“Armless Hugs” is a collection of poems which tries to capture and communicate strong feelings and interesting thoughts about human relationships and key ideas that people have about the world and their place within it. The lead poem “Armless Hugs” is particularly relevant today as many people are isolated from their loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic and have to hug them with their arms by their sides, even for some at the time of the death of their loved ones. The words sound like harmless hugs which suggests a link to the phrase “do no harm” which so many of our carers abide by as an ethical or moral principle when devoting themselves to healing others. Part One focuses on human relationships while Part Two is more general in its scope.

Jim Meehan a retired British Positive Psychologist and published poet was diaignosed at the age of fifty-three to be suffering from Type II diabetes. He was a keen mountain walker, having scaled all the highest peaks in the British Isles, many peaks in the Spanish Pyrenees, the Alps, the Italian Dolomites, the United States and Canadian Rockies, an enthusiastic cyclist who rode 105 miles in a day through Death Valley, California at the age of sixty-two, and at the age of seventy ran the Chicago marathon. However, his health took a turn for the worse when due to the complications of Type II diabetes, poor blood circulation and sepsis his left leg was amputated below his knee six months prior to his eightieth birthday and seven months after his eightieth birthday had his right leg amputated below the knee in April 2023. During his recovery he wrote Your Legs Or Your Life? about his health and fitness story prior to and following his amputations in order to help others, both amputees and full-bodied adults alike, to benefit about learning from his experiences and coping strategies and enable them, to some extent, live a fuller, happier and healthier life. All proceeds from the sales of this book will be donated to the United Kingdom Limbless Association whose vision is ‘no amputee need cope alone.’

Jim Meehan, British psychologist, poet and amateur philosopher, was asked by one of his mentors, eminent American psychologist Dr. William E. Hall, to consider what attitudes are essential to the establishment of trust, which Hall regarded as being at the heart of all good human relationships. Meehan came up with ten words in the form of two promises that provide the title for this book, “I mean you no harm; I seek your greatest good.” The book starts as Meehan attempts to answer the question he is often asked, “Where do these words come from?” Born in Liverpool in the same hospital and same year as Paul McCartney, Meehan uses McCartney’s account of the composition of his bestselling song, “Yesterday,” to describe a similar experience that gave birth to his ten-word mantra, which captures the heart of trust. Meehan offers some possible biographical contributing factors. Beginning with a section aptly titled, “My Yesterdays,” he explores some early childhood relationships and experiences in Liverpool toward the end and shortly after the Second World War and investigates his adolescence, which was spent mainly in Birmingham, England’s second largest city. He then turns his attention to the influence of five mentors who definitely meant him no harm and sought his greatest good to examine how instrumental they could have been in the formulation of the words. Having exhausted his search for the origin of the expression, he then discusses the meaning of trust and how the two promises, when exchanged with other people, start a journey toward total mutual trust. Meehan defines different forms of trust, draws on the views of certain philosophers, psychologists and exemplars of trust and addresses the current global crisis of trust or, rather, lack of trust. He also includes a few anecdotes that describe the meaningfulness of the ten words to others. At the beginning of his account, Meehan explains how these two promises have developed legs of their own and have traveled widely since first being written in 1997. He finishes the book by posing the question, “Where are the words going?” Certainly, the book could be said to have given the ten words some wings or at least some more legs. In his epilogue, he provides attempts he has made to catch the essentials of total mutual trust and related concepts in verse.

From New York Timesbestselling author Kresley Cole comes this spellbinding story of a demon king trapped by an enchantress for her wanton purposes -- and the scorching aftermath that follows when he turns the tables and claims her as his captive. HIS OBSESSION... Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions: the evil beauty who surrenders her body, but not her heart. HER DOWNFALL... Rydstrom Woede: the ruthless warrior who vows to keep her at all costs. THEY WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO WANT EACH OTHER THIS MUCH... With each smoldering encounter, their shared hunger only increases. If they can defeat the sinister enemy that stands between them, will Sabine make the ultimate sacrifice for her demon? Or will the proud king lay down his crown and arms to save his sorceress?

Slow to rise in the literary world, Octavia Estelle Butler cultivated musings on earth's future, reaching massive critical acclaim in the process. This companion will complement book club discussions and classroom lessons for the closest possible readings of Butler's science fiction and her texts on racism and pollution. A maven of speculative fiction so prescient that it hovers between tocsin and prophecy, Butler survives through her print stories, essays, novels and musings on individualism and compromise. This book guides the reader on a variety of Butler pieces, from her most obscure titles to her historical entries and pieces that speculate upon science, metaphysics, linguistics, psychology, writing and religion. The text serves as a guide through the depths of Octavia Butler's works and reinforces the reasons for which her name so often appears on reading lists for higher learning.

Includes section: "Some Michigan books."