Hiddenness: The Spirituality of the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona by A Camaldolese Hermit

Paperback: Living at the heart of the mystery of the hidden life of Jesus at Nazareth, a Camaldolese hermit here sings the praises of the silent life in the desert of those men and women whom Christ calls. 

In In Praise of Hiddenness (2007), these few and very simple conferences were given to some brother hermits. They endeavour to express the meaning of their "disappearance", which in our difficult and grandiose period of history has about it a savour of modernity. 

A subsequent reflection of the author on St Romuald's (founder of the Camaldolese order and a major figure in the eleventh-century "Renaissance of eremitical asceticism") monastic experience has been translated from the Italian and added to this edition as an appendix. 

"A son of St. Romuald, you have sensed the call to disappear, as do all lovers. Hermits themselves are, in fact, lovers who have chosen the shade, a life hidden with Jesus in God... It ought to be enough for us to be known by God." 

In Praise of Hiddenness was edited by Father Louis-Albert Lassus OP. 

About the editor: Father Louis-Albert Lassus, OP (1916 - 2002), who prepared this anonymous work for publication in its original French edition and wrote the introduction, was a longtime friend of the Camaldolese Hermits. His writings include Livre de vie des ermites et des reclus du bienheureux Paul Giustiniani, Pierre Damien, l'homme des deserts de Dieu, and Nazarena, une recluse au Coeur de Rome. An Italian translation of the present work was published in 2003.

Her Happiness Betrayed Her

Nobel Peace Prize 2020

 

A Pathway Under The Gaze of Mary (Biography) by Carmel of Coimbra

Paperback: Sister Lúcia was a prominent figure of the Portuguese Catholic world of the 20th Century. 

As the Shepherdess of Fatima who, together with Francisco and Jacinta saw our Lady in 1917, she is regarded as a child blessed and chosen to spread the message of peace and salvation of God throughout the world.

As a Carmelite nun, she was known as as a privileged person dedicated to God and in service to His Church, one in whom people placed enormous confidence because of her role as Our Lady's confident. The contemporary history of the Church would hardly be complete without the inclusion of Sister Lúcia's role.

The references to the Holy Father and to his sufferings since the apparitions, as well as the revelation of the third part of the Secret of Fatima and the dramatic events experienced by the Church in the late second and early third millennium do not allow us to ignore Sister Lúcia. 

Reading the biography, A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary (2013) - a biography of Sister Maria Lúcia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart - gives us a broader perspective of Sister Lúcia's personality. Written by the Sisters of Carmel of Coimbra, it reflects their personal knowledge of her daily life and writings, and provides testimonies that mirror the depth of her soul.

This book will help readers appreciate the distinctive qualities essential to the life of Sister Lúcia: love of God, devotion to Our Lady, unconditional fidelity to the Church and commitment to the salvation of lost humanity. After all, the Message of Fátima impels each and every one of us as Christians to fulfil our pathway under the gaze of Mary. 

A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary is translated from the Portuguese by James A Colson. 

This book is a revised second edition published in 2019 by the Blue Army Press, World Apostolate of Fatima, USA. 

About the authors: In the 19th century, following the extinction of religious orders in Portugal, the nuns were forced to abandon the Carmel and were welcomed by relatives and friends. Later, many of them entered several Carmelite convents in Spain. 

In 1933, when Portugal was already enjoying religious freedom, three of the nuns of this community who had moved to Spain, decided to return, and with the support of three other Spanish nuns, restored the community and the Carmel of Coimbra. 

Years later and after many endeavours, the Carmelites managed to recover the keys of the convent from which they had been expelled, and this was the only Carmel that the government returned to the order, thus it continued being the retirement home of a Carmelite community that lives a life of silent  for the church and for mankind.

Among the many religious who lived in the Carmel of Saint Theresa stands out Sister Lúcia, seer of Fátima, who lived in the convent from 1948 to 2005 (the year she died) having professed in 1949. 

After the death of Sister Lúcia, the Carmel of Saint Theresa created the Sister Lúcia’s Memorial, where you can see a replica of her cell, as well as some of her personal belongings, photographs, her manual work and other elements that help us understand her life path.

Read Words Aloud

The Life Of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography Of St Teresa Of Ávila

Paperback: St Teresa of Jesus was born on 28 March 1515, in Ávila, Spain. Her mother died when she was 14, and she entered the Carmelite Monastery in Ávila in 1535. Her life as a Carmelite, though far removed from the mainstream of modern culture, still speaks powerfully to us today.

Teresa longed for a deeper relationship with God, but due to the laxity of convent life in those days, she struggled to reconcile her desire to live for God with other relationships that kept her from devoting herself completely to Him.

Repeatedly, Teresa asked God to help her, seemingly to no avail. It was not until 1554 that she experienced the conversion that would mark the rest of her life. Coming upon a statue of the wounded Christ, Teresa was suddenly and intensely moved by what Christ had suffered for her and was overwhelmed by her own lack of gratitude for His sufferings. In tears, she begged the Lord to strengthen her desire to belong to Him, and resolved not to move from there until her prayer was granted. At that moment, Teresa felt a growing strength within her.

Teresa’s conversion, which actually occurred over a period of four years, set her on a new pathway that led her to an intimate experience of God, a God she came to perceive as a beloved Friend. In prayer, God poured out His love on His daughter, who had become a willing and open vessel as she surrendered totally to her Lord and King.

Teresa’s indomitable love for God made her determined to give her all, willing to overcome any obstacle to do what God asked of her. Convinced that God wanted it, she set about reforming the Carmelite order, establishing convents throughout Spain where religious would live according to the original spirit of Carmel.

The special gifts she received from God in prayer were often misunderstood by others - her writings even came under the scrutiny of the Inquisition - and Teresa suffered much. At times she would try to suppress the ecstasies that accompanied God’s intimate presence, even questioning herself if they had come from God. Yet God continued to lead her into the innermost dwellings of her heart, where she beheld the awesome beauty of her King.

Fortunately for us, Teresa’s superiors ordered her to document the remarkable events of her life and her original works still exist today. The Book of Her Life, The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle, and The Foundations are her main works, detailing her remarkable pathway to God. It is through these profoundly human yet mystical writings that we experience Teresa’s spirit that inspires us to enter into an ever deeper relationship with God.

Teresa died in 1582 at the age of 67. 

In 1622, she was canonized.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared her a Doctor of the Church, the first woman ever to be so recognized.

Prayer of St Teresa

Let nothing disturb you;

Let nothing frighten you.

All things are passing.

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things.

Nothing is wanting to him

Who possesses God.

God alone suffices.

The Life Of Teresa Of Jesus is translated from the Spanish and edited by E Allison Peers with a new introduction by Sister Benedicta Ward, SLG. Sister Benedicta is a theologian and historian of early Christian spirituality at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. She is particularly known for her research on the Desert Fathers, popularizing the collection known as the Apophthegmata Patrum and has also written extensively on Anselm of Canterbury and Bede.

Signs Of Murder: A Small Town In Scotland, A Miscarriage Of Justice And The Search For Truth (True Crime) by David Wilson

Hardback: Before David Wilson became the UK's pre-eminent criminologist, he was just a young boy growing up in the Scottish town of Carluke. As a child, the brutal murder of a young woman rocked this small community, but very quickly a man was arrested for the crime, convicted and put behind bars. For most, life slowly carried on - case closed. 

But the whispers in the town were that the wrong man imprisioned; whispers that grew and grew over the years to the point that any time David would visit, friends and acquaintances they would ask, in hushed tones, 'But what are you going to do about the Carluke Case?'

Carluke believed that a young man had been wrongly convicted. 

A murderer was still on the loose.

Forty years later, David realised it was time for him to find out if the whispers were correct. It was time for him to return home, and find out the truth.

Signs Of Murder (2020) is a search for the truth.

About the author: David Wilson is Emeritus Professor of Criminology and the founding director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. Prior to taking up an academic appointment in 1997, David was a prison governor and at twenty-nine became the youngest governing governor in England.

Professor Wilson appears in the print and broadcast media as a commentator and presenter. His publishing includes Hunting Evil, A History of British Serial Killing and his autobiography, My Life With Murderers, which was shortlisted for the Saltire Prize for Non-Fiction.

Follow him on Twitter @ProfDavidWilson.

A Working Writer

 

Hell In The Heartland: A True Story Of Murder And Two Missing Girls by Jax Miller

Paperback: Hell in the Heartland (2020) is the stranger-than-fiction cold case from rural Oklahoma that has stumped authorities for two decades, concerning the disappearance of two teenage girls and the much larger mystery of murder, police cover-up, and an unimaginable truth.

On 30 December 1999, in rural Oklahoma, sixteen-year-old Ashley Freeman and her best friend, Lauria Bible, were having a sleepover. The next morning, the Freeman family trailer was in flames and both girls were missing.

While rumours of drug debts, revenge, and police collusion abounded in the years that followed, the case remained unsolved and the girls were never found.

In 2015, crime writer Jax Miller - who had been haunted by the case - decided to travel to Oklahoma to find out what really happened on that winter night in 1999, and why the story was still simmering more than fifteen years later. What she found was more than she could have ever bargained for: jaw-dropping levels of police negligence and corruption, entire communities ravaged by methamphetamine addiction, and a series of interconnected murders with an ominously familiar pattern.

These forgotten towns were wild, lawless, and home to some very dark secrets.

Finally, in April 2018, the first arrests were made. 

Could justice finally be in sight for the girls and their families?

Please follow the case on Facebook at 'Find Laurie Bible', as run by the Bible family, for photos, information and more. There is a $50 000 reward in place. 

About the author: Jax Miller is an American author. She wrote her first novel, Freedom’s Child, in her twenties while hitchhiking across America, winning the 2016 Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle and earning several CWA Dagger nominations. She has received acclaim from the New York Times, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, and many more. She now works in the true-crime genre, having penned her much-anticipated book and acting as creator, host, and executive producer on the true-crime documentary series Hell in the Heartland on CNN’s HLN network. Jax is a lover of film and music, and has a passion for writing screenplays and rock ‘n’ roll.

Fall In Love by Father Pedro Arrupe SJ (1907-1991)

A Nun's Story: The Deeply Moving True Story of Giving Up a Life of Love and Luxury in a Single Irresistible Moment (True Life) by Sister Agatha with Richard Newman

Paperback: Shirley Leach lived in a world of extreme comfort, wealth and status. With every good thing life had to offer, she was due to marry the man she loved - a man who, in turn, adored her. 

But all this was to change in a single moment.

One happy day, in the midst of writing to her fiancée, her hand stopped writing unbidden; then it continued by itself, etching the words which would change her life forever: ‘…but there’s no point now, as I am going to be a nun.’ 

That bolt from the blue set events in motion that caused Shirley to lose her mother and sisters, her husband to be, her horses, her parties and life of ease.

Within months, Shirley had become Sister Agatha. But her faith in her choice never faltered, despite years of great difficulty when her Convent was close to bankruptcy. Her belief took her to London to knock on the intimidating Sir Paul Getty’s door and secure the money to ensure her community would not lose their home….and getting it. Now eighty-five, she looks back on an incredible life of love, loss and belief.

This is at once a deeply poignant tale of doomed romance, and a heart-warming story of taking a leap of faith and finding a meaning in life beyond wealth and comfort. Whether a believer or not, Sister Agatha’s momentous life will touch and inspire, whilst reminding us that it is perhaps better to accept that not everything in the world is yet explained.

A Nun's Story was first published in 2017.

About the author: Shirley Leach (Sister Agatha) had the perfect life: she had enviable wealth, a grand estate and a devoted fiancé. However, she gave it all up to become Sister Agatha. In the 1970s, she moved to the Bar Convent in York and became the mother superior of England’s oldest living convent. Sister Agatha still lives at Bar Convent. She is now a recognised public speaker and has begun to share her inspiring story across the world.

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354AD - 430AD), Theologian And Philosopher