I knew Bill Cahir in the peripheral way of the small town.

His mother and mine are friends.
We grew up attending the same church.
His brother and I were classmates and continue to be friends.
Bill graduated State College Area High School in 1986, four years before his brother Bart and I did. He earned an English degree from Penn State in 1990, four years before Bart would graduate with a petroleum engineering degree and years before I earned my journalism degree from Penn State.
After college, he went to Washington to work on a Senate Committee for Sens. Edward Kennedy (who, incidentally, died Tuesday night) and Harris Wofford.

Bill later became a journalist, first working for the now defunct Newhouse News Service Washington.
I remember feeling extremely impressed when I ran into him at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., circa 1997. My reporting professor had brought my class to D.C. for a press briefing at the Pentagon and some kind of reception in those hallowed rooms. I introduced myself as "Bart’s friend" to this guy with a lot of personality, obvious talent for communication - written or otherwise, and an inviting wide grin.
Bill was working for the Washington, D.C., bureau of The Express-Times of Easton at the time.

A few years later, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, Bill pursued what he was most passionate about. Despite the fact that at 34 he was technically too old to enlist, he talked his way into an age waiver and joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 2003.
It was something he felt he had to do.

Bill served two combat tours of duty in Iraq in 2004-05 and 2006-07 as the lead turret gunner in a Humvee, according to the Centre Daily Times.

After returning home, Bill decided to take it easy … and run for office.

He moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania, pursuing yet another way to serve his country. Bill ran for a 5th Congressional District seat in 2008, competing in a three-way Democratic primary to replace longtime Republican Rep. John Peterson, who retired. Bill lost the primary to Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken, who was, in turn, defeated by Republican Glenn Thompson in what the CDT reported is an overwhelmingly Republican district.

The Express-Times reported that after losing the primary, Cahir said, "My journalism career is over. I'll talk to the Marine Corps and see what they want me to do and talk to my wife and see what she wants me to do."

Bill returned to Washington and worked for a time for a consulting firm before being reactivated by the Marines.
In the spring of 2009, Marine Sgt. William John Cahir deployed to Afghanistan. His wife, Rene Browne, a Washington attorney, was already pregnant with twin girls — their first children.

According to the CDT, Bill was a sergeant in the 4th Civil Affairs Group, one of about 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan troops deployed in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province. Per published reports, the province is a fertile opium poppy area, a Taliban stronghold and is home to much "fierce fighting."

On August 13, 2009, at age 40, Bill was killed in action by enemy fire while his civilian affairs unit was attached to a Marine infantry unit. Only one shot (that was determined not to have originated from a sniper) was fired, and no shots were returned. No other Marines were killed, according to Marine Maj. Jerry Kalogiannis, 4th Civil Affairs Group spokesman. He told the CDT that Cahir was the first 4th CAG Marine — about 150 are in the group — to be killed in action since the group deployed to Afghanistan in May.

He is the first person I know to be killed in this war.

"What're the odds?" a friend asked rhetorically, sadly during calling hours in a ballroom at The Penn Stater hotel in University Park on Sunday afternoon. He was speaking of the single shot that fatally struck Bill.

"It's just not fair," are the words that kept running through my brain, as I waited in line with my mom, high school friends, teachers, Marines, a Penn State football coach or two, and the president of the university, among others. Included in that line was a high school classmate, now a Marine and father of two, awaiting deployment to Iraq. I'm not sure if it's his second or third deployment.

We all wanted an audience with Bill's parents, siblings and widow. Some people made video tributes intended to be shown to Bill's twins at some point. Not knowing him well, I did not.

Over three hours, thousands of friends and supporters waited in a long snaking line (which I heard was up to a 45 min. wait at times) to greet and offer condolences to the pregnant Rene and the entire Cahir family — mom and dad Mary Anne and John, sisters Ellen and Kathryn, and the youngest sibling, my friend Bart, who had flown back to Pennsylvania from his current job post in Indonesia with his new wife, Andrea.

The part of the overnight flight he was most assuredly awake for, gripping the armrests of his seat tightly, Bart said, was traveling through the darkness over Afghanistan — the country that claimed his brother Bill’s life just days before.

***
Among the definitions of a hero, according to Merriam-Webster, are "an illustrious warrior; a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities; and one that shows great courage." The definition of patriot is "one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests."
Bill Cahir was all those things.
He served his country.
He died for his country.
And he was also a regular guy — a husband, brother, son and journalist — excited for the arrival of his twin daughters this December.
He was a guy who, like so many others, served valiantly in both Iraq and Afghanistan, only to be rewarded by being called back again and again.

What are the odds of surviving three tours? Slim indeed.

With countless others who died in service of our country, Bill Cahir will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. He will posthumuously be awarded the Purple Heart Sept. 13 in Washington.

***

Help keep alive Bill's belief in family, service, community and country alive. Contribute to the Bill Cahir Memorial Fund to support his wife and expected twin children.

Author Joan Landis ("Oh My God... She's Huge!") sent me the following notice about a booksigning in not-too-far away Lebanon, Pa.:

MULTI AUTHOR BOOKSIGNING SATURDAY AUGUST 15TH
to be held at the Waldenbooks, Lebanon Valley Mall
20% of the proceeds to benefit the Lebanon Library

10-11 a.m. discussion panel on how to become an author with a publishing contract with Megan Hart, Savannah Russe, Jeri Smith-Ready, Mindy Klasky and Maria V. Snyder

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Author Signings

Authors include:
Angela Ginnetto, Romance
Vicky Burkholder, Romance
Arthur Ford, Fiction
Victoria Smith, Romance
T.K. Marion, Civil War
Natalie Damschroder, Erotic Romance
Brian Keene, Horror
Savannah Russe, paranormal Romance
Byron N. Morrison, Fantasy
Sandy Asher, Children 11-2 only
Charlene Haines, young adult
Kelly Ann Butterbaugh, children’s history
Doris Washington, poetry
Robert Vogel, Fiction
Dr. Dewey Shaak, Memoir
Richard Curtin Military, fiction
Dr. Laszlo Geder, Memoir
Mindy Klasky, Fiction
Frank Bittinger, Horror
J.F. Gonzalez, Horror
Maria V. Snyder, Fantasy
Misty Simon, Romance
Joan Landis, Self Help
Megan Hart, Erotic Romance til 12
Lucy Finn, Romance
Andy Pete, Fantasy
David Boyle, Horror
Jeri Smith-Ready, Fantasy
Diane Troup, Autobiography

List subject to change without notice
Raffles to be held throughout the day for items donated by various merchants in the mall.
Other items to be raffled are: Gift basket from Megan Hart
U.K. signed versions of Maria V. Snyder’s Study series

Sometimes good things really do come in small packages.

The adage holds true for Roger Edward Jones' lates book, "What Can Chief Executives Learn from Stand-Up Comedians? Fifty essential skills top performers perfect and you can learn," (2009, BookSurge Publishing, $10.99, 64 pp.)

The slim book, which was runner-up at the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival (business category), is perfect for the time-challenged: It can be read in just a few minutes in one sitting. It's the kind of book an executive - or really anyone who has to speak in front of people - could benefit from paging through while writing a speech or for referring back to from time to time. Jones presents 50 thought-provoking tips for those who could be speaking to a crowd/looking to influence a group.

The format is simple. Jones points out a behavior/characteristic of a stand-up comedian and then poses a question that might cause you to reflect on how that relates to you/your work/your presentation skills. A few that spoke to me were:

No. 29 ENJOYMENT
"When you watch most comics they look as if they're enjoying themselves rather than as if they are standing in front of their audience as some sort of punishment. Do you look as if you enjoy your job when you interact with your customers, staff and shareholders?"

This one made me chuckle a little, as I'm sooooooo uncomfortable speaking to groups. Once in a while some poor soul will ask me to address his or her business organization as a representative of the paper or as a writer/editor. I make polite excuses and bow out every time. It feels a lot like punishment to me to speak in front of a group of people, for any reason at all. Yet, I know that lacking that skill/experience/comfort level is holding me back personally and professionally. I'll just keep Jones' little book handy for ideas for future situations when a presentation might be needed...

Also, No. 1 PREPARATION
"Good stand-up comedians' performances appear totally spontaneous, almost as if they have just walked into the venue and are talking 'off-the-cuff.' The reality is quite different. They spend hours and hours honing their material and practicing their routines. Do you spend a sufficient amount of time preparing for your conference speeches and client meetings?"

Good speakers do have an ease about them. And preparation certainly helps those of us who aren't blessed with this natural ease.

And, No. 42 SILENCE
"As good comics tell their stories you can often hear a pin drop as they use the power of silence to create a sense of intrigue and suspense. Could you use the power of silence a little more when negotiating?"

Um, yes. Yes I could.

As you can see, Jones took a simple concept and came up with 50 inspiring, practical and quite usable little tips. Simple as they are, I can see how these insights could help a CEO, anyone in a leadership or management role, or just a regular Joe who has to give a speech.

A trained geologist, UK native Jones is currently an executive coach for major companies including Accenture, Cisco, Eon, IBM, Shell International and Siemens. He is also the author of "The Key Account Manager's Pocketbook."

Learn more about Jones and his book on his website, http://www.rogeredwardjones.com/

Free books online!


That is, if you have a Kindle or Sony reader to read them.
Which I don't.
But I do like to hear about and get my paws on free stuff ... If only someone was giving away free Kindles!

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that you can also get free mp3 music downloads from Amazon if you search for "free" under the mp3 downloads tab. Some good stuff, too.


Anyhow, check out this story from the Associated Press:


The latest craze: Free e-books offerings


By HILLEL ITALIE

AP National Writer

NEW YORK — James Patterson's latest best seller, "The Angel Experiment," is a little different from his usual hits. The novel isn't new; it came out four years ago. Its sales aren't happening at bookstores, but mostly on the Kindle site at Amazon.com.
And the price is low even for an old release: $0.00

"I like the notion of introducing people to one book, while promoting the sales of another," says the prolific and mega-selling author (and co-author) of numerous thrillers." His Kindle download is the first book of Patterson's "Maximum Ride" young adult series.

"We've given away thousands of free e-copies," Patterson said. "'Maximum Ride' is big already and we think it could be a lot bigger. That requires getting people to read it."

Patterson is among the biggest brands added to the growing list of free e-book offerings. Over the past few months, top sellers on the Kindle — with downloads in the tens of thousands, authors and publishers say — have included such public domain titles as "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," and novels by Jennifer Stevenson and Greg Keyes.
In recent days, the top three Kindle sellers have been free books: Patterson's, Joseph Finder's "Paranoia" and Keyes' "The Briar King."

"There's always going to be someone who wants free things. What we're trying to do is link free with paid," Maja Thomas, senior vice president of digital media at Patterson's publisher, the Hachette Book Group, said. "It's like priming the pump."

"What we like to do is make the first book in a series free, usually a series that has multiple books," said Scott Shannon, publisher of the Del Rey/Spectra imprint at Random House, Inc., which published Keyes' fantasy novel.

Shannon said Del Rey has had especially good luck with Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" fantasy series after offering the first book for free. He said sales for the other Temeraire novels increased by more than 1,000 percent. "It's been stunning," he said.

Publishers and authors have been nervous that the standard cost for electronic editions of new releases, just under $10, will take away sales from the more expensive hardcovers and set an unrealistically low price for the future. They are concerned, but open-minded, about free books, which present a chance and a challenge: Readers may buy other books, or, they may simply seek more free titles.

"It's a huge hot-button topic we've been discussing within our division and at the corporate level," Shannon said. "We have had phenomenal success with using free books to get people to buy others by an author. But in the long term, we have to guard the market. We have to make sure people understand that time and energy goes into writing a book."

"Consumers love free — free is a good price. But the opportunity they present to publishers is to experiment, and I stress experiment," Ellie Hirschhorn, Simon & Schuster's chief digital officer, said.

The dominant e-book seller Amazon.com has been aggressive about keeping prices low, and has given free e-books high visibility by including them on the Kindle best-seller list. A leading rival, Sony, does not include free works among its best sellers, although some free books have popular downloads.

"We do withhold them from the best-seller list, so that it's an accurate reflection of what people are actually buying," says Sony eBook store director Chris Smythe.

In an e-mail statement about free ebooks, Amazon.com spokeswoman Cinthia Portugal, said, "We work hard to provide customers with the best value possible and pass savings on to them whenever possible." Portugal added that Amazon includes free books among its top sellers because the list is "based on customer orders — customers are still ordering these books, they just have a price tag of $0.00."

David Bailey, 56, a systems analyst in Tacoma, Wash., is the kind of customer publishers and authors want to get. He has downloaded free texts by Kelly Link, Scott Sigler and others, but has then purchased other books by those authors, sometimes "just to support them."

One of Bailey's free downloads was Finder's "Paranoia," a thriller first published in 2004. Finder, whose "Vanished" comes out Aug. 18, said he initially saw the free offering as a "no lose" deal since "Paranoia" wasn't selling many copies anyway and sales for his other books, including "Power Play" and "Killer Instinct," have gone up. But, noticing all the free best sellers on the Kindle, he wondered if readers will get used to not paying.

"I get a lot of e-mails from people, saying, 'I hadn't even heard of you until I read your free book.' So no question, it does bring in free riders," Finder said. "But I'm also increasingly concerned. There are so many free e-books that basically you could stuff your Kindle or Sony Reader with free books and never have to buy anything."