This novel, a sequel to Ishmael (a book I read for a small study group that included fellow department colleague Ralph Scorpio) forced a shift in my personal learning path.  It forced me to begin to surface, examine and question the assumptions I held (with most people) about the culture of our civilization and how these assumptions constitute the leverage points for social change at a fundamental level.  Of all books, Ishmael and My Ishmael were the most influential for me.
 

McKnight�s book and essays altered my perspective on service and its role on our society.  Having read McKnight in my final months as director of Amos House (Providence soup kitchen and homeless shelter), I came to define �service� as the meeting of needs outside the context of community.  (Read the book to find out the significance of this).
 

As a member of several diamond-hunting expeditions deep into the Amazon basin, Liedloff learned a lot firsthand about a tribe of people virtually untouched by civilization.  One thing she learned is how to raise children to become secure, well adjusted adults.  Another, more generally, is how she and other humans might live joyfully and sustainably on the planet.

 

Read this autobiography of the man General George C. Marshall called the �conscience of all mankind (sic)�, then see Richard Attenborough�s Academy Award-winning film (Gandhi).  This sage and activist was and continues to be a major influence of my life and thinking.
 

I enjoyed Zinn�s lectures as a student (1973) and think you will find this alternative history of the U.S. very readable.  His portrait of our country is distinguished by its vantage point:  What story of our past would a slave pass on, or a factory worker, farmer or homeless man?  History from the bottom looking up is quite a different account from the stories told through the lens of presidents and CEO�s.