Does your life matter? How can you make a difference? James Emery White shows how you can live a life of significance at the front lines of what God is doing in the world today.

A “superb [and] often hilarious” memoir of a life in journalism, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Growing Up (The New York Times Book Review). “Baker here recalls his years at the Baltimore Sun, where, on ‘starvation wages,’ he worked on the police beat, as a rewrite man, feature writer and White House correspondent. Sent to London in 1953 to report on the coronation, he spent the happiest year of his life there as an innocent abroad. Moving to the New York Times and becoming a ‘two-fisted drinker,’ he covered the Senate and the national political campaigns of 1956 and 1960, and, just as he was becoming bored with routine reporting and the obligation to keep judgments out of his stories, was offered the opportunity to write his own op-ed page column, ‘The Observer.’ With its lively stories about journalists, Washington politicians and topical scandals, the book will delight Baker’s devotees—and significantly expand their already vast number.” —Publishers Weekly “Aspiring writers will chuckle over Baker’s first, horrible day on police beat, his panicked interview with Evelyn Waugh, and his arrival at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in top hat, tails, and brown-bag lunch.” —Library Journal “A wonderful book.” —Kirkus Reviews

Versammlinge—community events filled with songs, performances, speeches, and skits that celebrate Pennsylvania German heritage and culture—are held entirely in the Pennsylvania German Deitsch language. Some, the “groundhog lodges,” feature a ceremony honoring the groundhog, while others do not. These unique meetings, expressions of a distinctive ethnic identity in the context of a rapidly changing society, have become a traditional mainstay among Pennsylvania Germans who have worked to preserve their language and culture into the twenty-first century. Serious Nonsense introduces readers to Pennsylvania German cultural practices that tourists rarely see and that outsiders, including most scholars, rarely learn about. The book explores the origins of the versammlinge and details the practice’s significance since the 1930s, when the first meetings of the Pennsylvania German groundhog lodges were held. Much as they did then, versammlinge today follow a pattern of prayers, patriotism, and speeches extolling values associated with Pennsylvania German identity, as well as theatrical and oral events that humorously contrast a simpler past with a more complex and confusing present. And the groundhog lodges feature one Pennsylvania German tradition that has become familiar in popular culture: groundhog weather prognostication.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 40 million people in the United States suffer from a serious illness that limits their daily activities. These illnesses include heart and lung disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. However, significant disparities exist across different communities in the quality and access to care for these illnesses. Factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, geography, socioeconomic status, or insurance status exacerbate these complex disparities. It is critical to reevaluate the current models of care delivery across diverse communities and vulnerable populations. On April 4, 2019, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop to investigate barriers, policy initiatives, and opportunities for improving access to and equity of care for people living with a serious illness. Discussions explored the current climate of health care and opportunities to improve access to care using organizational, community, patient and family, and clinician perspectives. This publication summarizes the discussions and presentations from the workshop.