Category Archives: tool

A Note from John Gastil, NCDD 2014 Co-Emcee

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Before our wonderful community starts arriving in droves for NCDD 2014, we wanted to make sure you all see a message from our  co-emcee, John Gastil. NCDD has inspired John to complete revisions on his best-selling book on democratic methods, and he’s using it to help NCDD continue our work. Read more about it below, and we’ll see in Reston this week!

Gastil BookServing as co-emcee of the NCDD conference spurred me to bring to the finish line a project three-years in the making. I’ve brought into the digital world my very first (and best selling) book, Democracy in Small Groups. And in celebration of NCDD’s conference, all royalties from the first week of sales – from Oct 14-21 – go to NCDD.

Yup, all of ‘em.

Then again, it was NCDD attendees who convinced me to make my next book cheap enough for anyone to buy, so the royalties on a $2.99 book won’t go too far. But everyone needs to buy new office supplies, so it’ll pay for somethin’.

The book’s now available in Kindle format (which can be read via a free Kindle app on phones/PCs/Macs) at http://tinyurl.com/DSG2Kindle

The new edition is expanded and revised, with a special feature built just for online reading. As much as the Internet makes possible, the references link to original sources, so you can drill down as deep as you want while you read.

Twenty one years have passed since the first edition (blackjack!), so there are more than two decades worth of new sources filling out the book’s argument. If you want to make your own groups more democratic or better understand how small groups can change our larger world, this book might help you get there.

Versions for iBooks (I hear ya, iTooners), Nook (anyone using that?), and print will be following shortly.

John Gastil

Parker Palmer’s book “Healing the Heart of Democracy” now out in paperback

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One of NCDD’s most well-known and well-loved members, Parker Palmer, alerted me today that one of his newest books, Healing the Heart of Democracy, is soon to be available in paperback.

Here’s what U.S. Congressman John Lewis, had to say about the book: “We have been trying to bridge the great divides in this great country for a long time. In this book, Parker J. Palmer urges us to ‘keep on walking, keep on talking’—just as we did in the civil rights movement—until we cross those bridges together.”

The paperback edition includes a detailed discussion guide with links to 40 brief online videos where the author talks about key issues in the book. You can download the discussion guide, the videos, tips for organizing a discussion group, and more at www.couragerenewal.org/democracyguide.

HealingHeartDemo-coverThe Guide makes it easier and more attractive for people to gather in families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations, etc., and learn to talk with each other across lines of political difference. That’s what “We the People” need to do to reclaim the power of civic community in an era of divide and conquer politics.

In his email this morning, Parker wrote, “I know you’re as concerned as I am about the sad state of American democracy. ‘We the People’ are the only answer. But there can be no ‘We’ until more of us learn to value our differences, hold them creatively, talk across our divides and seek the common good so we can hold our leaders accountable. That’s what this book is about and that’s why I’m eager to get the word out, especially as we approach mid-term elections.

Among the many positive reviews, “Democracy & Education” called the book “one of the most important…of the early 21st Century.” In a Starred Review, “Publishers Weekly” said, “This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit from discussing it.”

You can pre-order the paperback version at Amazon here, and you can visit the book’s website at http://lp.wileypub.com/healingtheheartofdemocracy/ where you can watch a video, read the Prelude, and find purchasing options.

Have you already read Healing the Heart of Democracy? Let others know what you thought of it in the comments!