This book examines how missionaries of the Anglican Church in North America, the Caribbean, and Africa initially spread a religiously-grounded understanding of human diversity that stressed the essential unity of all people but over time developed the idea that slavery and Christianity were entirely compatible and could be mutually beneficial, leading the Church to become an institutional opponent of the abolition movement.

Meet Ruthie: a recently widowed New York City Jewish grandmother who doesn't necessarily come to yoga with the most open of minds. But when her granddaughter Stephanie gives her a year of yoga classes as a gift ("I think it will help you grieve, Bubby"), she doesn't want to risk offending her. At first, Ruthie is skeptical of yoga and its promise of renewal, healing, and transformation ("You know what's wrong with yoga? They haven't mastered the art of kvetching!"). She can't resist poking fun at some of the new words and rituals she encounters, translating the exotic language of Yoga into the more familiar idiom of her native Yiddish culture. As Ruthie's journey progresses from week to week, she forges new paths, new postures, and unexpected friendships, slowly overcoming her grief. Yiddish Yoga is a poignant, witty, and human story of love in its many expressions—between grandmother and granddaughter, between an older woman and her younger yoga teacher, between a widow and her beloved husband of fifty years. As Ruthie learns to let go of the past without forgetting, she shows us how to embrace the present with new vigor, strength, and courage—and, above all, makes us laugh.

The approximately two million gay and lesbian elders in the United States are an underserved and understudied population. At a time when gay men and lesbians enjoy an unprecedented degree of social acceptance and legal protection, many elders face the daily challenges of aging isolated from family, detached from the larger gay and lesbian community, and ignored by mainstream aging initiatives. Drawing on materials from law, history, and social theory, this book integrates practical proposals for reform with larger issues of sexuality and identity. Beginning with a summary of existing demographic data and offering a historical overview of pre-Stonewall views of homosexuality, author Nancy J. Knauer goes on to address the invisibility of this community. She examines the multiple double binds central to their identity formation, including ageism among gays and lesbians and homophobia among seniors. Further, the book focuses on specific legal concerns such as estate planning, housing, discrimination, and financial insecurity, and how they impact this community uniquely. Integrating theory with practical questions of policy, and advancing a new understanding of the construction of sexuality and identity, this book advocates meaningful new reforms designed to ensure equity and dignity in aging regardless of sexual orientation.

Leon Aron considers the “mystery of the Soviet collapse” and finds answers in the intellectual and moral self-scrutiny of glasnost that brought about a profound shift in values. Reviewing the entire output of the key glasnost outlets in 1987-1991, he elucidates and documents key themes in this national soul-searching and the “ultimate” questions that sparked moral awakening of a great nation: “Who are we? How do we live honorably? What is a dignified relationship between man and state? How do we atone for the moral breakdown of Stalinism?” Contributing both to the theory of revolutions and history of ideas, Aron presents a thorough and original narrative about new ideas’ dissemination through the various media of the former Soviet Union. Aron shows how, reaching every corner of the nation, these ideas destroyed the moral foundation of the Soviet state, de-legitimized it and made its collapse inevitable.

When Temple Grandin was born, her parents knew that she was different. Years later she was diagnosed with autism. While Temple’s doctor recommended a hospital, her mother believed in her. Temple went to school instead. Today, Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Her world-changing career revolutionized the livestock industry. As an advocate for autism, Temple uses her experience as an example of the unique contributions that autistic people can make. This compelling biography complete with Temple’s personal photos takes us inside her extraordinary mind and opens the door to a broader understanding of autism.

Poetry. This is the first full-length collection by Pattie McCarthy who co-founded and edits BeautifulSwimmer Press. "Playing inventive variations on the medieval book of hours, this marvelous collection swarms with vividly open language that suddenly gathers to moments of startling clarity. This is simply a gorgeous book --Cole Swensen. "Pattie McCarthy commands attention for her elegant sensibility, her intellectual acuity, and her discerning creation of a poetic language adequate to the complex pressures and insights she meticulously illuminates" --Rachel Blau DuPlessis. McCarthy's chapbook CHORAGUS is also available from SPD.