Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz's Books

Blood, Soil and Art

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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The years immediately preceding World War II in Italy were full of social changes, the phenomenal growth of Fascism and the confusing death of old ideas, values and classes. New dangers and challenges burgeoned until it seemed as if the frantic energy of a masquerade ball prevailed with everyone wearing fancy uniforms and dreaming of conquest. In neighboring Germany, the ranting and rampaging birth of Nazi ideas was followed by Hitlers lightning-strike invasions of European neighbors. These strikes were aimed to gain land and power, change old ideas, entrench and strengthen pure Aryan racially-grounded Nazi values, as well as destroy anything or anyone not compatible with the goals of the glorious Third Reich. Aware that artworks embody ideals and educate people through their symbolic power, the Nazis engaged in a multi-faceted program dedicated to destroy all artworks inconsistent with their views, and to substitute only art and architecture that idealized Aryan purity and Nazidom. To that end, they developed organizations and programs, built museums, filled them with carefully vetted art, outlawed all avant garde and non-Aryan artists, and proceeded to loot desirable artworks from occupied countries. They then stored or displayed their loot in their palaces or museums as fodder for propaganda and self-aggrandizement. Hitler, Goring and many other high-ranking Nazi leaders were deeply involved with these efforts, as well as the rewriting of history to conform to their putative glory through adopted symbols. Meanwhile, when the war continued to drag its bloody traces over occupied countries, Italians discovered just how terrifying it was to be a Nazi ally. Fascism faded as battles and air strikes continued, and victories faltered for the Axis. Italians suffered from a lack of life-supporting supplies or shelter, many youths and old men were conscripted into German work camps, hungry and homeless refugees swarmed into the cities and partisans gathered in the hills ready to become guerilla warriors against the Nazis. Slowly at first and hedged about with lies, information about Nazi art thefts in other countries seeped into the consciousness of concerned Italians. As they became increasingly worried about reports of forced sales and actual looting of Italys artistic heritage, a small band of dedicated Italians, self-named the Salvatores, made a pact to engage in a series of dangerous acts and subterfuges in order to hide Italian artworks in ricoveri and save them from German theft. Because Florence was a center of much Renaissance art and architecture, and because it did not have a Vatican in which to store artworks safely, the Salvatores struggled on independently with their clandestine rescue efforts to inventory and hide artworks. The little band comprised an odd group: wealthy Duke di Bergolini, his adoptive son Ortolani, a castrato opera singer, Ortolanis Benedictine brother, two young women of talent, two Tuscan museum officials who were art historians, a few helpful Italians and even two German officials who became virtual double-agents. Against difficult odds and in the face death threats or potential seizure and torture, they struggled and continued to inventory and shelter artworks, to track their trails when stolen, and to prevail until peace returned. By August of 1944, after Mussolini was dethroned and German-backed neo-Fascism was only a Nazi puppet government, it was apparent to everyone but the most rabid Nazis that Germany had lost the war. Even then, SS Officers and contingents from Gorings brigades loaded art from discovered ricoveri into trucks and drove them to northern Italy, which was under complete German control and occupation. The storage locations for the looted art were kept secret from the Italians until the war ended. As the Allies approached the great city of Florence, the withdrawing Nazis mined and destroyed some of the most precious medieval and renaissance buildings and bridges

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415

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Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1462832261

ISBN 13

9781462832262

Love Song for Dancing Strings

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Love Song for Dancing Strings

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

Forget the flute case. Get your butt behind me and run! Weve got to make it to the house, Gino. With that desperate plea, Sophia, a young and talented puppeteer, chides and hastens her youthful flautist-companion, Gino, to run for home and safety. They must escape the German landmines about to destroy the heart of Florence. It is August of 1944. The Germans are losing World War II, but angry at Italys surrender and negotiated alliance with the Allies, their withdrawals from Italy become hot rakes of needless destruction, aided by fervent neo-Fascists propped up by Hitler-backed Mussolini. The withdrawing Wehrmacht destroys many villages and towns, loots artworks and continues to conscript workers, deport Jews and jail or murder defectors. The stage is set for tensions at every level: between German and Allied military forces; between partisans and liberals in Italy and Spain and neo-Fascists across Europe; between Communist/Socialist parties and conservative Roman Catholic support of Fascism in Italy and Spain; between starving Italian women and children and occupying armies; and between Jews who hide and struggle to survive and those who support the Nazi final solution. On the August night the departing German Wehrmacht activates its landmines and destroys many magnificent renaissance buildings and Arno River bridges in Florence, Sophia, a brilliant puppeteer whose family has for generations operated a famous marionette theater, and her flautist, Gino, a refugee youth she befriends, hide in her cellar. They survive the night of terrifying explosions, although the mines destroy much of the back wall of their house. Their home is damaged and unsafe, and Sophia who has used marionettes as cover when acting as a courier for the partisans in a local cafe must flee. Gino, a young and strong adolescent must leave with her in order to escape German labor camp conscriptions. The partial destruction of the back wall of Sophias house reveals a hidden storeroom they think was once an old wine cellar. Searching for things to take with them or trade on the black market, they force open an old trunk and discover an ancient manuscript, some gold ducats, a few not-too-valuable gemstones and a roll of drawings Sophia thinks are backdrops for their stage. She reasons they were discarded with unused, exotic porcelain marionette parts and old scripts. Sophia and Gino realize they must survive alone and without family support. Sophias father is a conscripted worker, and her brothers are soldiers in different armies: one in Italy, and an older brother, Achille, who disappeared from his International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Ginos parents died during bombing raids, and Sophia has promised to care for and protect him. Rather than hide and risk discovery or death, they decide to make their way to Barcelona to find Sophias older brother. Their identification papers and ration cards are buried by debris, and they escape with a few articles of clothing, several marionettes, a folding traveling stage, and selected items from those discovered in the newly revealed storeroom: a mysterious, ancient manuscript they later learn is the memoir of a thirteenth century trading trip through the middle east to South China made before Marco Polo by a Jewish merchant from Ancona; gold ducats that prove basic to survival; and the roll of renaissance drawings that later prove to be valuable for the renovation of their lives. Much of the plot turns on the odd fact that the thirteenth century merchant who wrote the memoir-manuscript has the same family name as Sophia. Moreover, its cover page bears the signature of Sophias father (among many others) and includes a written charge to care for the manuscript and related objects. They cannot leave it behind. Who was this merchant who bore the same family name? An ancestor? Or is the do

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245

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Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

146283227X

ISBN 13

9781462832279

Ergonomics for Home-based Workers

Use Your Brain to Save Your Body

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Ergonomics for Home-based Workers

Use Your Brain to Save Your Body

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

We all work at home--even if we aren't telecommuters, entrepreneurs or stay-at-home parents. Whether we're paying the bills, helping children with homework, or operating a home-based business, time at home often requires us to spend hours at home workstations. Most of the time, we don't realize we're using our equipment in unhealthy ways. Fortunately, you can reduce the wear and tear on your body by learning about ergonomics. In this guidebook, a longtime medical anthropologist shares tips and strategies that enable you to develop habits to work efficiently and comfortably; conserve your energy and work smarter; and use your brain in order to save your body. By tweaking your environment and the ways you use office equipment, you can change your life in all sorts of ways. Taking steps to reduce aches and pains can immediately improve your relationship with your significant other, children, family, and friends. It's essential to be smart about how you use sophisticated machines, especially the ones you use for prolonged periods. Overcome minor and even severe physical problems with Ergonomics for Home-Based Workers.

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201

Publisher

Abbott Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1458209423

ISBN 13

9781458209429

Blood, Soil and Art

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Blood, Soil and Art

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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415

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Xlibris Corporation

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ISBN 10

1462832261

ISBN 13

9781462832262

Requiem for Cordoba

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Requiem for Cordoba

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

The time is the tenth century. The place is glorious Crdoba, capital of Moorish Al Andaluz where plots involve a coalition to arrest the despotism of El Mansur who is systematically despoiling their tolerant and cultured society to gain power and wealth. The coalition - self-named the Seers - includes a Caliphs wife, a Muslim merchant, the palace Chief Cook, a Jewish physician-diplomat, the Mother Superior of a Christian convent, a Moorish General, a Court poet and young woman slave. Seers machinations include assassinations, sabotage, spying and - naturally - love. It could have happened, since some characters were historical.

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461

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Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1462832245

ISBN 13

9781462832248

Love Song for Dancing Strings

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Love Song for Dancing Strings

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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245

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Xlibris Corporation

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ISBN 10

146283227X

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9781462832279

A Promise Kept

Memoir of Tibetans in India

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz PhD,Germaine Krull

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A Promise Kept

Memoir of Tibetans in India

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz PhD,Germaine Krull

A Promise Kept: Memoir of Tibetans in India is a collaborative work between Germaine Krull and her friend Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz. Although a great photographer, Germaine was European and wrote English poorly. For this reason, she entrusted her memoir manuscript to Marilyn. Germaine requested that Marilyn promise to edit and rewrite it for publication so others could share her experiences. As promised, Marilyn offers Germaine’s A Promise Kept to you. Enjoy reading about his holiness Sakya Trizin, his family, and their lives in India. Share their trials, adaptations, and amazing social and religious rebirth as refugee Tibetans.

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499

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Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1984542133

ISBN 13

9781984542137

Requiem for Cordoba

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Requiem for Cordoba

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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461

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Xlibris Corporation

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ISBN 10

1462832245

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9781462832248

Crazy Feasts

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

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Crazy Feasts

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

CRAZY FEASTS is a culinary history cookbook that includes descriptions of ten banquets that were quite crazy or bizarre in several senses. Each feast is preceded by a short description of the location and historical setting in order to give a background for the dishes served, as well as for the particular kind of craziness involved. The feasts vary in historical depth from the Roman Empire period to the first decades of the twenty-first century. The locations include cities from Rome to other European capitals, as well as Mexico City, when it was called Tenochtitlan as the Spanish conquistadores entered it in the early sixteenth century. Each feast described was either an actual historical incident, or is an imagined banquet that could well have occurred given the culture and habits of the time. Each feast described is followed by recipes garnered from that culture and historical period. CRAZY FEASTS is a salute to human folly and the happy circumstances of glorious banquets meant to stimulate your sense of fun and folly should you decide to create a crazy feast of your own.

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Page Count

241

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eBookIt.com

Published Date

ISBN 10

1456627872

ISBN 13

9781456627874

A Promise Kept

Memoir of Tibetans in India

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz PhD,Germaine Krull

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A Promise Kept

Memoir of Tibetans in India

By: Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz PhD,Germaine Krull

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

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Page Count

499

Publisher

Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1984542133

ISBN 13

9781984542137

Book's by Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz

Blood, Soil and Art

Blood, Soil and Art

Love Song for Dancing Strings

Love Song for Dancing Strings

Ergonomics for Home-based Workers

Ergonomics for Home-based Workers

Blood, Soil and Art

Blood, Soil and Art

Requiem for Cordoba

Requiem for Cordoba

Love Song for Dancing Strings

Love Song for Dancing Strings

A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept

Requiem for Cordoba

Requiem for Cordoba

Crazy Feasts

Crazy Feasts

A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept

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