Once A Brat
by Marilyn Celeste Morris
Starting $17.78
Web site: Amazon.com

As one of the first dependents to be sent overseas at the end of WWII, eight-year old Marilyn Celeste Morris received her very own orders from The War Department.

"I have always had difficulty answering the question, 'Where are you from?' I have had difficulty in sustaining relationships over a long period of time. I am capable of spending a great many hours, days, even, in splendid solitude --- all can be blamed on-- or credited to --my military brat background. And it's not all bad."

Playing from the Heart
Edited by Robert L. Doerschuk
$19.95
Web site: Backbeat Books

Playing from the Heart is a collection of interviews published by the magazines at GPI (Guitar Player Inc.), where Bob, a 1969 graduate of Ankara High School, worked from 1977 through 1995 on the staff of Keyboard magazine. Most of the interviews in the Keyboard section were written by him.

88: The Giants of Jazz Piano
By Robert L. Doerschuk
$29.95
Web site: Backbeat Books

88: The Giants of Jazz Piano is a collection of 88 short essays on the lives of the most influential and historically important jazz pianists.

Leaving the Alamo
By Dick Stanley
$8.36
Web site: Amazon.com

Dick Stanley, a 1962 graduate of Ankara High School, wrote these stories of middle-aged Texans, combat veterans of Vietnam, who are not in prison, panhandling, or sleeping under bridges. For the most part, they’ve learned to live with the war that still goes on in their heads, although one also has murder on his mind.

Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey
Edited by Anastasia M. Ashman, Jennifer Eaton Gökmen
Starting $10.24
Web site: expatharem.com
Interview with editors (Turkish Radio Hour)

This critically-acclaimed collection invites you into the Turkey that several women from seven nations know, their experiences spanning the entire country and the last four decades in true tales of cultural conflict and discovery.

In the book is a sensitive story by Maria Yarbrough (Orhan) 72 titled, A Mother's Charms. In her story, Maria is a Turkish bride who goes through pregnancy and the birth of her daughter in Istanbul.

A Beautiful Mind
by Sylvia Nasar
Starting at $1.75
Web site: Amazon.com

Sylvia Nasar, a 1965 graduate of Ankara High School, wrote this notable biography about mathematical genius John Forbes Nash, a founder of game theory, a RAND Cold War strategist and winner of a 1994 Nobel Prize in economics. She charts his plunge into paranoid schizophrenia beginning at age 30 and his spontaneous recovery in the early 1990s after decades of torment.

OverKill ($19.95)
Revenge Served Cold (Starting $19.95)
A View From Iraq ($19.95)
by Elmer L. Snow III
Web site: Publish America

Corky Snow 61 drew on his experience as a detective sergeant, to write his detective and security adventures.

In Overkill, Detective Nicholas T. Robertson's knowledge and experience soars as his mentor convinces us all that humor can be found in the most gruesome of investigations.

In Revenge Served Cold, detective Victor Dolan follows Nikita Androse to Louisiana, acting as her personal bodyguard. "Vic" is determined not to let anything come between he and Nikita; even a stalker’s bullet that brings Dolan to the brink of death. In New Orleans, Dolan meets up with an old friend who practices voodoo and has the morals of a cobra.

A View from Iraq relates the untold stories of several members of the United States Armed Forces and civilian support personnel whose personal acts and bravery were not previously reported.

In 2003, "Corky" Snow 61 provided personal protection services during the reconstruction of Iraq. As a security coordinator with KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, Snow worked in numerous high-risk positions throughout Iraq, including Mosul, Baghdad, Tikrit, Balad, and culminating at Camp Anaconda. After surviving roadside attacks, and well over 150 incoming mortar attacks, he has something to tell.

Search for the Flaming Chalice
by Robert Shaw Kesler
Starting $9.95
Web site: http://www.thatcherforest.com/

Thatcher Forest Publishing is a company comprising one guy who makes and sells his own stuff. For years he did business with mail order catalogs, wholesalers, library distributors, and people willing to buy directly from the trunk of his car. Now, Bob Slentz-Kesler 86, is finally venturing into the online marketplace. Bob worked as a middle school English teacher and a librarian.

Search for the Flaming Chalice is his first novel for young people. Bob combines humor and magic in his fantasy story of three martens outwitting a sorcerer.

Sylvia, Rachel, Meredith, Anna
by Robert Slentz-Kesler 86
$14.95
Web site: Amazon.com

A week after discovering his fiancée's infidelity with a Rhodes scholar from Brazil, and two days after graduating from Monroe Hill College with a degree in cello performance, Gerard Kelderman--the son of a Flemish master diamond cutter--enters the army as an enlisted parachute infantryman.

"Slentz-Kesler writes compassionately about each of his characters, and refuses overly simple explanations for the various kinds of trouble humans manage to stir up for themselves." ~~ C. Tourino

Cows in the Corn
by R. George Seay
Starting $22.24
Web site: Amazon.com

Rich Croucher 64 is the author of this book. He passed on July 8, 2007. Additional information is available on our In Memoriam page.

Reviewer: Ken Wooden "Child Lures, LTD"
This novel is excellent reading with a finely woven story and a host of exceptional characters. The book is difficult to put down and easy to read more than once, as your thoughts begin when the book ends. Prepare for a thunderstorm of emotion that entertains while delivering a powerful message. Laugh, cry, get angry, be happy...cheer. Cows In The Corn has it all. I highly recommend this book for personal enjoyment and group discussion, but caution that it is not a novel for children of high school age or below.

Jill Jonnes 70, who attended school in Ankara, has released her fourth book, Conquering Gotham. This book follows the construction of Penn Station and its tunnels.

Additional books by Jill:

Empires of Light
An account of the visionary inventors, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse.

South Bronx Rising
Chronicles the rise, fall and resurrection of the Bronx.

Hep-Cats, Narcs, and Pipe Dreams
A history of America's Romance with illegal Drugs.

Learn more at jjonnes.com

Who Are The Turks?
by Justin & Carolyn McCarty
Free eBook
Website: Ataturk.com

A curriculum guide aimed at understanding the state of Turkey---its history, its evolution, its culture and its literature.
Some material appeared in the original 1992 edition, but much has been revised and updated. Excellent photographs and illustrations. Extensive history and literature lesson plans.

Turkey--Bright Sun, Strong Tea
by Tom Brosnahan
$15.95
Web site: Turkey Travel Planner

A humorous travel memoir, tells how Brosnahan got involved with Turkey as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960s. Included a lot of background information on Turkey and the Turks so that it would be a good airplane and end-of-the-day reading for anyone going to, or traveling in Turkey.

Click here to order your personally-inscribed, autographed copy online (ISBN 0-9767531-0-3, 304 pages, US$15.95).

Scotch and Holy Water
by John D. Tumpane
Web site: Amazon.com (available from $9) or
St. Giles Press POB 1416 Lafayette, CA 94549

Tumpane, an American company, held Base Maintenance Contracts in Turkey providing many of the basic support functions at TUSLOG installations.

"John D." provides an account of his life and escapades in this book. "Anyone who has any interest in or connection to Turkey should read his insightful book," Muharren Sev.

Our own Ebru Craft 89, "I first read this book after finding it [in] my father's library when I was 18. I read it as almost his own stories from his stationing there earlier on."

John died in October 1997 and this book is no longer in print so snatch this one up while you still can.

Brats Coffee Mug
$8.92
Web site: Military Brats Network

My Own Reality Show
Curbside Life
$6.99
Website: Curbside Life

Michael "Mojo" O'Brien 79 and his band, Curbside Life, released their first CD in 2006. It makes up a good part of the soundtrack of the independent film Perilous Ties. They are working on a deal with writer Augusten Burroughs, whose book Running With Scissors was recently made into a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Annette Bening, and Alec Baldwin.

Take A Chance
Marty Cohen and the Sidekicks
$16.00
Web site: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mcsidekicks

Marty Cohen 65 and The Sidekicks perform original acoustic music that’s been called “urbane, inspired folk with a pop twist.” You will be sure to enjoy their rich harmonies and unique arrangements and lyrics that say something to all of us.

Winter Patterns
Peninsula Women's Chorus
$18.00
Web site: http://www.pwchorus.org/

Beatrice Fanning 76 is a member of this 50-voice women's choir and has three solos on this holiday-themed CD. Five additional CDs are available.

Web site: Watermedia by Paula
Paula Race Grookett 61

Paula retired in 1996 after working 32 years in the public school system. In 1999 she pursued an interest in watercolor and discovered she loved painting.

Be sure to check out her florals, landscapes, still life and portraits and figures.

Anita Donohoe Photographs
Web site: Red Bubble

Anita Donohoe 66 has once again taken up her camera to photograph life around her on the ranch. Her best are available for purchase from RedBubble as blank greeting cards and finished prints.

Tim Gifford Bronze
Web site: Tim Gifford Bronze

Tim Gifford 76 is a firefighter who discovered the world of sculpture during a one-hour summer art program offered to his daughter's fourth grade class.

It took six years before Tim retured to bronze sculpting. Six months later and with no formal training his first limited edition bronze, "Twenty Years" was complete. "The bronze sculpture of a firefighter bust reflects the love for my work and the power of bronze imagery."

20 Years