While attending the Napa Institute, I asked Ignatius Press’ Tony Ryan for his recommendation on a good book to read. Tony immediately told me, “From Fire by Water: My Journey to the Catholic Faith,” which was one of Ignatius’ bestsellers. I got a copy and found that Tony was right on the money. This is…
Review of Upstream: The quest to solve problems before they happen, by Dan Heath — As the coronavirus crisis (COVID 19) subsides, there will be many dissecting our failure to anticipate and prepare for it, despite warnings that a pandemic was not a question of “if” but “when.” There will also be many who, with…
A Review of Alex Berenson’s “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence” Over the past 35 years we have seen a sea-change in attitudes on recreational marijuana drug use. According to Pew Research an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (91%) say marijuana should be legal either for medical or recreational use…
While I suspect that Julian Guthrie, author of Alpha Girls: The women who took on Silicon Valley’s male culture and made the deals of a lifetime, intended to show how four women “broke through” the “glass ceiling” in elite Silicon Valley venture firms and disrupted its “boys network,” I found the value of this book…
Christine Watkins is a remarkable woman who has become one of today’s most important Catholic authors. “The Warning: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience” is her seventh book and is a top bestseller in Mysticism and Catholic Theology. Her primary interest is spiritual transformation, which is rooted in her own transformation, a story…
Invite God into Your Life and into a world in desperate need of spiritual solutions for today’s challenges, a review of Rev William Watson, S.J.,’s Inviting God Into Your Life: A Practical Guide for Prayer. We live in turbulent times characterized by injustice, violence, and misinformation (what we use to call propaganda). Happiness and peace…
If Warren Buffet hadn’t conquered his fear of public speaking, he may never have become the billionaire we admire today. He was “terrified” of public speaking and took specific steps to overcome his fear. He took the Dale Carnegie course and today, his certificate is the only “degree” that he displays in his office. He…
Book Reviews of Sharyl Attkisson’s The Smear and Howard Kurtz’s Media Madness. Journalism is in my blood. My grandfather was editor of the Chicago Times and then served as Executive Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times after the Times was acquired by Marshall Field Enterprises. My mother followed in his footsteps with a local newsletter, SCOOP,…
Horst Schulze was at age five, a boy with a dream. He wanted to work in a hotel. The rest is history. He went on to be the founding president and COO of one of the foremost brands in the hotel industry, the Ritz-Carlton. Under his legendary leadership, Ritz-Carlton became the first and only hotel…
Little has been written about President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s faith journey. Those who wrote about Ike’s faith generally characterized it as something that was politically expedient. He was accused of using his religious faith only as a means to stir up patriotic fervor during the Cold War. In The Soul of an American President: The…
The Rev. James V. Schall’s “Docilitas: On Teaching and Being Taught” is an antidote to what has evolved on today’s college campuses with the suppression of dialogue among students, faculty and administrators. In this book, the late Fr. Schall, a Professor Emeritus from Georgetown University, reminds us about the ‘sacred’ search for Truth, the importance…
For author Patrick McCaskey, Worthwhile Struggle is the fourth book of his “Sports and Faith Series” and his best effort yet. As with past books, McCaskey draws heavily from his experience with the Chicago Bears as the grandson of George Halas*, his passion for his Catholic Faith, his commitment to family, and his formative years…
William Buckley, Jr. is considered to be the “undisputed godfather of modern American conservativism.” He was on the national stage for 50 years as the founder and publisher of the National Review, which is published semi-monthly; and also as the TV host who had the longest-running public affairs show in television history, Firing Line (33…
After going through his own “Road to Emmaus” experience, Catholic businessman John Abbate wanted to encourage business leaders at all levels to stay true to their faith-driven, ethical compass. To that end, and as a successful central California owner-operator of 37 McDonald’s outlets and one of central California’s largest employers, Abbate was inspired to author…
Review of Sam Zell’s Am I Being Too Subtle? — I enjoyed reading Sam Zell’s Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight talk from a business rebel . Zell, a Chicagoan, is a self-made billionaire who founded Equity Group Investments and helped create today’s $1 trillion public real estate industry. While a distinct personality, he shares…
The double life of Emmy Award-winning journalist Spencer Christian and the saving grace of an intact family, great teachers and concerned mentors is an inspiring story worth telling, and reading. In his book, You Bet Your Life, author Spencer Christian shares his dual journey to national fame as an Emmy-winning journalist on Good Morning America,…
A Review of August Turak’s Brother John: A monk, a pilgrim and the purpose of life. Author August Turak, a successful entrepreneur in the software business, endured a personal crisis that led him to a Trappist Monastery in Charleston, South Carolina. While there, he began a decades-long journey to find the secrets to a life…
In this 10th Anniversary Edition of No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy, the Very Reverend Donald Calloway, MIC, provides a compelling account of his journey from darkness to light. His struggles with severe drug and alcohol abuse, “free” sex, gangs, deception and theft take him down a road that seemingly has no return. By…
What started as a modest effort to recruit has become a Collector’s item; a review of “The Vatican Cookbook: Presented by the Pontifical Swiss Guards.” My good friend, Andreas Widmer, a former Swiss Guard and now Director of the Entrepreneurship program at the Catholic University of America, provided my first behind-the-curtain glimpse of the Vatican’s…
Life is short. Time is crunched. We each juggle abundant obligations, time-constraints and important demands. As readers of the Catholic Business Journal, we aim to manage it all while well-anchored in Christ and Christ-infused priorities. It isn’t easy. It’s never perfect. Yet even amid the sometimes-messy realities of earthly existence, it is beyond-words important to…
