Maria was eight months old in 1942 when a childless couple found her, wrapped in a blanket, at the side of a road near Krosno, Poland. A note pinned to the blanket stated only her first name and her date of birth. The couple picked up Maria and raised her, but she grew up longing for identity and connection. Who was she, and what had happened to her family?
Years later, Maria’s story came to the attention of Stanley Diamond. Diamond was the founder of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland, one of the largest databases of Jewish vital records and a crucial tool in researching the stories of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
In this engrossing story, Amy Fish shows how Diamond and an intrepid band of international volunteers compared photographs with genealogical records and smuggled DNA tests to provide Maria with family ties that she thought were lost to her forever. A tale of unexpected coincidences, astonishing revelations, and more than a little luck, One in Six Million is an amazing story of lost — and found — identity.
At some point in our lives, we’ve all experienced a small injustice – like, a fellow airline passenger squashing us by moving their seat back – and we suffer in silence for fear of offending anyone. When we fail to speak up, however, we end up shortchanging ourselves. I wrote this book so that we could all benefit from my career as a university ombudsman, and structure our complaints to make sure we get what we want and need. I illustrate each point with funny real-life stories, which I promise will ring true for you- whether you’re trying to right the wrongs of the world or just claim the French fries you ordered.
The Art of Complaining Effectively is a book about how to stand up for yourself. You will learn to complain so that your voice is heard. So that you get the refund you deserve or the appointment you need. So that your turkey sub has the freshest possible lettuce (read the book – that joke will make sense to you quickly).
When you finally do complain about your lettuce (same joke) I want to make sure that you do so in the most effective possible way.
Stick with me – read this book – and together we are going to review all the elements of an effective complaint.
One lettuce leaf at a time (couldn’t resist).
“Whale Watching: A Milestone Adventure Close to Home”, Canadian Traveler, 2021
“5 Tips for Adding Humor to a Self-Help Book”, Writer’s Digest, 2020
“First Person: How to Make Your Gift Exchange More Fun This Year”, Montreal Gazette, 2020
“How to Ask People to Blurb Your Book Without Fainting from Embarrassment”, Submittable 2020
“Tips for Speaking Up at Work,” Costco Connections, 2020
“What the Airline Seat Puncher Can Teach Us” Montreal Gazette, 2020
“Don’t Lead a Complaint-Free Life”, Globe and Mail, 2019
“Complainers are the Ones Who Bring Change” Montreal Gazette, 2019
“Book Review in Prayer Form: The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid by Ronna Russell”, Hippocampus Magazine 2020
“Six Things This Book is About and What Happened When I Read it” Hippocampus Magazine 2019
“Blissful Beach Read: Blissfully Blended Bullshit” Bliss Magazine 2019
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