MSI Press Blog

  We don’t usually write about movies here. But today marks 50 years since Jaws premiered—and I can’t let it pass without remembering a moment that’s been swimming in my memory ever since. When Jaws hit theaters on June 20, 1975, my oldest daughter, Echo, was three years old. Like many three-year-olds, she had one deep and loyal obsession. Some kids latch onto dinosaurs, Scooby-Doo, or imaginary friends. Echo loved sharks. Not just liked them—loved them. She knew their names from pictures and could even read them: hammerhead was her favorite. We were lucky to live just up the street from Cannery Row, Monterey Bay, and the Wharf. The famed aquarium hadn’t yet been built, but the rhythms of marine life flowed through our little corner of the world, and Echo soaked it up. So naturally, when a movie came out about a shark, we took her to see it. At first, she was spellbound. She didn’t move, didn’t fidget—just stared, enraptured. Until near the end. That’s when she started to sn...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from My 20th Language by Betty Lou Leaver, Ph.D. --  Chapter 1 The Incredibly Important Role of University Studies By the time I graduated from Penn State University shortly after my twenty-first birthday, I was definitively fluent in five languages by any reasonable definition of fluency: English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish, listed in order of proficiency at that time (though today Russian would rank right after English). I had completed advanced courses in literature, stylistics, linguistics—including morphology, syntax, and advanced grammar—and composition in all of them. I had also taken teaching methods in Spanish under a professor widely considered the best in foreign language pedagogy. My proficiency extended well beyond basic communication. I could write essays, poetry, and fiction in all five languages, tailoring my language use to specific audiences. I could read virtually anything and grasp cultural implicatio...

  Coming soon! Watch for it!  Grandma's Ninja Training Diary  (Leaver and Renz) Grandma’s Ninja Training Diary  is the inspiring true story of a 70-year-old grandmother who dares to dream big—by training for  American Ninja Warrior . Teaming up with coach and trainer Brittany Renz, she embarks on a three-year journey to build strength, resilience, flexibility, balance, and endurance—starting from scratch. Told in a dynamic mix of diary entries, coaching insights, and behind-the-scenes reflections, this book chronicles the ups and downs of late-in-life athletic training. From gym workouts to rock climbing, yoga to injury recovery, sleep to mindset—every aspect of the transformation is explored with honesty and humor. Grandma shares what she’s learning; Coach Brittany explains why she’s right—or wrong. Together, they offer a realistic, encouraging look at what it takes to pursue an extraordinary goal at any age. Part training manual, part motivational memoir,...

    In an age of dizzying scientific discovery and cultural fragmentation, it’s natural to feel both awed and unmoored. Telescopes peer deep into the fabric of time, quantum physics reshapes our grasp of cause and effect, and news cycles bombard us with suffering, division, and disillusionment. Many thoughtful people are asking:  Where is the divine in all of this?  Or perhaps more urgently:  Can there be any coherent spiritual path that still makes sense today? Arthur Yavelberg’s award-winning book,  A Theology for the Rest of Us , offers a resounding “yes”—but without the dogma, division, or prepackaged answers that turn so many away from organized religion. Rather than demanding belief or allegiance, this book invites  contemplation —of existence, of meaning, of our place in the universe. Drawing insight from both Eastern and Western traditions, from Taoism to Christianity, Buddhism to Enlightenment philosophy, and from modern thinkers like Alan Wat...