Books published by Blue Cedar Press

In 2020, the world was short on emotional resources to cope with the scale of death the pandemic, COVID-19, was producing. In U.S. culture, people view death multiple times a week in crime dramas and participate in "taking out" others in video games. Yet most people have not seen a dead body, other than their deceased pets, until aged parents die or cell phones record police killings. The popular culture tells them to "get over it" when they lose a family member."Denial is not an effective life strategy," Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, told the world as his state struggled to cope with unprecedented numbers of deaths, inadequate protective gear for hospital workers, and overwhelmed mortuaries. Denial was totally ineffective as the numbers rose, and later, when some communities opened bars and churches and eagerly embraced their former social lives, only to experience the numbers of the infected grow and one thousand Americans a day dying of the virus.But denial was our cultural default, that and secret terror.In this collection of stories, poems, memoirs, and information, 36 writers from across the US, Australia, Turkey, Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina share their experiences of death, dying, grief, and recovery. The writers are Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Bah''ais, atheists, and New Age. They are different races and from different immigrant communities. Some write of family loss including suicide, others of war or devastating illness, others of rituals that help them recover. COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter are among the subjects addressed. The stories and poems presented here are moving and provocative, selected to present the amazing diversity of humankind as they cope with the unifying experience of death and loss. This collection is intended to help people traverse this time of international pandemic and fear and find companionship in their personal journeys as death crosses their paths. NOTE: Proceeds from sales of this book beyond the cost of publication will go to health care workers through international organizations fighting the novel corona virus.

This story is based on real events that took place in 1984. When an inexperienced crew set off to bring a yacht full of cannabis resin from Lebanon to London, they had no idea they were not simply drug trafficking but participating in what the British government would call "Operation Bishop." The crew found themselves part of an international drama linked to the foreign policies of the British and U.S. governments, trapped at the nexus of the Cold War and the war against terrorism. This celebrated case was silenced by the British government, the records still classified and not to be publicly available for 80 years--until 2064. This fictionalized story imagines the crew members, their journey, their prison time, and their trials, and why the British government took such an unusual step to hide details of Operation Bishop. Actual historical figures in this book include President Reagan, CIA Director William Casey, National Security Council staff Oliver North, and Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi as well as Casey''s friends in international business. Scenes with these historical people are imagined, but their involvement in the Iran Contra affair is well documented. See Discussion of Sources. The participants in Operation Bishop presented in this novel are imagined and any resemblance to the actual participants is coincidental and unintended. A study guide and an appendix are included.

When Duncan Allan comes home early from a business trip and surprises his wife with his charming elder brother, anger and despair overwhelm him. He flees, drinks himself to oblivion, and ends up escaping to a remote fishing village on Scotland’s North Sea coast to try to survive this double betrayal. There an elderly Scot, a Dutch child and her mother rescue him and he rebuilds his life. When tragedy strikes, he is again lost and alone, shrinking again into immobilizing depression.Abandoned by her husband in Wichita, Kansas and pregnant, Duncan's wife Amy also has to reinvent her life—a single mom in a Midwestern city sharing her home with her gay brother-in-law and his partner. Her need to understand Duncan’s disappearance prevents her from fully moving on with her life.When years later her son and his travel buddy meet a gruff and unfriendly American in Scotland, all three Allans must choose must whether to wade into their family secrets and anger. Is Duncan worth finding or should they all let him go?Moving between Wichita, Kansas  and the North Sea coast of Scotland, this lyrical novel explores the impact of perceived betrayal, the devastation of severed relationships, and the capacity for rebuilding lives haunted by chronic depression and loss. 

Prize-winning journalist Mark McCormick’s best columns are collected here. He writes of people with Kansas connections who altered their world, those known and those not household names: Gordon Parks, Dwight Eisenhower, Diane Nash, Don Hollowell, James Reeb, Barry Sanders, Sam Adams, Ron Walters, Arthur Fletcher, Bessie Halbrook, etc. His stories are memorable because they bring into focus people, events and relationships from the broad canvas of America and enlarge readers’ understanding of what is regularly overlooked or undervalued. You won’t forget his account of his time with Muhammed Ali. McCormick makes visible people of color and the role race plays in their lives and of national issues like police-community relations, 9/11’s aftermath, Muslim Americans, LGBTQ Americans, and gangs. McCormick writes beautifully, with wisdom and love. This is a special edition designed for first-year students at Wichita State University and their teachers. A discussion guide provides specific ways for readers to interact with these essays.

Roy Beckemeyer celebrates the world in exuberant, expansive poetry, rich with evocative language. Read these poems aloud. Let them resonate in your vocal cords as they unfold on the page. A celebration of life and growth at all stages.