On a class trip to the symphony, James "Gum" Shoo and his friends solve the mystery of the stolen flute.

On a class trip to the symphony, James "Gum" Shoo and his friends solve the mystery of the stolen flute.

Cassius Wortham leaves all he knows behind to make it as a writer in the City, a nameless, walled metropolis at the crossroads of the world. But things are not as they seem. His roommate might have mob connections, his artist friend has addiction issues, and the waitress at the poetry club has political aspirations. Not to mention the invisible spirit of history that follows them around waiting to chronicle a looming catastrophe. An overseas turmoil brings tides of refugees to the walls of the City. Ambitious leaders play at social engineering. The loudest voices are drowned in the growing silence. Only Cas, his friends and their ghostly tagalong hold the key to the future, for in the end the silent will decide the fate of the City. Listen...and you too may hear the instruments of the Silent Symphony.

The first edition of A Symphony of Silence: An Enlightened Vision was inspired by the desire to share with humanity, through multiple voices, the ineffable beauty we experience in our lives when the veil of ignorance is pulled back and the wonder of our essential nature is revealed.. The voices emerging from these pages add vitality and validity to our shared experience of the silence of the transcendent. It is not something beyond our reach, but a reality that has always been with us, quietly awaiting an opportunity to unfold. In this second edition of A Symphony of Silence, several new voices are added to the chorus of the first edition. A Catholic priest tells us of using TM as part of his inspired vision of the power of love to transform the lives of abused and destitute children from the streets of South America. The founding director of an orphanage and school in Uganda, who likewise brings TM to children in need, describes to us his compassionate resolve to eradicate suffering within his community. A poet expresses for us in verse the joy of a seeker reaching for the light. A scientist and his colleagues show us the power of TM to reduce stress and alleviate PTSD in the field of law enforcement. An actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur, explores with us his innovative projects for inner city students through “Edutainment.” Women, who for decades dedicated themselves to introducing the TM program to their multicultural community, share with us delightful and very personal stories. A pioneering social activist brings us into the conversation he had with Maharishi in 1968 at a conference in Squaw Valley, California. He talked candidly with Maharishi about the need to introduce TM as a tool to bring inner freedom to the inner cities, helping to fulfill the quest for true civil rights. The voices in A Symphony of Silence create a glimpse into the vast impact that Maharishi has on many lives throughout the world.

James “Gum” Shoo and his friends thought their field trip to the symphony would be mystery-free. Think again!

The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of the city symphony, an experimental film form that presented the city as protagonist instead of mere decor. Combining experimental, documentary, and narrative practices, these films were marked by a high level of abstraction reminiscent of high-modernist experiments in painting and photography. Moreover, interwar city symphonies presented a highly fragmented, oftentimes kaleidoscopic sense of modern life, and they organized their urban-industrial images through rhythmic and associative montage that evoke musical structures. In this comprehensive volume, contributors consider the full 80 film corpus, from Manhatta and Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt to lesser-known cinematic explorations.

Franklin Booth: Silent Symphony is a massive, 304-page book featuring over 400 pieces that span the artist's entire career. Accompanying photos of Franklin Booth (1874-1948), his family, friends and colleagues--along with illustrations by his peers and inspirations--add nearly fifty more images. A new essay by the award-winning illustrator and professor Alice A. Carter delves into Booth's life. This biography highlights his childhood in Indiana, family life and the earliest days of his professional career, his road trips, studio life and teaching career with intimate stories and much more. Quotes of first-hand encounters with Booth by his students, friends and fellow artists also are shared. Pen-and-ink drawings cover a fifty-year span--from Booth's earliest days to his final works. These include his story illustrations for top magazines of the time, plus a diverse and rare assortment of pieces made for poems, advertisements and prints. Book illustrations completed in color as well as pen-and-ink also are featured, along with rare sketches for an unrealized project. All art was scanned and photographed from its original source material using the latest technology and has been painstakingly prepped for this publication. Franklin Booth's meticulous and unique pen technique has been revered by artists and students for the last hundred years. No one has ever been able to duplicate his style. Booth utilized his own life, philosophies and experiences as vehicles to project his thoughts to the viewer, which makes his work deeply compelling and infused with his respect for nature and art. He always listened to his own voice and developed a style that was not a natural product of his era. This allowed his work to become timeless and to continue capturing audiences today. Franklin Booth's influence can still be seen in modern comic books, fantasy illustrations, concept art and films. The magnitude of his art is made for the big screen, with his figures in epic scenes. His work has made its way through decades of shifting genres and changes in the art world and is still as immediate today as it was in the early twentieth century.