THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING is a classic piece of 14th century writing. Unfortunately it is generally transcribed in a manner so stiff and stilted that it is practically unreadable, and if not unreadable it still often is incomprehensible. Marvin Kananen has paraphrased this work to be more easily readable. He has not been faithful to the text, he could not be. He chose communication over rigid interpretation. Kananen freely transcribed the document into a more friendly form, readable and comprehendible. The idea in THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING is that we live in a sinful world. But if we seek God, we...

WILD PITCHES by Marvin Kananen Is there anything better to read about than baseball? The answer to that question is: "No." Baseball is a universe separate from the cares of this world. It is an arena of hope. Young players dream dreams and old players cherish memories. Baseball is a constant that flows through the generations, through lifetimes. Baseball is as close to magic as we can find. Baseball is a legacy that parents can bestow onto their children. There is nothing better to read about than baseball. Marvin Kananen's WILD PITCHES is a collection of 33-1/3 short baseball stories (yes,...

THE PERFECT PLANET AND OTHER STORIES come from the mind of Marvin Kananen. Some stories date back for decades, most were written during Mr. Kananen's last assignment in Africa where the land and people gave him time to sit and write and read. In a land without television, occasional electricity, irregular water, Mr. Kananen and his wife lived among the Maasai people for twelve years in a one room hut between the Rift Valley and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Every night, 6:30 every day of the year (he lived 3 degrees south of the equator) when the sun went down, they stayed indoors. The night in Africa...

MAKING GENESIS: Growing Old with a Bang. Marvin Kananen has written a book on aging. This is not a "how to do it" book because aging just happens, it's not something we have to work at. There are many books that tell you how to prepare yourself for becoming older and Mr. Kananen is sure there are many good books on how to prepare yourself for that change from working to retirement. Having endured that transition himself, in his case retiring from the African bush where he spent twelve years working with the Maasai, he returned to America with a box full of manuscripts and no plans. When he...

Two retired missionaries were sipping coffee at a Starbucks while on vacation in Hawaii when they got a message from their past. "We need you " the e-mail read. Their heads said, "No " and their bodies said, "No " but their hearts sang, "When?" Knowing that Tanzania, East Africa, only has about half the number of nurses they need, A doctor friend/colleague opened a School of Nursing. He soon realized that because all the nursing books are written in English, his new students need some help. He went to his mental Rolodex and came up with the names Jean and Marv, retired after a dozen years at...

Matsuo Basho died in 1694. He is known as the father and master of the haiku. However, Basho the poet is not dead. His words still live. In WALKING WITH BASHO his words bring life to the unnamed reader. Across more than three hundred years, the master and the student develop a teacher-student relationship. They become friends. As Basho journeyed through north-central Japan, he recorded his travels and poetry in NARROW ROAD TO THE NORTH. He did not travel alone but went with a friend, Sora. The record of this journey is a celebrated and classic work. When the reader in this story bought the...

Etta Jones is a survivor. When her dominant spouse dies, when her job ends, and when her health was threatened over a period of three weeks, life demanded she begin to redefine herself. Etta Watson Jones is more than just a survivor, she's a fighter. She changed her name from Henrietta to Etta and then began building a new life out of the rubble of her old ways. Mourning the loss of their only child, Etta and her husband had withdrawn from life and, as long as he was alive, she was forbidden from engaging life. When he died, she began to make her own way out of labyrinth of mourning that he'd...