Through this book, Land of the Shapeshifter, long silenced voices are once again heard. In the Land of the Shapeshifter author Stephen Berwick, uses interpretive short stories based on historical events as a guide to the world of Passaconaway and his descendants to explore the questions unanswered by the European-American perspective. Many of the stories take place from 1621 to 1692, a pivotal period in American history. Although there is peace, the peace is like a lid on a boiling pot. Much of the warfare that occurs later is based on what takes place during this time. Passaconaway, 17th century Great Chief of the Penacook (Penagok) Confederation as well as renowned Person-of-Medicine, was one of America's greatest peacemakers. To the Penacook people of central New Hampshire, Passaconaway was not only the Great Chief of the Penacook Confederation as well as Shapeshifter, he was and is the star that lights their universe and whose spirit will never die. A fierce warrior who defended the Penacook homeland against Mohawk and Mi'kmaq invaders, Passaconaway knew the futility of war. On the heels of war came a deadly disease that devastated much of present-day northeast New England and became known as the Great-Dying-Time. It was then that the greatest threat to Penacook peace and security arrived; the Pilgrims, followed nine years later by the Puritans. As English settlers encroached on his peoples' lands Passaconaway shape shifted from a formidable warrior into a peacemaker for not only the Penacook people of New Hampshire, but for the peoples of Massachusetts Bay Colony, as well, thereby making compassion and friendship his people's refuge against destruction. As the years passed that compassion and friendship would be threatened as land hungry settlers broke peace treaties and encroached further and further into the Penacook heartland. Although humiliated again and again; once when his son, Waolinasad (Wonalancet) was arrested and led by noose to jail in Boston, and again when over 110 years old he petitioned Boston for a few acres of land to live on, Passoconaway remained a steadfast friend. Why?

Land of the Shapeshifter

History

Berwick, Stephen W.F.

Americas

Parisburg Publishing

Shapeshifted Peace takes up where Shapeshifter's Peace left off.  The story begins with an overview of European reasons for colonizing as well as the "legal" documents that authorize the colonization.    Key English players are introduced from early New Hampshire history: men such as Rev. John Wheelwright and Captain Jonathon Danforth.  Then come events such as the accidental death of Reginald Jenkins; the marriage of Passaconaway's daughter that led to Whittier's romanticized version of the wedding "Bridal at Penacook."  From there we are observers of the Great Chief of the Penagok Confederation's uneasy peace with the English settlers and the death of the Great Chief at over 120 years of age and the assumption of duties by his son, Waolinasad.  The story takes place from 1621 to 1664 when Passaconaway is believed to have died.  This is a pivotal period in American history.  Although there is peace, the peace is like a lid on a boiling pot.  Much of the wars that later occur are based on what takes place during this time and the, in comparison to Passaconaway, rather short chieftainship of Waolinasad.

Shapeshifted Peace: Passaconaway's Pacification of Settlers

This is not a sad story, nor does it attempt to hide the horrific details of head and neck cancer. The poet takes the reader through the course of the disease beginning with the discovery of her cancer. The crossover of word-as-art and the excruciatingly gritty realm of medical treatment comprise the world within "The Shoulders of Country Roads." A single haiku carries her story to its positive finish: "Molecular storm science defies hurricane disease exiting"

The Shoulders of Country Roads: My Journey from Head and Neck Cancer

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Kerschner, Susan Singer

Diseases & Physical Ailments

Lyrics of a Troubadour is a lyrical and literary journey on Lester Hirsh’s road of life. It’s the quintessential 40 year journey, of the songwriter, poet, musician, through trials and tribulations, love and loss. It is steeped in a journey not unlike others who work on the road, in pubs and concert venues, but it has its own nuance and voice. The early songs reveal the young man writing poignant protest songs, songs with biblical and literary references from Aesop and Elijah, to Shakespeare and Kipling. Hirsh has his own way of articulating the intrigues of love. “I once knew a girl like you. I met her in the morning dew. Sunlight slipped her thoughts on through to me.” Later, as the songwriter matures, the rough angles change and the songs grow more universal and mature. The subtitle of the book is a Biography in Song. That is the element that separates this book of song lyrics from other typical books that stay in a more limited range of focus. In the preface, Hirsh delineates the geography of his life, like a family scrapbook- some of the key players that shared his journey. There is a gallery of pictures and reproduced posters along with recognitions that add an element not unlike museum artifacts. Hirsh pays a touching tribute to his parents, both in song and picture images. Lyrics of a Troubadour-A Biography in Song, is the mirror image of the man, the artist from youth to midlife and beyond in reflective glances.

Lyrics of a Troubadour: A Biography in Song

Arts & Photography

Hirsh, Lester

Music

Mexican Mosaics is a chapbook of poems and prose pieces that collectively read like a series of insightful vignettes. Beyond the facade of a family Bar Mitzvah, the 15 selections capture the commerce of life in the burgeoning city- with contrasts and contradictions, as well as art, architecture, ritual, and superstition, in the manner of Henry Miller’s ‘Gliding through the Everglades.’

Mexican Mosaics

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

To lose a father or parent is universal. The ability to voice that grief is what is unique about the collection of poems in Soul and Bone. Her father's life, beginning with his early years as a World War II bomber pilot, is laid out before the reader in the finest detail through simple experiences. We can examine our own grief through the poet's personal allegory, yet taste the acrid emotion evoked through her words, and perhaps reconcile how it feels to be without a loved one who was with us from our beginning. Soul and Bone is Susan Singer Kerschner's second book to bring us through a very personal journey. Unlike a compilation of unrelated poems, this pointed focus on the theme of loss turns the ordinary into a poignant reaction to what is really churning in the heart and mind of the one left behind.

Soul and Bone

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