Babble On clients tend not to shy away from the tough subjects and Irvin Waller is certainly no exception.His book new book Rights for Victims of Crime:  Rebalancing Justice (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. – http://irvinwaller.org/) is a must read for anyone who pays taxes. Or anyone  who has ever been a victim of crime. Fall into either of those categories? Even if you didn’t fall into the first, chances are good you fell into the second.

In fact, on average, an American will be a victim of assault 3 times and a woman has a one in five chance of being forcibly raped at some point in her life.   Waller’s  book says the time has come to tip the scales – and the expenditures – decisively in favor of crime victims, Waller argues.

While victims and taxpayers hope that justice and victim assistance will meet their needs but  too often the response from law enforcement and the machinery of criminal justice do not make the victim count. Government spends $225 billion on courts, cops and corrections but only $4 billion on victim assistance and compensation. For every woman accommodated at a transition house, for example, one is turned away. Legislation calling for restitution is ignored and governments do not invest in the proven programs that stop violence.

The time has come, he argues, for the re-allocation of funding, comprehensive laws and constitutional change that guarantee victims the right to safety, to reparation and to justice, while ensuring those rights are judicially respected rather than trumped by offender rights.

And Irvin Waller knows what he’s talking about. He has consulted to attorneys general in more than forty countries, was the founding executive director of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime affiliated with the United Nations, and currently serves as the President of the Oregon-headquartered International Organization for Victims’ Assistance.  A Full Professor at the University of Ottawa who also taught at the State University of New York in Albany, Waller’s first book is the popular “Less Law More Order: The Truth About Reducing Crime,” which shows how to  stop  crime before it happens and shift from misspending on ineffective  ”tough on crime” responses

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Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and author Michael Colgrass is no slouch – so when he gushes and glows over a book, you know it’s worth reading. The Unveiling, a new book by first time author Leah Lambert is garnering all kinds of praise from all kinds of important people. Lambert is a dear family friend, a trailblazer whose career has spanned criminal justice, social work and education. This novel is historically based, a look at one Jewish family’s escape from Czarist Russia and its resilience in the face of a mental illness and the secrecy around it. Read on….

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Attention: Book, Health Editors

Contact: Leah R. Lambert

(416) 962-0291

Email: leahrae@rogers.com

The Unveiling Shines Light on A Family’s Escape from the Stigma of Mental Illness

Toronto, On / November 11, 2009 – The Unveiling ($19.95/ iUniverse), an evocative, historically based novel about one family’s journey through the stigma of mental illness,  launches today at The University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies Atrium. The event runs from 4pm to 5:30pm with a reading from the book by the author, Leah Rae Lambert, at 4:30pm.

A portrayal of a valiant Jewish woman, The Unveiling chronicles Ettie Burin’s journey, along with her family, during much of the twentieth century. The story unfolds as family members gather in Pittsburgh to share memories during the mourning period following her husband’s death.  These memories re-create the dangers they experienced escaping the harsh life in czarist Russia and later the more profound struggles with the secrecy and stigma surrounding mental illness.

“The book is about the darkness that family secrets often bring with them and the light that comes when the truth is revealed. It is about resilience in the face of adversity and ultimately liberation and peace,” says Leah Rae Lambert, who has a Ph.D from the University of Toronto, and whose career has spanned social work, education and criminal justice.

The author has drawn upon interviews with her own relatives along with historical research to weave together the dreams, fears and accomplishments of three generations within a family.  She presents a picture of the social interaction and physical difficulties among people in the Eastern European shtetls, among immigrants in Pittsburgh’s hill district, and among the poor in Pittsburgh’s first public housing project.  One major theme involves society’s attitudes toward mental illness and the impact this had on families.

Pullitzer Prize-winning Toronto based composer and author Michael Colgrass says this about the book:  “I just finished your book and found it enthralling… I didn’t feel as though I was reading a book, I felt as though I was having an experience, one I could never have had without reading specifics of family life as you portray it in pre-revolutionary Russia.”

“I could not put this book down,” says Emil S. Trellis, M.D.,Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association about The Unveiling.  “I recommend it enthusiastically to families bearing the burden and stigma of mental illness and to mental health professionals who work with them.”

“Reading The Unveiling evokes a complex set of strong feelings: indignation, guilt, sadness and eventually a sense of joy,” says A. S. Macpherson MD, MSc., FRCPC, Professor Emeritus, Psychiatry, McMaster University.

Despite the challenges confronting Ettie and her family, this is a story of love, determination, hope and resilience.  Surprising events and courageous actions during the year following the mourning period enable the family to lift the burden of silence and experience a true unveiling.

The book is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse. 

About the Author

Leah Rae Lambert has had an extensive career in education, social work, research and planning.  Although she has published articles in various professional journals and magazines, this is her debut novel. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.  She grew up in Pittsburgh and has enjoyed living and working in Toronto for many years. Copies of the book are available at www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, or www.barnesandnoble.com. To schedule an interview or to obtain more information, please contact Leah Rae Lambert by phone or email at numbers shown above. Review copies are available on request. (Website: www.leahlambert.net )

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NOTE TO EDITORS: ART AVAILABLE

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What are the odds? I bumped into Patti Cross, a dear old high school friend on a friend’s Facebook page. I hadn’t seen her in years. Patti is now a senior lawyer in the Office of the Chief Justice in the Ontario Court of Justice.

So the mutual friend we discovered we had, Deborah Moskovitch, author of the wonderfully helpful book The Smart Divorce, invited me to come out for drinks with them. On a whim, I emailed Kim Wootton, now Kim Specht, a luxury travel executive who lives in Chicago, but back in the day, tore up Oshawa with Patti and me.

As luck would have it, Kim had just hours before booked a trip to Toronto –  and so this past Wednesday, all four of us convened on the patio of Sassafrass.  For the three of us who’d been through such pivotal moments in each others young lives, it seemed like space and time had never divided us. And Deborah should try and take this in the spirit in which it is intended: she fit right into the Oshawa girls club.

I’m glad we have Facebook and other online ways of connecting with those we’ve loved and lost along the way. I’m also glad I didn’t have it when I was a teenager or an emerging adult. People grow up out loud and online now, youthful indiscretions much more public.  

Last night, I jumped onto the page of a Facebook friend and cringed. Someone had posted something very nasty about someone who had commented on his page. If I were a betting women, I’d say alcohol was involved.

I couldn’t help but imagine the person waking up blurry eyed with a splitting headache and the dawning memory of doing something she desperately wished she hadn’t done. But she did. And it was there for all to see. Until it wasn’t. The site’s owner removed the offending comment – but no doubt, some damage was done. 

In the span of a few hours, I had experienced Facebook at its best and worst. I’d reconnected with dear old friends and witnessed someone else fall apart at the seams. Facebook is not for the rash, not for the bitter, and definitely not for the drunk. But then, you could say that about almost anything that matters in this life.

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Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire! Deborah Keegan doesn’t just help Babble On cook up great PR traction, she’s also a chef. And a mighty fine one at that.

Deborah has launched a new blog http://www.foodbabbler.com/ that is filled with all kinds of great cooking and food related info. 

Right now, she’s featuring pictures by Jeff Fuchs, an author and photographer whose book The Ancient Tea Horse Road tells of his adventures traveling an ancient tea route that had never been traveled by a westerner before.

Jeff Fuchs is another great person Deb had great fun with at Canada AM. Those early mornings do have an upside….

Food Babbler has recipies, features and reviews and some great tips on stretching your food budget in a recession.

Be sure to check it out!

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