"Turn, Mill, Turn" recounts the cautionary tale of author Alan J. Yates's bid to restore a mill in southwestern France. We all have our dreams-our castles in the sky. Some of them have been harbored for a long time in the deepest recesses of the soul. Most of these dreams may never be fulfilled. During the long, cold Canadian winters, Yates dreamed of resting his weary bones in a sleepy little village in southwestern France. He longed to spend his retirement writing in a restored water mill, inspired by Schubert Lieder and romantic literature. Fluent in French after living for two decades in...

Flickerings is not just an unusual and multi-faceted collection of the author's poetry. While he uses the poetry form to tackle often disturbing themes, such as the search for the meaning of life, death among family and friends and even large social issues such as consumerism and the environment, he does so with delicacy, wry humour and, through, a love of the musicality of the 'language' of poetry. Nor is this anthology of his works by theme a mere collection of different thematic topics, poetic forms and structures, but it offers a discussion of the medium of poetry itself. Yates has an...

Take an unusual and wry look at the mass media by joining an industry insider who recalls the high and low points of an almost forty-year career. Alan J. Yates, a media professional and academic, dissects the media business as a consumer, theorist, and participant. He observes that we tend to be literate when it comes to information technology but often illiterate regarding media process and impact. As Yates looks back over his career, he shares personal anecdotes and lessons learned on the front lines of the business. He also examines a multitude of issues, including: various connotations of...