#Mary rickert

[libertyreads]

Book Review #97 of 2022--

Lucky Girl: How I Became a Horror Writer, A Krampus Story by Mary Rickert. Rating: 3 stars.

Read from July 4th to 5th.

Before I get into the bulk of the review, I want to say a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers over at Tordotcom for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Lucky Girl is a quick horror story set around the Christmas holiday. We start with. our main characters meeting up for Christmas after realizing they all had nowhere to go for the holiday. The recent college graduates decide to tell scary stories set around the holidays. This sets off events that none of them could begin to imagine. Lucky Girl is out on September 13th and is available for preorder now.

I want to start out the review by saying that this novella is not exactly what it says on the back of the book. I assumed that this story would start out with our five main characters meeting in this small town diner and deciding to meet up for Christmas a few weeks later, then the horror stories start flowing and possibly murder? But this story actually takes place over the course of about 25 years. I wish we had met everyone in the diner instead of that first Christmas they spend together. Also, this story is told with flashbacks to the main character’s past which sometimes feels like it gets in the way of the main plot, but does come around in the end. Tor usually does a pretty good job with keeping stories the right length. They’re usually exactly what a reader needs to truly enjoy a story, but this time I feel like they missed the mark. The ending to this one feels so unsatisfying. As the reader, I have so many questions and I don’t love how multiple plot points are left without resolution or explanation. The length of the story also keep me from feeling like I ever really knew any of the characters.

I will say that the atmosphere for this novella was the exact right mix of Holiday Spirit and Absolute Terror. I would feel comfy and cozy and then the author let the horror seep in. I also felt like I could picture most of the settings really well. I especially enjoyed the estate on top of the hill and the church on the grounds. This was the kind of story that you could read in one sitting. It kept me wanting more and was such a quick and easy read. I found the setting and the atmosphere and sometimes the plot compelling enough to keep propelling me through the story.

Overall, I think this is good for those readers who don’t like things wrapped up in a nice, neat bow and who like to come up with their own conclusions for the how or the why. It’s also good for people who prefer their mystery/thriller/horror novels over the Christmas-y counterparts.

#lucky girl #Mary rickert #m. rickert #Netgalley #tor publshing #Tordotcom publishing #tordotcom #books read in 2022 #2022 reading challenge #goodreads challenge #goodreads #booklr #bookstagram #bookish #Christmas in July

[haveyoureadthispoll]

The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world—yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse. From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season. Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry... Featuring stories   Nadia Bulkin Terry Dowling Tananarive Due Jeffrey Ford Christopher Golden Stephen Graham Jones Glen Hirshberg Richard Kadrey Alma Katsu Cassandra Khaw John Langan Josh Malerman Nick Mamatas Garth Nix Benjamin Percy M. Rickert Kaaron Warren

#book: christmas and other horrors #author: various #genre: horror #genre: short stories #genre: christmas

[sporadiceagleheart]

Everyone Welcome to my tribute edit for Suzanne Crough and all Actress and Actors Child actress and actors

Skye McCole Bartusiak,Marie Osborne Yeats,

Dorothy Ann “Dottie” Seese, Heather O'Rourke and Judith Barsi, Shirley Temple Black 1928-2014 and Baby LeRoy, Baby Peggy Montgomery, Peggy Cartwright, Darla Jean Hood, Jean Darling, Peaches Jackson, Mary Ann Jackson, Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke, Terry, Terry Burnham, Michael Gambon, Bob Saget, Betty White, Jack Albertson, Richard Belzer, Gene Wilder, Denise Nickerson, Lucille Ricksen, Lucille Ball, Lisa Loring, Lance Reddick, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Helen McCrory, Robbie Coltrane, Tyree Boyce, Cameron Boyce, Anne Shirley, Virginia Weidler, Jane Withers, Mary Kornman, Mildred Kornman, Dorothy DeBorba, Cammack"Cammie"King, Dominique Dunne, Samantha Reed Smith, Michael Lerner, Marianne Edwards, Shirley Jean Rickert, Rosina Lawrence, June Marlowe, Carl Switzer, Darwood Kaye, Jackie Lynn Taylor, Sybil Jason, Susan Gordon, Taruni Sachdev, Anne Whitfield, Sophie Firth, Anissa Jones, Bridgette Andersen, Dana Plato, Dana Hill, Julie Vega, Jeanine Ann Roose, Ed Asner, James Caan, Virginia Ann Marie Patton Moss, Sharyn Moffett, Adam Rich, Rose Marie, Janet Gaynor, Edith Fellows, Peggy Ann Garner, Anne Heche, Kailia Posey, Natalie Wood, Christine Chubbuck, Jacquie Jackie Lyn Dufton, Jackie Coogan, Gary Coleman, Matthew Garber, Sammi Kane Kraft,

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb: Hugo Award winning editor, and horror legend, Ellen Datlow presents this chilling horror anthology of original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu and many more.

The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world—yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse.

From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.

Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry...

Featuring stories from: 

Nadia Bulkin Terry Dowling Tananarive Due Jeffrey Ford Christopher Golden Stephen Graham Jones Glen Hirshberg Richard Kadrey Alma Katsu Cassandra Khaw John Langan Josh Malerman Nick Mamatas Garth Nix Benjamin Percy M. Rickert Kaaron Warren

Review:

Come one come all for some holiday horrors! This is a really fun anthology filled with holiday horror stories based on winter solstice traditions around the world. These are short and sweet and perfect for little horrors for the winter time.

*Thanks Netgalley and Titan Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #holiday horror stories

[brightbeautifulthings]

Hey, Carrie! How are you doing? Have you read any new horror releases? Or are there any horror releases you're looking forward to? :)

Hi sweetface! I'm so glad you asked! 💛

I'm loving T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead, which comes out in July. I read a copy through NetGalley, and it's definitely one of my favorite reads so far this year. I also have copies of Black Tide by KC Jones and Lucky Girl by Mary Rickert in my queue, so I'm excited to get to those!

As for other new horror releases, Hide by Kiersten White fell a bit short for me. It's fun, but I figured out the plot twist way too soon and kind of ruined it for myself. 😖 Sundial by Catriona Ward wasn't quite as strong for me as The Last House on Needless Street either.

I just read and adored Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall, so I'm super excited about her new book, These Fleeting Shadows! I'm also looking forward to The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco, The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon, Into the Sublime by Kate A. Boorman, and looking a little further ahead at next year, Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones.

How about you? Any new horror I should add to my list?

#horror fiction #horror #new release #2022 books #therefugeofbooks #yrstruly #ask #lovely people #booklr

[stmichaeldeorleans]

Orphanages where Michael stayed: Oklahoma City Good Sheppard of Hope Catholic,  St Agnus of Dallas, twelve main orphanages with outlets in Dallas,.. Ellyson Home for Children Dallas, ...Dallas Child Development Center Analysis and Orphanage,..Catholic Orphanage in.Yukon, Ok., Taft School near Littlerock, Ark..., " Arbeque" with the clinical name, owned and managed by Dr Joseph Arbeque M.D. Psychiatrist,  Imagination Dragon of New York City,  plus 14 other places where children can stay in NYC., then The Spicer in Germany, ...then The Loughe of Paris, France. 14 places in Paris, France....12 in Germany.   Michael Duerksen is " The Black Rose " of Germany, Tuscany and France and " The Black Pearl" of France.  Also " The Only Gift Child according to Illuminati Wisdom", "The Edge of Nightshade", " The Dark Fairy of the Night", " The Sacred Red Rose of Infiniti ", " The Son of the Evil Wickerman", " Buttercup of Remembrance". " Karen " Mariah" " Taylor (?)" Siguer Taro Telo Rothchild", " Mariah Rothchild Montasort, Redi LaMont, Snafa Al Ghul, Tilly Ting Evertyting C. Grant,  Mara /Mario Silo Parmiese Devereaux,  Michael Alluese' Silo Parmiese Devereaux, Tuolo Paoli Marcheti Luchia Geyford, Tonie Gilbraltor Luchia, Rachel  " The Saint" Luchia, Rosalie Luchia, Michael Duerksen Steinem Vanderbilt Montrose, Mike Duerksen Huntford Carlton, Carry Cardin Carlton, Carlotta DeBakey, Patricia DeValley DeGeneres, Michael Duerksen Gurley, Michael Lauren Hatch Bacall,  Michael Duerksen Bancroft Castilano May,   Mary May Ham Rothchild, Cassandra Gilbert Der Rothchild,  MaryAnn Richardson Rickert Weiner Rothchild,  Marie Rothchild Harrington, Marie Rothchild, Marie Marianette, Marie Rothchild Hall, Arthur Michael Ann Rothchild Bach, Ms.LaGuardia, Ms. Costello, William Preston, Eric Dathan, Matilda ( Michael ) Avager Rothchild Ponti,  Arthur Michael John Commencia, Michael Arthur Ann Rothchild Snelson Streisand, Carolina Michal " Muriel" Hemingway Winters Rodgers,  Isabelle or Emilia Duarte Galveston Rothchild Darlington, " Emmanuel Bogotta Rothchild" ( donor), Maria Angelus Mata Hari Rothchild, ( donor), Michelle L. Rouchefourde Phillips DeSousa DeMentos,  Phillip Newman Morris, Michael Newman, Angelina Isabelle Rothchild Childress ( donor) , Michael Rothchild Burnett, Princess Rothchild Luchia Hampas, Princess Maria Diedra Lyons Windsor, Michael Jean Paul Getty, John Robert Robin Blake,  Princess Maria Guttenburg Furstenburg Oldenburg Mountbatten DeGeneres ( Lafite), " Prince of Tides ", Princess Marissa Oldenburg Hamburg, Jack Michael Bouvier' Kennedy, Michael Dean Duerksen Garland, Michael Duerksen Monroe, " Michael Briarcraft Hyatt", Michael Stouphlous, Michael Casa Linda, Michael Feingold, Michael Feinstein, Michael Forester Turner, Michael Dan Turner, Cicelia Rothchild Luchia Hampas, 

[subiysu-chan]

Reactions to...Executioner’s meek daughter prepares human fat ointments...

Innocent:

So, Claude gets down to the dissection room to claim the already dissected body, starts cutting away the fat and... 

Scenario 1: Jean-Baptiste walks in

So, Jean-Baptiste walked into see what buisness is left with the corpse when he saw his eldest daughter starting to cut away the bits of sub-cutaneous fat, dressed in a working dress. 

Jean-Baptiste: (Two head pats) Continue the good work. Although, next time, please do so in the kitchen as opposed to the dissection room.

Scenario 2: Charles-Henri walks in

Charles: I forgot the scalpel...I think I’ll come back later...(Goes to vomit). 

Scenario 3: André Legris walks in 

André: Miss, I’ll help you move the body to the cabinet where your father makes the medicines. It’ll be more convenient for you that way. Don’t worry, Lord Jean-Baptiste won’t be in there until six in the after-noon. 

Scenario 4: Small Marie-Josèphe walks in

Marie-Josèphe: Will you teach me, older sister, how to do it

Claude-Gabrielle: Of course, I will !

Scenario 5: Anne-Marthe, walks in

Anne-Marthe: Who allowed you to the dissection room ?

Claude-Gabrielle: Euh...I’m doing work for the family...

Anne-Marthe: Next time, you do this in the cabinet or kitchen. Now, go wash your hands, and you’ll come back for a little chat...

Now time skip. Now, it is not Marie-Josèphe, since she’s obviously spicy, but Gabrielle Sanson, who came to the dissection room to cut up some human subcutenious fat of the already dissected corpse...So Charles-Henri comes down to check on the dissection room and...

Charles-Henri: If we weren’t in financial trouble, I would have punished you for it. Since it’s no longer the case, then continue your work, I’ll stop bothering you.

Now, next works.

Berserk:

So,  the band of the Hawk was graced by the presence of the hangman’s daughter who escaped a witch-hunt without a scratch, hair and clothes still present, as a battlefield nurse, food and medicine supplier, and very occasional soldier. Knows how to read and write. We’ll call her Griselle. 

So, one day as the band of the Hawks celebrate their victory in the capital, Griffith’s on his way to be knighted and Guts is doing, training. It was requested of her that she stashed back on medicines...

So, Griselle puts on her old signs of infamy, forgets to take off the Hawk symbol, and manages to deal with her uncle let’s say a deal to get on top of the execution wheel and collect some of that sweet human fat, with a discount for her labor. 

Pippin, Crokus, Rickerts and Judeau all have a walk and go on their merry way to buy themselves some beer and hardtack when they stumble upon the execution site, with Griselle still there, doing her work. 

Since these four people are trying to make sense of what is happening, as they really didn’t expect this kind of background on a witch-hunt escapee, they started to chat. 

Judeau: I think she had those clothes on when we first met her...

Crokus: Yeah...Wait a minute, is that...

Meanwhile, Griselle notice them in the distance, and the crowd grows, since these guys block the way. 

Pippin: (Tries to walk away to make space for people to walk)

Judeau: I think this might damage Griffith’s plan. Maybe we should inform this to him. 

Not that Judeau needed to do so, because in the evening, Griselle walked all on her own to meet Griffith with her new human-fat ointments, still in those garments of shame with the Hawk-flag on her arm she forgot to take off. 

Griffith, of course, is not happy to get his symbol attached to such a stigmatized status, as it would discredit him, if it didn’t already. 

With white hot fury, he orders: 

“Choose your punishment: death, banishment or a thourough whipping, three days in a row ?”

To get more reactions, we’ll make it so Griselle chooses the whipping, with her own belt, her entire body soon covered in welts close together. 

Before this happens, however, Griffith makes sure she destroys her infamy signs by burning them, makes her crush the ash, and then into the chamber pot it goes once cold. 

Once he is done punishing, he whispers: “You must understand that your silly escapade almost costs us the royal fundings, right ?

-Yes, sir.

-You have a surpringly good whipping etiquette. Remember, I only had to do this because you forgot that bad reputation is not profitable to us in the current state of things, on the countrary. I will not tolerate any behaviors and gestures that would impede my progress, is that clear. 

-Yes. 

-Good. It was quite the big correction I gave you, with more to go. You must be exhausted, take your time, it’ll all done for today.”

Griffith, to secure her loyalty, does all the necessary “after-care”, and prepares a note of all the things she is now forbidden to do that he sticks to her forehead with a bit of pine gum. 

By the time he’s finished, she’s soundly asleep in his bed, while Griffith is now into his books.

Casca eventually comes in to get the next orders, and is extremely jalous of Griselle, as there is another girl, not connected to any stragegy, in Griffith’s bed. 

Casca: (Eyes wide open)

Griffith: Oh, it’s nothing, and tomorrow, please, do round two of her correction. I didn’t appreciate at all how she went around, melting human fat our symbol on her. Also, some comfort afterwards would be necessary, otherwise, she’ll be too hurt and risk turning on us. Oh, and Guts should, also do the same.”

Poor Griselle. Thats the natural consequences of such stupid moments if you serve an army. 

#reactions #headcanons #innocent manga #berserk

[noellelovesbooks]

Lucky Girl, How I Became a Horror Writer by: M. Rickert

Lucky Girl, How I Became a Horror Writer by: M. Rickert

Releases: September 13th, 2022 I received a digital ARC of this book from Tor, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Ro, a struggling writer, knows all too well the pain and solitude that holiday festivities can awaken. When she meets four people at the bar at the local diner—all of them strangers and as lonely as Ro is—she invites them to an impromptu Christmas dinner. And when that…

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#2022 book releases #arc review #book review #christmas horror novella #horror novella #lucky girl #m. rickert #mary rickert #short horror story

[weirdletter]

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2019, edited by Paula Guran, Prime Books, 2019. Cover art by Tithi Luadthong, info: amazon.com.

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real... tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of 2018's best dark fantasy and horror offers more than five hundred pages of tales from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique--sure to delight as well as disturb...

Contents: “Down Where Sound Comes Blunt” – G.V. Anderson (F&SF, Mar-Apr 2018) “Hainted” – Ashley Blooms (F&SF Jul-Aug 2018) “The Empyrean Light” – Gregory Norman Bossert (Conjunctions: 71, A Cabinet of Curiosity, Fall 2018) “Raining Street” – J.S. Breukelaar (Black Static #63) The Black God’s Drums – P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com) “Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate” – Anya Johanna DeNiro (Shimmer #43) “Big Dark Hole” – Jeffrey Ford (Conjunctions: 71, A Cabinet of Curiosity, Fall 2018) “And Yet” – A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny #21) “Second to the Left, and Straight On” – Jim C. Hines (Robots vs. Fairies, eds. Parisien & Wolfe) “He Sings of Salt and Wormwood” – Brian Hodge (The Devil and the Deep, ed. Datlow) “Just Another Love Song” – Kat Howard (Robots vs. Fairies, eds. Parisien & Wolfe) “Four Revelations from the Rusalka Ball” – Cassandra Khaw (The Underwater Ballroom Society, eds. Trent & Burgis) “Rust and Bone” – Mary Robinette Kowal (Shimmer #46) “The Thing About Ghost Stories” – Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny #25) “A Man Walking His Dog” – Tim Lebbon (Phantoms, ed. O’Regan) “Honey” – Valya Dudycz Lupescu (A World of Horror, ed. Guignard) “Big Mother” – Anya Ow (Strange Horizons, 1 Jan 2018) “Fish Hooks” – Kit Power (New Fears 2, ed. Morris) “The Governor” – Tim Powers (The Book of Magic, ed. Dozois) “True Crime” – M. Rickert (Nightmare #72) “Sour Milk Girls” – Erin Roberts (Clarkesworld, Jan 2018) “Every Good-bye Ain’t Gone” – Eden Royce (Strange Horizons, 30 July 2018) “Tom Is in The Attic” – Robert Shearman (Phantoms, ed. O’Regan) “When We Fall, We Forget” – Angela Slatter, (Phantoms, ed. O’Regan) “In This Twilight” – Simon Strantzas (Nothing Is Everything) “The Crow Knight” – Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 11 Oct 2018) “Thanatrauma” – Steve Rasnic Tem (New Fears 2, ed. Morris) “Sick Cats in Small Places” – Kaaron Warren (A World of Horror, ed. Guignard) “Blood and Smoke, Vinegar and Ashes” – D.P. Watt (The Silent Garden, Vol. 1) “The Pine Arch Collection” – Michael Wehunt (The Dark #36) “In the End, It Always Turns Out the Same –” A.C. Wise (The Dark #37) “Asphalt, River, Mother, Child” – Isabel Yap (Strange Horizons, 8 Oct 2018) “Music for the Underworld” – E. Lily Yu (Terraform, 29 Mar 2018)

#book #anthology #best of #best dark fantasy & horror #paula guran #horror fiction #weird fiction #dark fantasy #dark fiction

[libertyreads]

July Wrap Up--

July was such a weird reading month for me. It started with Christmas in July, had a few Sci-Fi novels, and a couple rereads. Not to mention reading a children’s classic and a comic. I didn’t do great with my goal for the back half of the year to read fewer books per month. But I still managed to work on other goals.

Comics/Graphic Novels-- 1. Lumberjanes Vol. 19: A Summer to Remember by Shannon Watterson-- 3 stars.

Novellas/Short Stories-- 1. Lucky Girl by Mary Rickert (NetGalley)-- 3 stars.

2. His Mistletoe Miracle by Jenny B. Jones (Kindle)-- 3 stars.

3. The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne-- 5 stars.

4. The Billionaire Bargain by Lila Monroe (Apple Books)-- 2.5 stars.

Novels-- 1. In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae (NetGalley)-- 4 stars.

2. Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle (NetGalley)-- 2.5 stars.

3. Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey-- 4.25 stars.

4. Chamber of Secrets-- 5 stars (original rating).

5. Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell-- 3 stars.

6. Moonshine and Magnolias by Abigail Sharpe (Kindle)-- 2 stars.

7. The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes-- 4.5 stars (original rating).

Average star rating for the month: 3.48 stars. Not a bad reading month at all.

#monthly wrap up #July wrap up #wrap up #books read in 2022 #2022 reading challenge #goodreads challenge #goodreads #booklr #bookblr #bookstagram #bookish #bookstack

[skonnaris]

Books I’ve Read: 2006-2019

Alexie, Sherman - Flight

Anderson, Joan - A Second Journey

                          - An Unfinished Marriage

                          - A Walk on the Beach

                          - A Year By The Sea

Anshaw, Carol - Carry the One

Auden, W.H. - The Selected Poems of W.H. Auden

Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice

Bach, Richard - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Bear, Donald R - Words Their Way

Berg, Elizabeth - Open House

Bly, Nellie - Ten Days in a Madhouse

Bradbury, Ray - Fahrenheit 451

                        - The Martian Chronicles

Brooks, David - The Road to Character

Brooks, Geraldine - Caleb’s Crossing

Brown, Dan - The Da Vinci Code

Bryson, Bill - The Lost Continent

Burnett, Frances Hodgson - The Secret Garden

Buscaglia, Leo - Bus 9 to Paradise

                         - Living, Loving & Learning

                         - Personhood

                         - Seven Stories of Christmas Love

Byrne, Rhonda - The Secret

Carlson, Richard - Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Carson, Rachel - The Sense of Wonder

                          - Silent Spring

Cervantes, Miguel de - Don Quixote

Cherry, Lynne - The Greek Kapok Tree

Chopin, Karen - The Awakening

Clurman, Harold - The Fervent Years: The Group Theatre & the 30s

Coelho, Paulo -  Adultery

                           The Alchemist

Conklin, Tara - The Last Romantics

Conroy, Pat - Beach Music

                    - The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son

                    - The Great Santini

                    - The Lords of Discipline

                    - The Prince of Tides

                    - The Water is Wide

Corelli, Marie - A Romance of Two Worlds

Delderfield, R.F. - To Serve Them All My Days

Dempsey, Janet - Washington’s Last Contonment: High Time for a Peace

Dewey, John - Experience and Education

Dickens, Charles - A Christmas Carol

                             - Great Expectations

                             - A Tale of Two Cities

Didion, Joan - The Year of Magical Thinking

Disraeli, Benjamin - Sybil

Doctorow, E.L. - Andrew’s Brain

                         - Ragtime

Doerr, Anthony - All the Light We Cannot See

Dreiser, Theodore - Sister Carrie 

Dyer, Wayne - Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

                     - The Power of Intention

                     - Your Erroneous Zones

Edwards, Kim - The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

Ellis, Joseph J. - His Excellency: George Washington

Ellison, Ralph - The Invisible Man

Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Essays and Lectures

Felkner, Donald W. - Building Positive Self Concepts

Fergus, Jim - One Thousand White Women

Flynn, Gillian - Gone Girl

Follett, Ken - Pillars of the Earth

Frank, Anne - The Diary of a Young Girl

Freud, Sigmund - The Interpretation of Dreams

Frey, James - A Million Little Pieces

Fromm, Erich - The Art of Loving

                       - Escape from Freedom

Fulghum, Robert - All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Fuller, Alexandra - Leaving Before the Rains Come

Garield, David - The Actors Studion: A Player’s Place

Gates, Melinda - The Moment of Lift

Gibran, Kahlil - The Prophet

Gilbert, Elizabeth - Eat, Pray, Love

                            - The Last American Man

                            - The Signature of All Things

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader - My Own Words

Girzone, Joseph F, - Joshua

                               - Joshua and the Children

Gladwell, Malcom - Blink

                              - David and Goliath

                              - Outliers

                              - The Tipping Point

                              - Talking to Strangers

Glass, Julia - Three Junes

Goodall, Jane - Reason for Hope

Goodwin, Doris Kearnes - Team of Rivals

Graham, Steve - Best Practices in Writing Instruction

Gray, John - Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Groom, Winston - Forrest Gump

Gruen, Sarah - Water for Elephants

Hannah, Kristin - The Great Alone

                          - The Nightingale

Harvey, Stephanie and Anne Goudvis - Strategies That Work

Hawkins, Paula - The Girl on the Train

Hedges, Chris - Empire of Illusion

Hellman, Lillian - Maybe

                         - Pentimento

Hemingway - Ernest - A Moveable Feast

Hendrix, Harville - Getting the Love You Want

Hesse, Hermann - Demian

                            - Narcissus and Goldmund

                            - Peter Camenzind

                            - Siddhartha

                            - Steppenwolf

Hilderbrand, Elin - The Beach Club

Hitchens, Christopher - God is Not Great

Hoffman, Abbie - Soon to be a Major Motion Picture 

                          - Steal This Book

Holt, John - How Children Fail

                  - How Children Learn

                 - Learning All the Time

                 - Never Too Late

Hopkins, Joseph - The American Transcendentalist

Horney, Karen - Feminine Psychology

                        - Neurosis and Human Growth

                        - The Neurotic Personality of Our Time

                        - New Ways in Psychoanalysis

                        - Our Inner Conflicts

                        - Self Analysis

Hosseini, Khaled - The Kite Runner

Hoover, John J, Leonard M. Baca, Janette K. Klingner - Why Do English Learners Struggle with Reading?

Janouch, Gustav - Conversations with Kafka

Jefferson, Thomas - Crusade Against Ignorance

Jong, Erica - Fear of Dying

Joyce, Rachel - The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

                       - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Kafka, Franz - Amerika

                      - Metamophosis

                      - The Trial     

Kallos, Stephanie - Broken For You  

Kazantzakis, Nikos - Zorba the Greek

Keaton, Diane - Then Again

Kelly, Martha Hall - The Lilac Girls

Keyes, Daniel - Flowers for Algernon

King, Steven - On Writing

Kornfield, Jack - Bringing Home the Dharma

Kraft, Herbert - The Indians of Lenapehoking - The Lenape or Delaware Indians: The Original People of NJ, Southeastern New York State, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern Delaware and Parts of Western Connecticut

Kundera, Milan - The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Lacayo, Richard - Native Son

Lamott, Anne - Bird by Bird

                         Word by Word

L’Engle, Madeleine - A Wrinkle in Time

Lahiri, Jhumpa - The Namesake

Lappe, Frances Moore - Diet for a Small Planet

Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird

Lems, Kristin et al  - Building Literacy with English Language Learners

Lewis, Sinclair - Main Street

London, Jack - The Call of the Wild

Lowry, Lois - The Giver

Mander, Jerry - Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television

Marks, John D. - The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind         Control

Martel, Yann - Life of Pi

Maslow, Abraham - The Farther Reaches of Human Nature

                              - Motivation and Personality

                              - Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences

                             - Toward a Psychology of Being                            

Maugham. W. Somerset - Of Human Bondage

                                        - Christmas Holiday

Maurier, Daphne du - Rebecca

Mayes, Frances - Under the Tuscan Sun

Mayle, Peter - A Year in Provence

McCourt, Frank - Angela’s Ashes

                          - Teacher man

McCullough, David - 1776

                                - Brave Companions

McEwan, Ian - Atonement

                      - Saturday

McLaughlin, Emma - The Nanny Diaries

McLuhan, Marshall - Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

Meissner, Susan - The Fall of Marigolds

Millman, Dan - Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Moehringer, J.R. - The Tender Bar

Moon, Elizabeth - The Speed of Dark

Moriarty, Liane - The Husband’s Sister

                         - The Last Anniversary

                         - What Alice Forgot

Mortenson, Greg - Three Cups of Tea

Moyes, Jo Jo - One Plus One

                       - Me Before You 

Ng, Celeste - Little Fires Everywhere

Neill, A.S. - Summerhill

Noah, Trevor - Born a Crime

O’Dell, Scott - Island of the Blue Dolphins

Offerman, Nick - Gumption

O’Neill, Eugene - Long Day’s Journey Into Night

                            A Touch of the Poet

Orwell, George - Animal Farm

Owens, Delia - Where the Crawdads Sing

Paulus, Trina - Hope for the Flowers

Pausch, Randy - The Last Lecture

Patchett, Ann - The Dutch House

Peck, Scott M. - The Road Less Traveled

                         - The Road Less Traveled and Beyond

Paterson, Katherine - Bridge to Teribithia

Picoult, Jodi - My Sister’s Keeper

Pirsig, Robert - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Puzo, Mario - The Godfather

Quindlen, Anna - Black and Blue

Radish, Kris - Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral

Redfield, James - The Celestine Prophecy

Rickert, Mary - The Memory Garden

Rogers, Carl - On Becoming a Person

Ruiz, Miguel - The Fifth Agreement

                     - The Four Agreements

                     - The Mastery of Love

Rum, Etaf - A Woman is No Man

Saint-Exupery, Antoine de - The Little Prince

Salinger, J.D. - Catcher in the Rye

Schumacher, E.F. - Small is Beautiful

Sebold, Alice - The Almost Moon

                       - The Lovely Bones

Shaffer, Mary Ann and Anne Barrows - The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Shakespeare, William - Alls Well That Ends Well

                                   - Much Ado About Nothing

                                   - Romeo and Juliet

                                   - The Sonnets

                                   - The Taming of the Shrew

                                   - Twelfth Night

                                   - Two Gentlemen of Verona

Sides, Hampton - Hellhound on his Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

Silverstein, Shel - The Giving Tree

Skinner, B.F. - About Behaviorism

Smith, Betty - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley - The Velvet Room

Spinelli, Jerry - Loser

Spolin, Viola - Improvisation for the Theater

Stanislavski, Constantin - An Actor Prepares

Stedman, M.L. - The Light Between Oceans

Steinbeck, John - Travels with Charley

Steiner, Peter - The Terrorist

Stockett, Kathryn - The Help

Strayer, Cheryl - Wild

Streatfeild, Dominic - Brainwash

Strout, Elizabeth - My Name is Lucy Barton

Tartt, Donna - The Goldfinch

Taylor, Kathleen - Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control

Thomas, Matthew - We Are Not Ourselves

Thoreau, Henry David - Walden

Tolle, Eckhart - A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

                      - The Power of Now

Towles, Amor - A Gentleman in Moscow

                       - Rules of Civility

Tracey, Diane and Lesley Morrow - Lenses on Reading

Traub, Nina - Recipe for Reading

Tzu, Lao - Tao Te Ching

United States Congress - Project MKULTRA, the CIA's program of research in behavioral modification: Joint hearing before the Select Committee on Intelligence and the ... Congress, first session, August 3, 1977

Van Allsburg, Chris - Just a Dream

                                - Polar Express

                                - Sweet Dreams

                                - Stranger

                                - Two Bad Ants

Walker, Alice - The Color Purple

Waller, Robert James - Bridges of Madison County

Warren, Elizabeth - A Fighting Chance

Waugh, Evelyn - Brideshead Revisited

Weir, Andy - The Martian

Weinstein, Harvey M. - Father, Son and CIA

Welles, Rebecca - The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood

Westover, Tara - Educated

White, E.B. - Charlotte’s Web

Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorien Gray

Wolfe, Tom - I Am Charlotte Simmons

Wolitzer, Meg - The Female Persuasion

Woolf, Virginia - Mrs. Dalloway

Zevin, Gabrielle - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Zusak, Marcus - The Book Thief

[sporadiceagleheart]

Rest in peace to stars that are now Angels in heaven

Mary Anissa Jones,Eleanor Cammack"Cammie"King, River Jude Phoenix, Niña Sophia Gabrielle "Sophie" Corullo, Judith Barsi, Heather Michele O'Rourke, Lucille Ricksen, Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Clara Blandick, Terry, Shirley Temple Black 1928-2014, Baby Leroy, baby Peggy Montgomery, Peggy cartwright, Darla Jean Hood, Jean Darling, Peaches Jackson, Mary Ann Jackson, Dorothy DeBorba, Mary Kornman, Mildred Kornman, Carl Weathers, Carl Switzer, Billie Burke, Roberts Blossom, Jim Nabors, Frank Sutton, John Candy, Raymond Burr, Taruni Sachdev, Pauline Starke, Geraldine Jane Jacobi Russell, Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell, Geraldine Brooks, Katharine Hepburn, Margot Mosher Merrill, Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis, Walt Disney, Roald Dahl, Olivia Newton-John, Susan Buckner, Lisa Loring, Betty Jane Bierce, better known by her stage name Jane "Poni" Adams, Mary Treen, Dorothy Dell, Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen, Aileen Pringle, Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle, Ida Kitaeva Raphael, Virginia Mayo, Edna Purviance, Vivien Leigh, Virginia Weidler, Jane Withers, Clarence Nash, Shirley Jean Rickert, Bridgette Andersen, Dominique Dunne, Samantha Reed Smith, Pal, Virginia Rappe, Katharina Schratt, Hattie McDaniel, George Burns, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Matthew Garber, Robbie Coltrane, Betty Tanner, Elizabeth Taylor, Peggy Maley, Peggy Ann Garner, Mary Margaret Peggy Wood, Dorothy McGuire, Peggy Mondo, Joanna Moore, Shirley Mills, Wayne Allwine, Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Karns , Stan Laurel, Hannah Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Jackie Coogan, Mildred Harris, Lita Grey, Paulette Goddard, Peggy Moran, Florence Lois Weber, Peggy Cass, Peggie Castle, Virginia Lee, Virginia Leith, Virginia Wood, Virginia Welles, Michael Lerner, June Marlowe, Carol Tevis, Jane Adams, Joan Crawford, Mary Ellen Trainor, Betty Ann Bruno, Anne Baxter, Greta Garbo, William Wyler, Robin Williams, May Robson, Mary Astor, Jane Darwell, Linda Darnell, Lloyd Berry, Pauline Newstone, Jean Hagen, Allison Hayes, Margaret Hayes, Anissa Jones, Sophie Firth, Edith Barrett, Eve Meyer, Taruni Sachdev my edit to those who passed away

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#5yrsago Anthology of 21st Century Science Fiction

Patrick Nielsen Hayden and David Hartwell have edited Twenty-First Century Science Fiction , a 250,000-word anthology of short fiction by writers who came to prominence since the turn of the century. The authors include "Vandana Singh, Charles Stross, Paolo Bacigalupi, Neal Asher, Rachel Swirsky, John Scalzi, M. Rickert, Tony Ballantyne, David Levine, Genevieve Valentine, Ian Creasey, Marissa Lingen, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, David Moles, Mary Robinette Kowal, Madeleine Ashby, Tobias Buckell, Ken Liu, Oliver Morton, Karl Schroeder, Brenda Cooper, Liz Williams, Ted Kosmatka, Catherynne M. Valente, Daryl Gregory, Alaya Dawn Johnson, James Cambias, Yoon Ha Lee, Hannu Rajaniemi, Kage Baker, Peter Watts, Jo Walton, and Cory Doctorow." The book comes out on Nov 5 (pre-order now). Patrick has posted some of the preface:

https://boingboing.net/2013/09/09/anthology-of-21st-century-scie.html

[stmichaeldeorleans]

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Michael Duerksen <[email protected]>

Date: Thu, Oct 5, 2023, 5:58 AM

Subject: Names 2023

To: Michael Duerksen <[email protected]>

        Orphanages where Michael stayed: Oklahoma City Good Sheppard of Hope Catholic,  St Agnus of Dallas, twelve main orphanages with outlets in Dallas,.. Ellyson Home for Children Dallas, ...Dallas Child Development Center Analysis and Orphanage,..Catholic Orphanage in.Yukon, Ok., Taft School near Littlerock, Ark..., " Arbeque" with the clinical name, owned and managed by Dr Joseph Arbeque M.D. Psychiatrist,  Imagination Dragon of New York City,  plus 14 other places where children can stay in NYC., then The Spicer in Germany, ...then The Loughe of Paris, France. 14 places in Paris, France....12 in Germany.   Michael Duerksen is " The Black Rose " of Germany, Tuscany and France and " The Black Pearl" of France.  Also " The Only Gift Child according to Illuminati Wisdom", "The Edge of Nightshade", " The Dark Fairy of the Night", " The Sacred Red Rose of Infiniti ", " The Son of the Evil Wickerman", " Buttercup of Remembrance". " Karen " Mariah" " Taylor (?)" Siguer Taro Telo Rothchild", " Mariah Rothchild Montasort, Redi LaMont, Snafa Al Ghul, Tilly Ting Evertyting C. Grant,  Mara /Mario Silo Parmiese Devereaux,  Michael Alluese' Silo Parmiese Devereaux, Tuolo Paoli Marcheti Luchia Geyford, Tonie Gilbraltor Luchia, Rachel  " The Saint" Luchia, Rosalie Luchia, Michael Duerksen Steinem Vanderbilt Montrose, Mike Duerksen Huntford Carlton, Carry Cardin Carlton, Carlotta DeBakey, Patricia DeValley DeGeneres, Michael Duerksen Gurley, Michael Lauren Hatch Bacall,  Michael Duerksen Bancroft Castilano May,   Mary May Ham Rothchild, Cassandra Gilbert Der Rothchild,  MaryAnn Richardson Rickert Weiner Rothchild,  Marie Rothchild Harrington, Marie Rothchild, Marie Marianette, Marie Rothchild Hall, Arthur Michael Ann Rothchild Bach, Ms.LaGuardia, Ms. Costello, William Preston, Eric Dathan, Matilda ( Michael ) Avager Rothchild Ponti,  Arthur Michael John Commencia, Michael Arthur Ann Rothchild Snelson Streisand, Carolina Michal " Muriel" Hemingway Winters Rodgers,  Isabelle or Emilia Duarte Galveston Rothchild Darlington, " Emmanuel Bogotta Rothchild" ( donor), Maria Angelus Mata Hari Rothchild, ( donor), Michelle L. Rouchefourde Phillips DeSousa DeMentos,  Phillip Newman Morris, Michael Newman, Angelina Isabelle Rothchild Childress ( donor) , Michael Rothchild Burnett, Princess Rothchild Luchia Hampas, Princess Maria Diedra Lyons Windsor, Michael Jean Paul Getty, John Robert Robin Blake,  Princess Maria Guttenburg Furstenburg Oldenburg Mountbatten DeGeneres ( Lafite), " Prince of Tides ", Princess Marissa Oldenburg Hamburg, Jack Michael Bouvier' Kennedy, Michael Dean Duerksen Garland, Michael Duerksen Monroe, " Michael Briarcraft Hyatt", Michael Stouphlous, Michael Casa Linda, Michael Feingold, Michael Feinstein, Michael Forester Turner, Michael Dan Turner, Cicelia Rothchild Luchia Hampas, 

[skyovereuropeldkde]

Largest Tribe East of Mississippi Says “No” to Nestlé Taking More Water MARIE, MICHIGAN – The largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is saying no to Nestlé water products being sold at all of its facilities, which includes its four Kewadin Casinos, located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.The tribal council passed a resolution to eliminate the sales of Nestlé water products after the State of Michigan–Governor Rick Snyder administration–approved increasing production of water by 150 gallons per minute at its plant in Evart, Michigan. This came after some 80,000 comments were submitted to the state on the issue. Of the 80,000 comments received, only 57 were in favor of the increased extraction of water.

This decision allows Nestle virtually unchecked authority to extract and sell Michigan groundwater for commercial profit and will have significant detrimental impact not only on our Michigan groundwater but also on its lakes, rivers, and streams and on the treaty protected rights of the tribe and its members to utilize those resources,” the resolution read, in part.

Under the current eroding regulatory environment, the Snyder Administration has time and again put big business ahead of the welfare of Michigan citizens. Nibi–or our sacred waters–are the blood of our Mother Earth. We must protect it and not prostitute it out to special interests,” comments Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Chairperson Aaron Payment to Native News Online.

Last year, Nestlé old $4.5 billion in bottled water. The company pays a $5,000 fee to the State of Michigan for an environmental permit–with an additional $200 annual fee.

The Sault Ste. Marie, based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, has some 44,000 enrolled tribal citizens. by Levi Rickert

Thank you for visit my Blog 🇩🇪 Skygazercarba 🇩🇪  

#Nestle #Boycott Nestle #No to Nestle #Indian tribe #Chippewa Indians #Native Indian Wisdom #Native Indian Knowledge #Skygazercarba #15.05.2018

[gordonwilliamsweb]

Device Makers Have Funneled Billions to Orthopedic Surgeons Who Use Their Products

Dr. Kingsley R. Chin was little more than a decade out of Harvard Medical School when sales of his spine surgical implants took off.

Chin has patented more than 40 pieces of such hardware, including doughnut-shaped plastic cages, titanium screws and other products used to repair spines — generating $100 million for his company SpineFrontier, according to government officials.

Yet SpineFrontier’s success arose not from the quality of its goods, these officials say, but because it paid kickbacks to surgeons who agreed to implant the highly profitable devices in hundreds of patients.

In March 2020, the Department of Justice accused Chin and SpineFrontier of illegally funneling more than $8 million to nearly three dozen spine surgeons through “sham consulting fees” that paid them handsomely for doing little or no work. Chin had no comment on the civil suit, one of more than a dozen he has faced as a spine surgeon and businessman. Chin and SpineFrontier have yet to file a response in court.

Medical industry payments to orthopedists and neurosurgeons who operate on the spine have risen sharply, despite government accusations that some of these transactions may violate federal anti-kickback laws, drive up health care spending and put patients at risk of serious harm, a KHN investigation has found. These payments come in various forms, from royalties for helping to design implants to speakers’ fees for promoting devices at medical meetings to stock holdings in exchange for consulting work, according to government data.

Health policy experts and regulators have focused for decades on pharmaceutical companies’ payments to doctors — which research has shown can influence which drugs they prescribe. But far less is known about the impact of similar payments from device companies to surgeons. A drug can readily be stopped if deemed harmful, while surgical devices are permanently implanted in the body and often replace native bone that has been removed.

Every year, a torrent of cash and other compensation flows to these surgeons from manufacturers of hardware for spinal implants, artificial knees and hip joints — totaling more than $3.1 billion from August 2013 through the end of 2019, a KHN analysis of government data found. These bone specialists make up a quarter of U.S. doctors who have accepted at least $100,000 or more, and two-thirds of those who raked in $1 million or more, from the medical device and drug industries last year, the data shows.

“It is simply so much money that it is staggering,” said Dr. Eugene Carragee, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the Stanford University Medical Center and critic of the medical device industry’s influence. Much of the money is deemed to be compensation for consulting duties or medical research, or royalties for inventing, or fine-tuning, new surgical tools and techniques. In some cases, it pays for trips or splashy junkets or rewards surgeons for promoting products to their peers.

Device makers say the long-established practice leads to higher-quality, safer products. “Doctors help develop and refine medical devices, and they even create new devices themselves, sharing their intellectual property with companies to help save and improve patients’ lives,” said Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of AdvaMed, the medical technology industry’s trade group.

But industry whistleblowers and government investigators say all that money changing hands can corrupt medical judgment and tempt surgeons to perform unnecessary and wasteful operations. In ongoing lawsuits, patients say they have suffered life-altering injuries from screws or other spinal hardware that snapped apart or live with disabilities they blame on defective knee or hip implants. Patients alleging injuries range from seniors on Medicare to celebrities such as Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, who had surgery to replace both her hips. The gymnast sued device maker Biomet in January 2018, alleging the hip implants were defective. The suit has since been settled under confidential terms.

The case of Chin’s company, SpineFrontier, is among more than 100 federal fraud and whistleblower actions, filed or settled mostly in the past decade, that accuse implant surgeons of taking illegal compensation from device makers — from surgeon entrepreneurs like Chin to marquee names like Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson. In some cases, device makers have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines to wrangle out of trouble for their involvement, often without admitting any wrongdoing.

Court pleadings examined by KHN identified more than 700 surgeons who have taken money, including dozens who pocketed millions in royalties, fees or other compensation from 2013 through 2019.

The names of hundreds more surgeons were redacted in court filings or sealed by judges.

Court filings named 35 spine surgeons who used SpineFrontier’s surgical gear, some for years. At least six of those surgeons have admitted wrongdoing and paid a total of $3.3 million in penalties. Another has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. It’s illegal under federal law to accept anything of value from a device maker for using its wares, though most offenders don’t face criminal prosecution.

Chin, 57, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and owns SpineFrontier through his investment company, declined comment about the DOJ lawsuit or the consulting agreements.

“There is a court date [for the DOJ case] as ordered by a judge,” Chin said via email. “If we get to that point the facts of the case will be litigated.”

Back Surgeries Under Scrutiny

The nation’s outlay for spine surgery to treat back pain, or to replace worn-out knees and hips, tops $20 billion a year, according to one industry report.

Taxpayers shoulder much of that cost through Medicare, the federal program for those 65 and older, and Medicaid, which caters to low-income people.

In one common spinal procedure, surgeons may replace damaged discs with an implant and screws and metal rods that hold it in place. The demand for surgery to replace worn-out knees and hips also has mushroomed as aging boomers and others seek relief from joint pain that restricts their movement.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the competition for sales of orthopedic devices is fierce: Some 250 companies proffer a dizzying array of products. Industry critics blame the Food and Drug Administration, which allows manufacturers to roll out new hardware that is substantially equivalent to what already is sold — though it often is marketed as more durable, or otherwise better for patients.

“The money is just phenomenal for this medical hardware,” said Dr. James Rickert, a spine surgeon and head of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics, an advocacy group. He said most of the products are “essentially the same,” adding: “These are not technical instruments; [it’s often] just a screw.”

Hospitals can end up charging patients $20,000 or more for the materials, though they pay much less for them. Spine surgeons — who make upward of $500,000 a year — bill separately and may charge $8,000 to $20,000 for major procedures.

Which equipment hospitals choose may fall to the preference of surgeons, who are wooed by manufacturing sales reps possibly present in the operating room.

And it doesn’t stop there. Whistleblower cases filed under the federal False Claims Act allege a startling array of schemes to influence surgeons, including compensating them for joining a medical society created and financed by a device company. In other cases, companies bought billboard space or other advertising to promote medical practitioners, hired surgeons’ relatives, paid for hunting trips — even mailed checks to their homes.

Orthopedic and neurosurgeons collected more than half a billion dollars in industry consulting fees from 2013 through 2019, federal payment records show.

These gigs are legal so long as they involve professional work done at fair market value. But they have drawn fire as far back as 2007, when four manufacturers that dominated the hip and knee implant market, including a J&J division, agreed to pay $311 million to settle charges of violating anti-kickback laws through their consulting deals.

KHN found at least 20 whistleblower suits, some settled, others pending, that have since accused device makers of camouflaging kickbacks as consulting work, including paying doctors to sit on suspect “advisory boards” or other activities that entailed little work to justify the fees.

In November 2019, device maker Life Spine and two of its executives admitted to paying consulting fees to induce dozens of surgeons to use Life Spine’s implants in the operating room. In all, 21 of the top 30 Life Spine adopters were paid and they accounted for about half its total device sales, according to the Justice Department. Life Spine and the executives paid a total of $6 million in penalties. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Similarly, SpineFrontier received “the vast majority” of its sales, more than $100 million worth, from surgeons who were compensated, the Justice Department alleges. Often, they were paid by way of a “sham” company run by Chin’s wife, Vanessa, from a mail drop in Fort Lauderdale, according to the Justice Department. Vanessa Dudley Chin, a defendant in the DOJ civil case, had no comment.

Kingsley Chin told KHN via email that he takes no salary from SpineFrontier, based in Malden, Massachusetts. In 2013, Chin received $4.3 million in income from the company, according to court filings in a divorce case in Philadelphia from an earlier marriage. In 2018, SpineFrontier valued Chin’s interest in the company at $75 million, according to government records, though its current worth is unclear.

SpineFrontier’s management thought paying doctors was “the only reliable way to steadily increase its market share and stave off competition,” Charles Birchall, a former business associate of Chin’s, alleged in a whistleblower complaint. The case is one of two whistleblower suits filed against SpineFrontier that the DOJ has joined and consolidated. Chin has yet to file a response in court.

From March 2013 through December 2018, the company offered some surgeons $500 or more an hour for “consulting,” which could include the time they spent operating on patients — even though they already were being paid by Medicare or other health insurers. Other surgeons were paid repeatedly to “evaluate” the same products, though their feedback was “often minimal or nonexistent,” according to the DOJ complaint.

Patient Injuries Pile Up

While the payments have piled up for doctors, so have injuries for patients, according to lawsuits against device makers and whistleblower testimony.

Orthopedic surgeon-turned-whistleblower Dr. Manuel Fuentes is suing his former employer, Florida device maker Exactech, alleging it offered “phony” consulting deals to surgeons who had complained about alarming defects in one of its knee implants.

Their findings should have been forwarded to the FDA to protect the public, Fuentes and two former Exactech sales reps alleged in their suit. Instead, the company paid the surgeons “to retain their business and secure their silence” about patients needlessly undergoing a second operation to address the defects implanted in the first, according to the suit. Lawyer Thomas Beimers, who represents Exactech in the case, said the company “emphatically denies the allegations and looks forward to presenting the real facts to the court.” In a court filing, the company said the suit was “full of conclusory, vague and immaterial facts” and said it should be dismissed.

In Maryland, spine surgeon Dr. Randy F. Davis faces a lawsuit filed in early 2020 by 14 former patients who claim he implanted counterfeit hardware from a device distributor that had paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees and other compensation.

Davis used the hardware, which had not been FDA-approved, on about 250 patients at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, Maryland, according to the suit. Several patients say screws or other implants failed and they sustained permanent injuries as a result. One woman said she was left with little feeling in her right foot and needs a cane or walker to get around. Others claim “extreme mental anguish” for fear the hardware inside them will fail, according to the suit.

The patients allege that Davis improperly disposed of defective screws and other hardware he removed rather than send the items for analysis or report the failures to authorities. Instead, the University of Maryland hospital sent “hush” letters to patients that falsely told them that no defects had been found, according to the suit. A spokesperson for the hospital, which also is a defendant in the suit, denied the allegations, noting: “We will vigorously defend this lawsuit and at its conclusion are quite confident we will prevail.” Davis and his lawyer didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. The lawsuit is pending in Anne Arundel County state court.

Surgeons are free to implant devices they helped bring to market or promoted, though doing so can prompt criticism when injuries or defects occur.

That happened when three patients filed lawsuits in 2018 against Arthrex, a Florida device company. The patients argued they were forced to undergo repeat operations to replace defective Arthrex knee devices implanted by Pennsylvania orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Meade.

Meade was not a defendant in the cases. But the patients accused him of misleading them about the product’s safety and a recall. One noted that Meade had served as a prominent consultant to Arthrex and had “participated in the design, testing, marketing, promotion and sales” of the knee implant. The patient alleged that Arthrex had paid Meade more than $250,000 for work that included “promotional speaking, travel, lodging, and consulting.”

In court filings, Arthrex admitted making payments to Meade for “consulting and royalties” but denied wrongdoing. The cases were settled in 2020. Meade did not respond to requests for comment.

Chin’s dual roles as SpineFrontier’s CEO and user of its hardware was called a “huge” conflict of interest by a judge in a pending malpractice case filed against him and the company in South Florida.

In that case, Miami resident Patrick Chapoteau alleges Chin performed back surgery in 2014 using SpineFrontier hardware even though it had little chance of success. According to the suit, a Chin-designed screw implanted to stabilize Chapoteau’s spine broke in half, causing him pain and disabling injuries.

In a legal brief, Chin’s lawyers argued that he regularly operates on people with disabling back problems, noting: “The surgery is sophisticated and challenging. On a few rare occasions, his patients have not obtained the relief they expected or experienced unanticipated complications that required additional care.”

Joseph Wooten, a former Chin patient and Florida power company employee, alleged in a 2014 lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court that Chin had 15 previous malpractice claims that had ended in more than $8 million in settlements, an assertion Chin’s lawyers disputed.

“He never told me of his bad record injuring people,” Wooten, 64, wrote in a court filing. He and his wife, Kim, said the surgery caused “debilitating and life-altering injuries.” The case has since been settled. Chin acknowledged no wrongdoing and the terms are confidential.

KHN reviewed court pleadings in nine settled malpractice cases in Philadelphia, where Chin served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School from 2003 to 2007, and six in South Florida filed since 2012. Details of the settlements are confidential. Five of the six South Florida cases are pending, including one filed in December by the widow of a man who died shortly after spine surgery. In all the cases and settlements, Chin has denied negligence.

In her lawsuit pending against Chin in South Florida, Nancy Lazo of Hialeah Gardens, Florida, said she slipped and tumbled down the stairs outside her Miami office, landing on her back and arm. When the pain would not go away, she turned to Chin and had two operations, in 2014 and 2015. Her lawyers allege that a SpineFrontier screw Chin implanted in her spine in the second procedure caused nerve damage. Lazo, 51, a former billing clerk with two adult sons, said she can no longer work and remains in “constant” pain. “Based on what my doctors have told me,” she said, “I will never get back to normal.” Chin denied any negligence and the case is pending.

“Based on what my doctors have told me, I will never get back to normal.”

— Nancy Lazo

Government Struggles to Keep Pace

Concerns that industry payments can corrupt medical practice have been aired repeatedly at congressional hearings, in media exposés and in federal investigations. The recurring scandals led Congress to require that device makers and pharmaceutical companies report the payments, starting in August 2013, to a government-run website called Open Payments. That website shows that payments to all doctors have risen from $8.6 billion in 2014 to just over $10 billion last year. A recent study found payments by device makers exceeded those of pharmaceutical companies by a wide margin.

Both the North American Spine Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons told KHN that close ties with the industry, while seeming to generate huge payouts to some surgeons, lead to the design of safer and better implants. “These interactions are really essential for good outcomes in patient care and that needs to be preserved,” said Dr. Joshua J. Jacobs, who chairs the orthopedic surgery department at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and the AAOS’ ethics committee.

Although more than 600,000 American doctors lap up industry largesse, most do so through small payments that cover the cost of food, drinks and travel to industry-sponsored events. When it comes to big money, however, orthopedists and neurosurgeons dominate, collecting 25% of the total — even though they represent only 5% of the doctors accepting payments, according to the KHN analysis of Open Payments data.

Dr. Charles Rosen, a spine surgeon and co-founder of the advocacy group Association for Medical Ethics, said he was once offered $2,000 just to show up and watch an industry-sponsored panel. “It was quite unbelievable,” he said.

Rosen said while he believes a “relatively small number” of surgeons cash whopping industry checks, many who do so are influential figures who can “help direct medical care.”

Government data confirms that even as several orthopedic and neurosurgeons received tens of millions of dollars in 2019, 81% of them got less than $5,000 from industry.

Federal officials recently signaled their displeasure with the hefty fees paid to doctors who promote their products to peers, especially at restaurants, entertainment or sports venues that feature free food and booze but little educational content. In November, the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services issued a special fraud alert that such gestures could violate anti-kickback laws.

Companies that ignore the reporting law can be fined up to $1 million, though no fines were levied from 2014 through spring 2020, according to a CMS report. That changed in October, when device giant Medtronic agreed to pay the government $9.2 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, neurosurgeon Dr. Wilson Asfora to promote its goods. Officials said the company sponsored more than 100 events at a Brazilian restaurant owned by the surgeon to clinch the sales. Just over $1 million of the fine was assessed for failing to report the transactions. A Medtronic spokesperson said the company fired or took other disciplinary action against the sales employees involved and “remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct.”

KHN identified four spinal device makers — including SpineFrontier — that have been accused in whistleblower cases of scheming to hide consulting payments from the government.

Responding to written questions, a CMS spokesperson said the agency “has multiple formal compliance actions pending which it is unable to discuss further at this time.”

But penalties for paying, or accepting, kickbacks often are small compared with the profits they can generate.

“Some people would say if you penalize companies enough, they won’t be making these offers,” said Genevieve Kanter, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She said small fines may be chalked up to the “cost of doing business.”

The Federation of State Medical Boards does not keep data on how often its members discipline doctors for civil kickback offenses, according to spokesperson Joe Knickrehm. The federation has “long advocated for stronger reporting requirements,” Knickrehm said.

Justice Department officials would not discuss whether they are seeking fines from more surgeons. But in a statement in April 2020, then-U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew E. Lelling noted that the government will investigate any doctor “who accepts money from a device manufacturer simply for using that company’s products.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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