In this updated and revised edition of Just Passing Through: A German American Family Saga, first published in 2011, the author tells the story of several generations of his unique but dysfunctional family spanning over a hundred years including the two world wars. Peter Zell was eight years old when World War II ended and in a prologue entitled A German - American Childhood recounts his boyhood experiences that included the apocalyptic firebombing of his hometown of Stuttgart by the western Allies, the postwar occupation of Germany, and his family’s emigration to America. The book centers on the author’s mother, whom her children called Mutti, and her ordeal during the Nazi era for having been married to a Jew, the son of prosperous Frankfurt business owners, with whom she had two children. With anti-Semitism on the rise in Germany, her husband decided to emigrate to America but Mutti chose to remain behind to take care of her ailing father. The couple had an amicable divorce and while her ex-husband took their son with him, their daughter remained with Mutti in Germany. Under the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, mother and daughter now found themselves classified as non-Aryans which meant that Mutti could not remarry while their teenage daughter, being half Jewish, was put in dire jeopardy of her life. At this point Mutti’s older brother, himself a dedicated National Socialist, proposed an unconventional solution that ensured her survival. Following his advice, she had more children, fathered by so-called Aryans, who were eventually all brought to America. The book follows the lives of the five siblings, all half-brothers and half-sisters, and their difficult relationships with each other as each seeks to achieve his or her version of the American Dream.

Like a well-crafted stage play, Just Passin' Thru delivers one suspenseful scene after another. But in this historic setting — a store on the Appalachian Trail called Mountain Crossings — the characters who show up are no fictional creations. They are the real-life stars of the author’s new life as a backpack-purging, canteen-selling, hostel-running, bandage-taping, lost-child finding, argument-settling, romance-fixing, chili-making man of many faces. Like any good drama, there are the good guys (and gals) and the weirdos, too. Some show up once (and that’s enough), and some appear again and again. Some are friends, and some dangerous. But all are united by two things: the author’s story-capturing talent, and whatever it is that lures them to attempt (or conquer) a 2,200-mile path that climbs and plummets from Georgia to Maine.

JUST PASSING THROUGH offers you 26 opportunities to consider life in perhaps a new way. The thoughts, quotations and photo/art collages were designed to inspire us all to create the lives we want. We hope they will help slow down the spin of daily life and gently remind us that our everyday thoughts are extremely important. The ideas in our heads are what create our lives, so we need to pay close attention to them and decide if that is really what we wish to think and how we wish to act. It's like a puzzle - by finding a piece that fits with your spirit, you move along a new and exciting path. Yahoo! Now look for another, and another and another... watch for the wonderful things that will happen as you gracefully step into a new way of perceiving life. As we are all just passing through, while being offered abundant opportunities every day, let's pay attention and accomplish everything that we set our minds on! Again and again. ABOUT THE AUTHOR-ARTISTS Marsha Batchelor has had her hand in art all her life and strives to listen to her own advice. She co-owns Agio Publishing House in Victoria BC and is an award-winning graphic designer specializing in book design. Dan Batchelor is a photographer, videographer and competitive athlete who loves the balance between individual focus and teamwork to achieve joy and success for everyone. He owns danbatchelor.com

Fans of Margaret Guenther will welcome this salty and wise collection of reflections on her life. Readers of "Holy Listening, On Holy Ground, My Soul in Silence Waits, At Home in the World," and "The Practice of Prayer" will delight in this book of fresh, humorous insights.

Christianity receives a lot of attention in the media, but the most frequently discussed version represents a type of Christianity that sometimes turns people away from the Church. Kissing Fish presents a postmodern systematic theology of progressive Christianity, a growing movement that reclaims the radical message of the Gospel. This informative, contemplative, and entertaining book will guide you through the beliefs that inspire us to love one another in the transformative way that Jesus proclaimed, including practices that will take your faith to a new level. Kissing Fish is a scholarly yet thoroughly accessible introduction to progressive Christianity. While the intended target audience for this work would seem to be those who have either left the Christian faith or never adopted it at all; the work is filled with pearls of wisdom for all of us, whether associated with Christianity or not. Kissing Fish is a truly remarkable work, serving both as a reminder of the beauty and grace that form the central tenets of the faith, while offering a graceful yet prophetic rebuttal to its more exclusionary tendencies. Kissing Fish is part theological text and part tell-all personal spiritual journey. Imagine a down-to-earth combination of the works of Marcus Borg, Anne Lamott, Jim Wallis, Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Diana Butler-Bass, Brian McLaren, Walter Wink, Wes Howard-Brook, and Donald Miller. A profound romp that informs and inspires.

Just Passing Through explores the many ways people face lifes troubles. Though scientific ideas have forced their way into some of these stories, the focus is on the characters lives: A loving mother dictates her sons life as a despot a priest discovers he has sinned two recent widowers find their mutual attraction disturbing a watchmaker learns the exact date of his death a man sees the world collapsing and cannot decide if he is hallucinating or losing his mind; perhaps he can reverse the collapse beings from a distant planet plan to settle on earth. Several stories are nonfictional, personal memoirs.

When I decided to write this autobiography, a strange feeling overcame me, wondering why I should reveal my innermost and carefully protected memories that had lain dormant for so many years and expose them now to the world. However, others kept encouraging me to share my saga of growing up during very difficult times in the world, as well as personal circumstances of instability in which I often felt like I was walking about in a haze. Jokes about blondes being dumb might have applied at times but do blondes really have more fun? I leave that to you, dear reader, to decide. This haze finally forced me to use an undeveloped creativity I never knew I had that led to amazing, unexpected and unusual events, and changed the direction of my life completely. My hope is that upon reading this, no matter how difficult and unfair life is or may seem to be, such moments can serve as stepping stones that force us to become creative in making make a life that becomes more exciting and worthwhile. We have the gift of life and there truly is no time like the present to hope and achieve for something better, whether young or elderly. Some of my finest accomplishments took place later in life. However, this book would never have been written without the help of others. Memories of loved ones who have passed on who taught and guided me out of a labyrinth of despair at times will forever remain in my heart as my greatest treasures. They are as live to me today in my memory as when they were here.