CVB: What was your motivation for writing this book on overcoming grief? Yvonne Ortega: The way I approached this book is that there are not only those who are mourning, but there are also those who want to be helpers. Those experiencing grief have family, friends, and co-workers who sometimes don’t know what to say. Sometimes they open their mouth and say something hurtful or harmful without thinking. I call these people “wound salters.” Those who are more sensitive and know

In 1971, an electrical fire destroyed East End Elementary School, forcing the community of Durham, North Carolina to face the integration of the public schools. For the Black community, the time had come to eradicate the infamous ‘separate but equal’ myth of the Jim Crow south. Many in the White community - including the KKK - were not ready to see that happen. Based on a true story, The Best of Enemies centers on the extraordinary relationship that miraculously grows between

Craig von Buseck provides insight into Grant’s leadership principles and supports his conclusions about Grant’s principles through the use of contemporary leadership theories and concepts. The Leadership Principles of Ulysses S. Grant is an excellent resource for leaders and students of leadership who wish to understand leadership through the life and accomplishments of an exemplary military leader of the mid-1800s. Also, Von Buseck’s book could be an excellent tool for conte

In Victor! The Final Battle of Ulysses S. Grant, Dr. Craig von Buseck adds to the growing volumes of prose re-establishing Ulysses S, Grant as the great American hero that he truly was and that the nation he fought for has largely forgotten. Victor! is a touching account of Grant’s final days where he demonstrated the same dogged determination to recover from financial ruin and care for his family that he did in defeating the Confederacy and preserving the Union. – Greg Robe

Perhaps you have heard of Ulysses S. Grant. He is on the fifty-dollar bill. He was the 18th President of the United States. And in the final year of the Civil War he gave Robert E. Lee fits with a strategy of engagement and slide, engagement and slide that led to the fall of Richmond and the Confederacy. For many, this is all we know of U.S. Grant. And yet his deep conviction to his personal character, to doing the right thing when no one is watching, and the rare gift of hum

Ryan Bomberger names his biggest role models such as #FrederickDouglass and #GeorgeWashingtonCarver! He looks up to these men of #faith who

With his usual mastery of investigation, as precise as it is complete and well-executed, once again Dr. Craig von Buseck has given us something spectacular in his new book, Victor: The Final Battle of Ulysses S. Grant, on the post-Civil War post-presidential life of Ulysses S. Grant. Many of us are familiar with the image of the plain-spoken, no-frills, cigar-smoking Union general with dust on his boots, including the legends that attend the name, but von Buseck introduces us

‘Victor!’ is a well-researched and detailed account of the dramatic final year of one of America's most famous figures. The story of Grant's last campaign to complete his memoirs is artfully interspersed with vivid descriptions of his earlier campaigns in the Civil War. The reader develops a better appreciation for the indomitable character of the man who not only saved the Union but also dedicated the closing days of his life to an inspiring act of selfless devotion to his b

"In Victor!, Craig von Buseck captures the tenacity, humility, and responsibility of General Grant as both supreme commander, and beloved family man. The structure of the narrative chronicling Grant’s race against time in completing his memoirs, while flashing-back to reveal the General’s tactics in some of the most consequential battles of the Civil War, draws in the reader in a most compelling way. By the book’s poignant conclusion, I was cheering on Grant’s final victory o

Valentine’s Day – it has become an occasion for flowers, chocolates, greeting cards, and other expressions of love. Yet many people don’t know the origins of this holiday and the courageous stand of the saint for whom it is named. It is believed that Valentine was a priest serving Rome under Emperor Claudius II. At that time, Rome was embroiled in many costly and unpopular military campaigns. As a result, the emperor was finding it difficult to recruit soldiers to maintain an