Showing results by narrator "Fred Stella" in All Categories

This audiobook is based on the autobiography of Hamid Bey, titled My Life Preceding 5,000 Burials, telling the dramatic story of the life of Master Hamid Bey, who could control his heartbeat to three beats per minute and put himself in a trance. This is how he was able to be buried alive and come out breathing just like you and me. Bey also was able to stick pins in his body with no visible marks to be left, and he appeared on the old Ed Sullivan Show to demonstrate his ability to withstand weight when he had Mr. Sullivan stand on his body while he laid on a bed of nails.

The stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul will encourage listeners to stay upbeat, because there's always a brighter way to look at life. This collection includes 20 stories about laughter and accepting help.

Each of the sisters of the Charity of Santa Crispina chooses a different way to die. Some relax into the arms of death, eager for their eternal rewards. Some leave this world violently, screaming in pain as they take their last breaths. The convent is a severe place, its rooms spartan, its food bland. But the time has come for Carnival in Venice, and a tourist will take any room he can find.

The Contessa da Capo-Zendrini is one of the leading lights of Venice society, but there is one house where she has long been unwelcome. Her late husband's family, the Zenos, have loathed her since the 1930s, when a gathering at her palazzo ended in tragedy. Decades later she hits on a devilish plan to make amends: inviting the Zeno clan over for a house party to make up for the one that ended in bloodshed long ago. But soon after her guests arrive, murder strikes again.

Like many places, West Michigan has a long history of religious diversity. People of many faiths have lived in the community for years on end. Yet unlike many places in the US, their interfaith journey has been cultivated with purpose and intention, filled with thoughtful dialogue, and nourished by a curiosity to learn about one another.

Centuries ago, Venice celebrated the Day of All Souls by building a bridge of boats across the canal to the cemetery island of San Michele. As the tourist season winds down, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini decides it's time to revive the tradition, organizing a fleet so the city can mourn once more as it did in ancient times. Her plans are upended, however, when her latest fascination, a rakish playwright named Bobo, begins receiving anonymous threats.

In these challenging economic times, it is more important than ever for nonprofits to focus on shaping policy, building capacity, developing talent, improving their marketing and promotion, fundraising, and developing partnerships/collaboration for organizational success. Shift & Reset: Strategies for Supporting Causes in a Connected Society teaches the nonprofit/social change/philanthropy/cause community how to take advantage of rapidly changing technologies and new communication ecosystem that exist in our connected society.

Samuel Possle is Venice's oldest expatriate, a reclusive former playboy whose hedonistic youth would make the perfect subject for a book - that is if any writer could make him talk.

Did you hear? The company is planning to downsize another ten percent? They're going to drop health benefits from the retirement plan! Our department is being moved to another state! We've all heard similar, disconcerting rumors. But when you're offered an early-retirement package and two weeks to decide, what do you do next?

Our virtues can become our vices. Faith. Love. Family. Power. Success. Goodness. Generosity. Who among us wouldn't want to exhibit strength in these areas in our lives? It's hard to imagine this list being similar to the seven deadly sins that we strive to avoid, such as greed, lust, and slothfulness. But even so-called virtues can be harmful to our souls if we're not careful about how we pursue them in our lives.

For two years Urbino Macintyre has been away from his beloved city, wandering the streets of Morocco in search of material for his next book. When he steps off the train and into a gondola in Venice, he knows he has come home. His first stop is to see his beloved friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, a society butterfly who has two years of gossip stored up for him. But the contessa is not her usual lively self. She is being blackmailed, and only Macintyre can help.

In the sun-blasted expanse of St. Mark's Square, hundreds of tourists form a slow-moving herd, dragging themselves forward on a tortuous sightseeing expedition. Inside the elegant Caffè Florian, the atmosphere is more refined as Urbino Macintyre shares a conversation with his beloved friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini. Life in Venice is serene, and they are happier than they have ever been - until a murder shatters the peace of the caffè.

There is a curse on Point Vestal. Time moves differently in this sleepy Northwestern coastal town, where the ghosts of the past roam the streets as readily as the living inhabitants. It's still the late 19th century, and underneath the quaint touristy allure of the commingling of the past and present is a lurking darkness.