Why read this book? It’s not to learn about a unique life. Not to know what it is like to be an immigrant in Canada. Not what it is like to live with a heart disease and survive. Not to learn about the consequences of traumatic brain injury. Not to learn what life behind the Iron Curtain was like, or democracy should be. Not to learn survival skills or perseverance, or what to do when you find yourself helpless in the world you live in. Not how to believe in yourself and why, or how to succeed in difficult circumstances. Not to hopefully understand your grandparents better. How to become a better person? You should not read this for better understanding the world we live in. Not even to become keenly aware of your own vulnerable humanity, as you feel connected to another being. No. It’s for all of the above. Best to read it when you feel alone. You will.

Zygmunt Bauman was one of the great social thinkers of our time: inventor of the idea of liquid modernity, he transformed our way of thinking about the social conditions shaping our lives today. His own life was shaped by the great social forces that scarred the second half of the twentieth century – war, communism, antisemitism, forced migration. His work bears the traces of an outsider who knew all too well the enormous impact that social and political forces can have on personal lives. Bauman never wrote a full biography, but he wrote extended letters to his daughters in which he recounted the details of his life – his childhood and schooling; his experiences during the war and its aftermath; his forced emigration from Poland in 1968 and his subsequent life in exile, first in Israel and then in the UK, where he eventually settled at the University of Leeds. This book makes available for the first time these fragments of a life recounted, woven into a compelling autobiographical narrative that is laced with the broader reflections of a master thinker on some of the great issues of our time: identity, antisemitism and totalitarianism.

This book is an eye opener to a lot of people who question a lot of things about their lives, value systems around religion, the trauma experience, and a host of other life experiences, where outcomes formed lasting relationships with self, and others be that good or bad. It is the writer’s hope that this book touches lives in a way, we all learn to love and respect one another for, who we are, and just for being a human being. Hopefully, the life experiences in this book touches those that struggle with the complexity of the world, in which we all live, as this is my reason for writing a book of this nature.

When a young engineer moves into a new home with his wife and children, he is intrigued by the respect and admiration the neighbours show for the retired doctor living next door. But despite the overwhelming love, the old man seems to be neglected and all alone. Why does he live alone? Why does he take the dramatic evening walk to the park? Why does he sit only at one particular bench? After a chance meeting with the Old Man, he gleefully accepts an invitation to join him in his famous study. There, he decodes the man’s puzzling past. Amazed by the mindboggling experiences from the old man’s memories and heart-wrenching tales, his metamorphosis is complete – from a neighbour to a companion, a student, and then a son. FEARLESS AND FREE is the tale of how a lonely old man’s life opens up a box of motivation for his young admirer, encouraging him and the readers to live every moment to the fullest.

With the resurgence of race-related incidents nationally and on college campuses in recent years, acts of overt racism, hate crimes, controversies over free speech, and violence continue to impact institutions of higher education. Such incidents may impact the overall campus racial climate and result in a racial crisis, which is marked by extreme tension and instability. How institutional leaders and the campus community respond to a racial crisis along with the racial literacy demands of the campus leaders can have as much of an effect as the crisis itself. As such, 21st century university leaders must become more emotionally intelligent and responsive to emergent campus issues. Improving campus climate is hard, and to achieve notable gains, higher education professionals will have to reimagine how they approach this work with equity-influenced practices and transformative leadership. The Handbook of Research on Leading Higher Education Transformation With Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion offers a window into understanding the deep intersections of identity and professional practice as well as guideposts for individual leadership development during contested times. The chapters emphasize how identity manifests in the way we lead, supervise, make decisions, persuade, form relationships, and negotiate responsibilities each day. In this book, the authors provide insight, examples, and personal narratives that explore how their identities, lens, and commitments shaped their leadership and supported their courageous acts for equity and social justice. It provides practical tools that leaders can draw on to inform sustainable equity and inclusion-focused practices and policies on college campuses and will discuss important campus climate issues and ways to address them. This book is a valuable reference work for higher education administrators, policymakers, leaders, managers, university presidents, social justice advocates, practitioners, faculty, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in higher education leadership practices that support and promote social justice, equity, and inclusion.

Fremont's memoirs are a firsthand account of the growth and expansion of the United States from the years 1828-1846, and include descriptions of the adventures that he shared with Kit Carson.