Books by John Blankenship

The essential robot resource for the NEW robotics hobbyists who want to learn how to program and control their robots rather than building them from the ground up.

In The Starting Five, we look at five components of leadership including integrity, coachability, work ethic, mental toughness, and a presence that sets a tone. After years of careful evaluation, we determined that learning and developing these five traits will increase your influence as a team leader. The book will frame those traits around one central question... Does it make the team better? Honest self-examination is the best way to shrink the gap between where you are and where you want to be as a leader. The book is written in an engaging story format that allows discussion between the coach and the team leaders to help explain these concepts in a way that allows for practical application with immediate results.

We need to reclaim some of the wildness that is deep within us. We need to reinvent ourselves for the 21st century, according to the author, John Blankenship, who many years ago began a quest in search of the true mountaineer essence. In the course of his journey, the writer takes us back through history and culture, exploring mythology, religion, and literature-takes us on a voyage of self-discovery. Gracefully written and stylishly revealing, Songs of the Whippoorwill (Volume III) charts a new course for the Appalachian spirit, one that has been waiting to emerge since the days of our fathers.

During his storied career as a feature writer and photographer, award-winning journalist John Blankenship met with the famous and infamous, the proud and the humble, the glamorous and the plain. With every interview, the writer learned something new about human nature and about himself-about pride and independence, loyalty and steadfastness, honesty and integrity. These snapshots from a reporter's notebook offer a compelling look at the resilient folk of Appalachia from the 1980s to the present. The author's detailed feature stories and personal reflections bring into focus the larger than life characters who helped mold our times for the better, even when facing seemingly insurmountable odds in one of our nation's most challenging economic regions. These meetings will hold you spellbound and keep you turning pages as you explore the writer's fascinating experiences.