Gary Stewart

Dive back into the world of "Casablanca" with "The Rick & Ilsa Story," a gripping prequel and sequel that explores the lives of Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund-Laslo before and after the iconic film. From 1941 Casablanca to New York, Paris, and beyond, follow Rick's transformation and the rekindling of his complex relationship with Ilsa amidst political turmoil and personal struggles.Featuring beloved characters like Sam the piano player and new faces, this novel is a tribute to love and resilience. Perfect for fans of "Casablanca" and historical fiction. Gary Stewart's novel is a tribute to love and resilience, making it a must-read for fans of "Casablanca" and historical fiction aficionados alike. Get ready for a journey filled with suspense, romance, and the echoes of a bygone era.

There had always been music along the banks of the Congo River-lutes and drums, the myriad instruments handed down from ancestors. But when Joseph Kabasele and his African Jazz went chop for chop with O.K. Jazz and Bantous de la Capitale, music in Africa would never be the same. A sultry rumba washed in relentless waves across new nations springing up below the Sahara. The Western press would dub the sound soukous or rumba rock; most of Africa called in Congo music.Born in Kinshasa and Brazzaville at the end of World War II, Congon music matured as Africans fought to consolidate their hard-won independence. In addition to great musicians-Franco, Essous, Abeti, Tabu Ley, and youth bands like Zaiko Langa Langa-the cast of characters includes the conniving King Leopold II, the martyred Patrice Lumumba, corrupt dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, military strongman Denis Sassou Nguesso, heavyweight boxing champs George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, along with a Belgian baron and a clutch of enterprising Greek expatriates who pioneered the Congolese recording industry.Rumba on the River presents a snapshot of an era when the currents of tradition and modernization collided along the banks of the Congo. It is the story of twin capitals engulfed in political struggle and the vibrant new music that flowered amidst the ferment.For more information on the book, visit its other online home at rumbaontheriver.com-an impressive resource.

Genetics is currently at the forefront of scientific research and discussed almost daily in the media. The possibilities for good and bad applications of this research are enormous and cannot be properly advanced without a Christian response. This cutting-edge book presents the legal, scientific, medical, and theological perspectives of genetic engineering based on a Christian worldview.

Each booklet in the Bio Basics Series gives information describing the controversy of the issue and the implications for Christians and the church. The series addresses each concern with answers that will honor God and protect a humanity created in His image. Written from an evangelical Christian perspective, these resources should be read by both Christians and non-Christians as they address contemporary issues often discussed in the media.

Based on exclusive interviews, Breakout tells the often riveting personal stories of fourteen popular musicians--some well known, others not--from Zaire, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The first book on African pop music to look closely at the lives of the musicians themselves, Breakout deals with four African musical genres: soukous, highlife, afro-beat, and palm wine. Amid Africa's deepening economic and political crises of the last two decades, African musicians who developed these genres faced the need to cross cultural boundaries, or "break out," and achieve a hit in the international marketplace. Challenging conventional assumptions, Gary Stewart demonstrates for the first time the true dimensions of this struggle to create music that will qualify as both an authentic cultural expression and an export commodity. From accounts of the outrageous Fela, who snipes at African leaders and recounts his days with Isis in ancient Egypt, to S. E. Rogie, who lurches from the pinnacle of stardom in West Africa to delivering pizzas in California, to Olatunji, who finds new life with the Grateful Dead, these are the stories of Africans straddling traditional life and an encroaching modernity--and also the stories of third world musicians surmounting political and economic chaos at home and carrying their music to a world dominated by Western cultural and economic power.