Tropic Born War Torn: Untold Tales of World War II in the Philippines, by Susan Vance, marketing director of DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, has been published by Inkwater Press. The book is available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and also at www.inkwaterbooks.com. The book is 124 pages and costs $15.95. Visit www.tropicbornwartorn.com for more information.

Summary:

Recurring nightmares were Gloria Haube Vance’s only inspiration to talk about WWII in the Philippines during Japanese occupation. Her family was spared internment because they were not Americans, but barely survived on their own. Near war’s end they followed indigenous Igorots into remote mountains to find refuge from American bombs, surviving on sweet potatoes until their harrowing escape from Japanese troops in retreat.

Decades later she told the war stories to her daughter and found the journal her German-born father wrote about managing a gold-mining camp of 15,000 under Japanese commanders, then under the bombardment of American planes that destroyed it all. Their untold tales are woven together in this vivid portrayal of war in a Pacific paradise.

Woman's Evolution, a collection of poems by Tucsonan Kim Nelson, was recently published by Finishing Line Press.

The poetry chapbook "offers a glimpse into the lifespan of a modern American woman," writes Nelson. For more information, visit Nelson's website.

Local psychologist Steven Gurgevich's book Hypnosis House Call: A Complete Course in Mind-Body Healing was recently published. Visit www.HealingwithHypnosis.com for more information.

Like many psychologists, Steven Gurgevich, Ph.D. — who has been treating patients in private practice for 38 years, has trained over five thousand physicians, psychologists and other professionals, and has over 60 professional publications — works with patients dealing with myriad challenges including phobias, addictions, PTSD, anxiety, sleep disorders, and depression, as well as physical diseases.

Nancy, for instance, a fifteen-year-old, had over 200 warts on her face that left her insecure and discouraged. A painful case of shingles afflicted Jerry, who was in his 40s, and also another patient, Andrew, a retired military man. Stephanie's symptoms of ulcerative colitis left her doubled over in pain every morning after her children and husband went off to school and work. All had tried prescriptive drugs to no avail. While working with Dr. Gurgevich, all discovered a mind-body connection to their ailment and all were cured.

The method Dr. Gurgevich uses to encourage the body and mind to heal? Medical hypnosis.

Although it doesn't come out until October 11th and my daughter will almost be four at that point, I know what children's book is in her future*.

* Not really, but the book is still a funny idea.

UA students currently studying the epic poetry of Homer are holding Homerathon, a marathon reading of all 24 books of The Iliad.

Anyone who would like to read a passage is invited to show up at the event today to sign up.

Other activities at Homerathon include food, music and reading of passages of The Iliad in its original Greek form.

Homerathon began this morning at 7 a.m., and will continue through the night until tomorrow morning, April 21.

Any last-minute questions can be sent to [email protected].

After Sunday's 60 Minutes piece, Greg Mortenson might have thought the worst of the accusations regarding his book Three Cups of Tea and his financial relationship with the Central Asia Institute were behind him, but apparently author Jon Krakauer still had quite a bit of damaging information up his sleeve, releasing a 71 page mini-book on the new site Byliner.com as a free PDF, which refers to Mortenson's books as "full of lies". However, Mortenson responded to many of the allegations on Outside Magazine's website, sort of blaming the inaccuracies in the book on the co-author.

Regardless, with Mortenson's publisher now reviewing the book's accuracy, this story may not go away for awhile.

While it does appear that Greg Mortenson has done some amazing work Afghanistan and Pakistan, when you're making up stories to sell a book and raise money, that's definitely not a good thing. Or when as the Bozeman Daily Chronicle says, some of the schools aren't being used and maybe some don't even exist and the charity itself seems to largely exist to promote Mortenson's books, something's definitely not right at the Central Asian Institute.

The investigation by correspondent Steve Kroft, to be broadcast Sunday night, quotes "Into Thin Air" author and mountaineer Jon Krakauer as saying he learned from one of Mortenson's companions that the tale of how Mortenson got started was "a beautiful story" but "a lie."

The book told how Mortenson got lost on a 1993 climb of K2, the world's second highest peak, and then stumbled exhausted into the remote village of Korphe, was cared for by villagers, and promised to return and build a school.

"I stand by the story of ‘Three Cups of Tea,'" Mortenson said in a written statement, but added, "The time about our final days on K2 and ongoing journey to Korphe village and Skardu is a compressed version of events that took place in the fall of 1993.

"As the co-author of the book, along with David Oliver Relin, I am responsible for the content in the book. There were many people involved in the story and also those who produced the manuscript. What was done was to simplify the sequence of events for the purposes of telling what was, at times, a complicated story."

On its website Friday evening, "60 Minutes" also reported that it interviewed three men whom Mortenson photographed and described as Taliban fighters who kidnapped him in 1996. They denied to CBS being Taliban and said they had protected, not kidnapped Mortenson. One man charged the writer's version was "totally false," a tale told "to sell his book."

Mortenson responded that the men, armed with AK-47s, had "detained" him, kept his passport and money, and had not allowed him to leave for eight days.

"I thought it best to befriend the people detaining me," he said, adding they may have perceived it differently.

Tubac, Ariz. author Gary Isaacson's e-book, Crude Customs, won two awards in the 2010 eLit Awards. He received a bronze award in both the mystery/suspense/thriller category as well as the humor category.

Book Summary:

Crude Customs is a funny, sexy thriller based on the uneasy oil-based relationship between the United States and the current Venezuelan government. It marks the return of TV guru and part-time spy Alec Timken. He is enlisted by the CIA for a simple surveillance installation on Aruba and finds himself in the middle of international military adventurism, an amorous reunion with his ex-wife, and several moral dilemmas. Alec is teamed with a far too serious young CIA officer in a romp that features, a scary-funny old spymaster, a Venezuelan femme fatale, an irresistible Dutch ingénue, plenty of action, sizzling sex and ceaseless hilarity.

About the Author (from the author's Amazon page):

Gary Isaacson (1952-) is an American producer of intellectual content in a variety of media. Born in Dayton,OH. Educated at Oberlin College BA'74 & Indiana University MBA'76. Founded Isaacson Communications, Inc. in 1976. Has produced award winning radio & TV ads, documentaries, corporate videos, segments for "The Today Show", founded www.WorldClips.TV in 1999 to produce and distribute stock footage he has shot in over 80 world locations. Four Emmy nominations. Published first novel, Game Over in 2007. His second novel Crude Customsis available on Kindle as are collections of humorous essays, short stories and a quarterly financial newsletter, The Financial Futurist. He is married and lives in Tubac, AZ.

If you missed going to the Save Ethnic Studies fundraiser hosted by writer Luis Alberto Urrea at Maynards on Sunday, March 13, you missed a fantastic evening ,which included Urrea reading a poem from his book Vatos.

Lucky for you (and for those who attended and want another peek): Daniel Buckley got it on film and took a moment to interview Urrea on why he supports ethnic studies in Arizona.

• ANGELO SAMORA-VARGAS
• Tucsonans came in droves to the emptied-out university campus for the annual festival. Vendors, readers, authors, journalists flood the UA campus in this photo taken on the first day.

The Third annual Tucson Festival of Books came to a close after thousands of Tucsonans came out to participate in book signings, workshops, panels, food, and games.

Tucson Weekly writer Jim Nintzel participated in a panel on Saturday morning, talking about the January 8 shootings, along with several other journalists; while freelancer Jay Rochlin moderated a panel on Dispatches from the Borderlands, a presentation with five authors who have covered the border in their books, including TW Arts Editor Margaret Regan(Fashion collection).

• STEPHANIE FOUSSE
• Human Project entertainers performed at one of many stages Sunday. Members of the same troupe performed at last November's Pima County Democrats election-night party where they were introduced by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

• STEPHANIE FOUSSE
• Characters from science fiction, children's fiction, cartoons, and just characters peppered the yearly festival to the delight of children and adults.

More after the jump