Reviews the beliefs, customs, and rituals associated with Christian funerals; discusses the growing acceptance of cremation and memorial services; and explains how to plan a spiritually meaningful funeral service.

"Before long I began to understand that showing up, being there, helping in an otherwise helpless situation was made heroic by the same gravity I had sensed when I first stood in that embalming room as a boy„the presence of the dead made the presence of the living more meaningful somehow, as if it involved a basic and intuitively human duty to witness." „from Chapter 1, "How We Come to Be the Ones We Are" Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses„one as a preacher and one as a funeral director„Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else with an interest in current funeral practices.

Award-winning memoirist Meg Stafford has an adventurous spirit, and this time she takes us along for the ride. When her daughters venture into terra incognita—one of them meditating in the Himalayas and the other negotiating with the Colombian military—Stafford decides to go too. In the process, she reflects on her own lifetime of wanderlust and what it means for a parent to love and to let go. Generous, insightful, and deeply funny, Stafford is the ideal tour guide for a journey as big as the world and as intimate as the human heart. ​“So profoundly moving, so beautifully crafted, so brave . . . A story about being true to oneself. Stafford brings all of herself to the reader as she shares her fears, doubts, triumphs, excitement, and love of life. This book is 100% authentic—because it is so human, so real.” —Susan Frankl, MD, Harvard Medical School “A road map for parenting adventurous adults . . . Stafford asks all the right questions: Where are we headed in life? Who will come with us on the journey? How do we hold our children close while allowing them the freedom to grow? The most touching part: She doesn’t hide the struggle as she tries (with love and curiosity and humor) to find the answers.” —Fran Booth, LICSW, trainer, Internal Family Systems

Publikace mapuje různé druhy klavírní stylizace populárních písní patřící do hudby jazzového okruhu. Je první českou publikací, která systematicky popisuje a předkládá rytmicko-melodické modely určené k doprovodu populárních písní hraných současně s melodií i bez melodie. Text je rozdělen do dvou částí. První blok obsahuje analytickou část, která je zaměřena na hudební teorii z pohledu sledované látky, tj. klavírní fakturu, harmonii, rytmus ad. vážící se ke zkoumanému tématu. Náplň druhé části tvoří typologie rytmicko-melodických modelů a variací vhodných k doprovodům populárních písní.